Lake Mendota, Madison

[codecruncher]

Did Governor's Island Monday night.

Great socially, but as far as the actual diving goes the 2' to 4' of vis wasn't that thrilling (even down at 37' below the thermocline it didn't get any better).

I've probably exceeded my sewage quota for the month also, how about you?  ;D

[Nate]

I second that!!
Did the Terrace and had about 10 feet of vis. Good dive. Lots of fish! 70 degrees, no thermocline Max depth 32'

[ethanb]

We did Shorewood on Thursday and the viz is surprisingly good.  I almost decided not to go because the surface water looked so gross when I was at the union a few days earlier, but went anyway with expectations of it sucking.  Viz was 8-10 feet once you get down a couple feet, and it's still pretty light.  I think it's better than many previous years - maybe because it's been cold for a while?  We saw a bunch of bass and some muskie, plus lots of pier sections that floated off into the middle of the lake and sank.

[ethanb]

We did the Habitat yesterday during the torrential downpour.  We were just getting into the water when it started raining, but we figured it wasn't much safer to be sitting in the boat than in the water, so we finished the dive.  The rain limited the visibility so much that we would've had to go back very slowly to avoid risking collision.  The sound of the rain hitting the water's surface really was an interesting touch - we could hear it throughout the dive and it'd get noticeably stronger and weaker.  This was Isaac's second dive in a tornado - while we were underwater, a friend who lives in Fitchburg called to tell me she saw a tornado touch down briefly in the marsh in front of her house.

Anyway, viz was excellent down to about 40 feet, though it was very dark once you get down to 30 ft.  With a light you could see about 10 ft, and it was possibility to see the glimmer of a buddy's light out to 20+ feet.  Once we got deeper, the visibility got much worse, at the speedboat it was probably only about 5 feet. 

By the time we'd finished our dive, it had stopped raining and the sun was coming out.

[ethanb]

A group from Diversions did the Habitat again today.  Six people showed up for the adventure dive, which is a bit over the five-diver limit we usually have for the boat (it's rated for seven, but the gear add a lot of wait), but the lake was fairly pretty flat, so we decided to go anyway. 

With the no-wake zone in effect for the entire lake, it was about a 35 minute ride from Marshall Park to the Habitat (next time we're launching at Lot 60, unless the no-wake rule is lifted).  It got a bit longer due to some electrical problems (a fuse holder was touching the oil filter and melted through, cutting power to the master fuse and killing all the electrical systems in the boat), but we sorted them out quickly ("repaired" with electrical tape and zip ties) and were only delayed a few minutes. 

We had a beginner along, so we split into a team of two and a team of four for the dive.  I Viz was still pretty good great - about 5-10 feet shallow and 10-15 deeper.  There's tons of green floaty things in the upper part of the water column - they disappear below about 25 feet, but it's really dark at that point.  Lights are a necessity to see anything or communicate - fortunately almost everybody had one (we'd originally planned to do Isaac's Wall, a shallower site where lights aren't usually needed).

I didn't have a thermometer, but it's pretty comfortable all the way down to the boat.  I'm guessing the thermocline is around 30 feet and it's a little chilly below, but not at all bad in a wetsuit and hood.

[ScubaDo]

Lake Mendota on Sunday May 31st, viz was 20' plus, temp in the 60's.  Plenty of fish in shallows and weren't shy.

[schultz]

Did Second Point in Lake Mendota on Thursday, June 4th, with temps in the lower 60's and vis around 30 feet. Lots of large fish in the weeds! Felt good to get back into a wetsuit and a single tank after diving drysuit and doubles for the past few months.

I dare say that this may be the last week for good vis in Lake Mendota before algae blooms take their hold, so get out and dive now!

[ethanb]

We did the Habitat this morning.  Water temps are great (was comfortable in a wetsuit all the way down to the boat) and viz was stunning.  Pics here:

#

Get out while it's still nice - this is the clearest I ever remember seeing Mendota this time of year!

[Rider1017]

Great pics, job well done.  Got a question for you or anyone else that might know.  Is there any places to rent tanks in Madison?  I am only 45 minutes away and will have all my gear except a tank.

[ethanb]

Of course I'm biased, but I'd recommend Diversions SCUBA () in Middleton. That's where we got ours.