Medicine Lake

[DiverQueen]

I was out fishing on Medicine Lake on opener...Vis was better than usual!  I could see the weeds clearly where the depth finder was reading 3.5 ft!  Usually this lake is pea green soup!  Maybe the reduction in phosphorus fertilizer is helping!

[Jolly_mon]

Have you tried diving it yet?

Might have to try diving it next week...

[LKunze]

Does anyone actually dive Medicine Lake?  The last post by Dirt in this thread makes me wonder...LOL! ;D

[Jolly_mon]

hard to tell, after the 1/2 mile hike to get to water over 5 feet deep I'm to tired to go further  ;D

But I love a challenge, there are a couple 30' holes out there to explore...

[DiverQueen]

Actually, I noted some 40' channels on my depth finder.  Boat it!  The only way to go!  Alumacraft or Dive Kayak....Either way will get you there!

[DiverQueen]

Well, the rain held off for today and I didn't have time for a dive....So I went snorkeling on West Medicine Lake beach.  The vis has dropped a bit from what it was on opener weekend.  But I could still see my outstretched hand....Forgot to take a wrist mount computer so I don't have specifics of depth or temp.  Wearing a 2mm suit and 5mm hood, no gloves.  Very comfortable.  Wished I could have stayed out longer (and brought a dive light)  Vis dropped significantly below 5ft due to low light!

[scubadog76]

I did not see this post until today, but I dove Medicine a few years ago and Vis was awful, almost none at all.  We bumped into a ton of junk but you had to surface to find out what it was.  We found action figures, a rear view mirror and lots of other crap.  All that was off the West Beach.  I'd head a little further west to Christmas or Minnetonka for "better" diving.

[willadams67]

I have dove medicine lake a few times. There really is no good place to dive there either with a boat or not. Mostly shallow, low vis that gets much worse when dog days are nearer.

[DiverQueen]

Medicine Lake report:  Smurfette 100 and I did a snorkel trip on Medicine Lake from West Medicine Lake Park.  For being a holiday weekend for sure it was a busy place, but we didn't have trouble finding spots to park (in the shade to boot!) 

We entered to the left of the swim beach and didn't seem to alarm the lifeguards too much!  ;D  Lots of weeds and very shallow.  Turned into the wind and swam outside the swim area border to the south.  The boaters and jetskiers need a lesson on what a dive flag is...(Not a target to drive at!)  One boat must have come about 50 feet from us towing a skier! 

Past the fishing dock and the wooden covered bridge, the vis got better near the bottom, I found a huge clam shell in open, empty, (spread like a butterfly!) perfectly intact shape!.  I just put it inside my dive float and hadn't zipped the zipper when a gust of wind and waves flipped my float over.  It's O.K. everything stayed inside!  Nearer to the swim area, I found a very old corroded Aluminum Hamms beer can with no top on it!  Quite the biology lesson swimming around inside it!  Tiny little leech, maybe crayfish, other Larva....

A fun trip for local and quick!  It's about to turn pretty green pretty soon.  Go dive before the vis drops.  Vis was 3' at the surface and 6' down deeper!  Temp 77 at surface and 65 at 15ft.