My first dive of 2013

[blobbottlebob]

Hey everybody,
Finally got underwater today. I knew (from where I went) that I was not going to find anything great unless I was lucky, but I did okay, I guess.

Long winter this year really slowed up the season. Last weekend, we finally planned an outing but the weather cooled down significantly and we nixed it. Today, things fell apart for us as a group, so, I just went alone. It was reasonably fun and a start to the season. More details coming tonight . . .

 

[GEEMAN]

Good deal Bob. Looking forward to seeing what you found.

 

[Basil.W.Duke]

cant wait to see the stuff!!!!!

 

[blobbottlebob]

Okay. It was a nice day weather-wise. I planned a 7 mil suit with a 1 mil liner. (Basically an ice dive set-up for cold cold water). My new suit zips up in back and I couldn't get it past the middle of my back by myself. That was going to make me colder, but I was set for extremes, so, I thought I'd be okay.

It was a bit chilly, but overall I was fine.

Within two seconds of hitting the bottom, a largemouth bass (18-20 inches) swam right up to me. That guy followed me around awhile. Then I saw a long but thin musky. Before the dive was over, I saw a huge school of carp and several large sheepshead. Quite a variety!

 

[andy volkerts]

Bob, you need a back scratcher thingy only with a hook to pull that zipper up, bet you could make one out of a coat hangar[]

 

[blobbottlebob]

I have searched this area before, but it's a big lake and I was hoping to find pockets of bottles that had never been discovered. That I never did, but I did get some scattered stuff. I wound up with seven bottles and a long swim back.

When I returned to shore, I couldn't get my wetsuit to unzip. I had to squeeze my shoulders through the neck hole. What a pain. It still was fun to get out. Pictures coming...

 

[blobbottlebob]

Before the dive looking out from shore.

 

[blobbottlebob]

Afterwards. Bottles lined up in front of my float.

 

[blobbottlebob]

Two Baltimore loop seal blobs, a Schlitz and a Blatz - still wet and dirty.

 

[blobbottlebob]

ORIGINAL: andy volkerts

Bob, you need a back scratcher thingy only with a hook to pull that zipper up, bet you could make one out of a coat hangar[]

Thanks Andy,
There is a pull cord on the zip that I was pulling on, but it just wouldn't budge and I didn't want to rip it off considering that the suit is rather new.