OP
diveprof
Contributor
Two great dives so far this weekend at Clark Hill Lake (Augusta GA) .
Friday's Dive: Two of us were off work Friday. David wanted to go deeper today (surprise). We ended up diving to 121' for 1 hour 5 minutes. Vis was about 10-12'. Surface temp was 56 degrees, but 51 at our max depth. We began our dive by descending along the rocks to the plane. From there we headed to the missile at 82' (nice stripper there, I mean striper... though a stripper would have probably gotten our attention more). From there we headed deeper past the 105' ledge and on out to 121'. I wonder how much a 7mm suit compresses at 121'. Well I am glad it had warmed up to 51 degrees at depth or it might have been cold .
Dave will probably complain tomorrow that he had to use his dive light some (I believe he last changed his batteries in 2004 or so...). After reaching 121' we turned East and swam up past the boulders to the 80' wall. We swam along the wall a ways at 80'-90' and then dropped down and did part of the 100' wall (didn't need lights there). We angled up through the forest, through the trench and continued onward to the angel statue. We then ascended up to the 40' ledge, past the gnome and continued past the big flat top rock with the little rock on top. About 20' away from this rock at the rock where I normally head downward to the pool filters was a ball of hydrilla with lots of fish. After watching the fish a while, we headed past the single pool filter to the 20' drop off and headed back to the plane swimming around the bowl. Several bass on the plane again. We dropped down to the barrel and then angled up the rocks to 15' - 20' to begin a much needed extended safety stop (what's the use of having all those red hash marks on your computer face if you don't use 'em? ). I found a lot of anchor line on the rocks. At first I thought someone had snagged the rope that goes from the back of the plane to 20'. I coiled it up and took it back to the plane. However, the rope from the plane was still intact. I stuffed the line I found in the back end of the plane and have plans to use it tomorrow to run it from the plane to another location. Dave and I spent another 8 minutes at 15' to get the pixels where we wanted them.
Saturday's dive: We (5 of us) did two dives today 105' for 1:02 and 84' for 50 min. The second dive was better (less clouds and better light penetration) so I'll share this one. We began our dive with a descent to the 20' drop off and continued to the 40' ledge. Vis was at least 15' on this dive and no lights were needed the whole dive. The 40' ledge was covered with thousands of small fish today. We swam past the gnome statue and down to the angel statue at 54'. From there we entered the trench and swam South along the 65' ledge. We dropped down to the 82' wall. It was nice today in the dim light. At the log with the dive flag, we found that another ball of dead hydrilla that had attached itself to the log. There were many small fish surrounding the log! We then angled upward and began following the cable (from dam construction) at 65'. When we arrived at the three big rocks @ 54', there was another ball of dead hydrilla and lots of fish. We then swam to the plane -lots of bass!!! and then continued up the rocks for an extended safety stop. We have this "game" of toss the large logs and/or stumps which we executed at this point. Large logs and stumps have minimal weight u/w and it is easy to toss them to (read: throw them at) your dive buddies. After such a display of immature behavior, we continued a safety stop swim (15') back over the plane (could see it at 35' below ) and then headed back along the rocks. A large bass had created a mating/spawning area (holllowed out area) at 14' and would not be moved. At 10' we ran into a huge school of shad (read thousands who move in unison) who parted as we went through. So far, a nice dive weekend. Tomorrow, we dive the Savannah River (about 6 of us).
Friday's Dive: Two of us were off work Friday. David wanted to go deeper today (surprise). We ended up diving to 121' for 1 hour 5 minutes. Vis was about 10-12'. Surface temp was 56 degrees, but 51 at our max depth. We began our dive by descending along the rocks to the plane. From there we headed to the missile at 82' (nice stripper there, I mean striper... though a stripper would have probably gotten our attention more). From there we headed deeper past the 105' ledge and on out to 121'. I wonder how much a 7mm suit compresses at 121'. Well I am glad it had warmed up to 51 degrees at depth or it might have been cold .
Dave will probably complain tomorrow that he had to use his dive light some (I believe he last changed his batteries in 2004 or so...). After reaching 121' we turned East and swam up past the boulders to the 80' wall. We swam along the wall a ways at 80'-90' and then dropped down and did part of the 100' wall (didn't need lights there). We angled up through the forest, through the trench and continued onward to the angel statue. We then ascended up to the 40' ledge, past the gnome and continued past the big flat top rock with the little rock on top. About 20' away from this rock at the rock where I normally head downward to the pool filters was a ball of hydrilla with lots of fish. After watching the fish a while, we headed past the single pool filter to the 20' drop off and headed back to the plane swimming around the bowl. Several bass on the plane again. We dropped down to the barrel and then angled up the rocks to 15' - 20' to begin a much needed extended safety stop (what's the use of having all those red hash marks on your computer face if you don't use 'em? ). I found a lot of anchor line on the rocks. At first I thought someone had snagged the rope that goes from the back of the plane to 20'. I coiled it up and took it back to the plane. However, the rope from the plane was still intact. I stuffed the line I found in the back end of the plane and have plans to use it tomorrow to run it from the plane to another location. Dave and I spent another 8 minutes at 15' to get the pixels where we wanted them.Saturday's dive: We (5 of us) did two dives today 105' for 1:02 and 84' for 50 min. The second dive was better (less clouds and better light penetration) so I'll share this one. We began our dive with a descent to the 20' drop off and continued to the 40' ledge. Vis was at least 15' on this dive and no lights were needed the whole dive. The 40' ledge was covered with thousands of small fish today. We swam past the gnome statue and down to the angel statue at 54'. From there we entered the trench and swam South along the 65' ledge. We dropped down to the 82' wall. It was nice today in the dim light. At the log with the dive flag, we found that another ball of dead hydrilla that had attached itself to the log. There were many small fish surrounding the log! We then angled upward and began following the cable (from dam construction) at 65'. When we arrived at the three big rocks @ 54', there was another ball of dead hydrilla and lots of fish. We then swam to the plane -lots of bass!!! and then continued up the rocks for an extended safety stop. We have this "game" of toss the large logs and/or stumps which we executed at this point. Large logs and stumps have minimal weight u/w and it is easy to toss them to (read: throw them at) your dive buddies. After such a display of immature behavior, we continued a safety stop swim (15') back over the plane (could see it at 35' below ) and then headed back along the rocks. A large bass had created a mating/spawning area (holllowed out area) at 14' and would not be moved. At 10' we ran into a huge school of shad (read thousands who move in unison) who parted as we went through. So far, a nice dive weekend. Tomorrow, we dive the Savannah River (about 6 of us).
