Square Lake!

[DetectorGuy]

I dove at Square Lake today also. First I went to the Ramsey County Beach at White Bear Lake and tried diving there. The diving was terrible. The lake was super low and the area I would have used my metal detector on was dry sand. This would be a good opportunity for people with a non submersible detector to get out and find some stuff. The weeds started at 150' from shore (4' deep) and they were thick for another 150 yards out (8' deep) I found link from a conveyor chain and that was it for White Bear Lake. I have zero interest in going back in the foreseeable future.

After that mess I went to Square Lake to cheer me up. I got there about 3:30 in the afternoon and the place was like a ghost town. I saw a ton of hand sized sunfish, One Northern, and a large bass. This bass was about 2' off the end of my metal detector. I was using the 10" coil for a measuring gauge and the bass was over twice as long as my coil was wide... In the 5-6 pound range. I found 15 coins there, a "Church Key" (The brew that grew with the great northwest), A lot of nails, A lot of rusty tin, a few tent stakes, and this old weighted marker. Smith Diving must have used these back in the cowboy days for their treasure dive. It was a 1" round by 1 1/4" long aluminum weight that was zip-tied to a 3/4" by 3/4" by 3" long wood "float" This float was painted red on one end and the other end said "sand" on one side and "106" on the other. there is a blue stripe and remnants of white paint on it too. If this wasn't from Smith Divings treasure dives, does anyone else know what it was used for? When my air got low I came up to a little lightning at about 5:15PM

Does anyone know If we still need to pay the $5 daily fee to enter the park if it is this late in the season? I did but it seemed like a waste since the water was shut off, the buoys were pulled in, and the restrooms were locked up.

[NorthlandDivers]

Still have to do it.  The Sheriffs Dept patrols the lot on a regular basis ane they will write you a very expensive ticket if you didn't pay.  We even pay in the winter when we go out there Ice Diving.

[DetectorGuy]

The sheriff did cruise through when I was putting my gear in the truck. He pulled up to me and asked: "so did you get it out of your system?" I thought that was pretty funny for a badge. (no offense to the rest of the law enforcement officers but usually when I encounter one, their sense of humor is limited. My dads brother was the Deputy Sheriff in Isanti for many years). This Washington County Sheriff talked to me for about 5 minutes about diving and he said there is a real nice smaller lake just across the border in Wisconsin. I think he was talking about Perch. There were two of those "amphibi-cars" out there while I was entering the water. I have seen them in pictures only but this one was motoring across the lake and when he got to the landing, he just kept on going. Un-natural looking vessel... er...vehicle.

[NorthlandDivers]

We were out to Square again today.  Another great day!  Everyone  really enjoyed the diving.  Viz was good again.  We swam all the way from Golden Acres over to the park and back again.  Seen Bass, Pan fish, Northern, and some small Trout.

[snowshoerunner]

Just to keep everyone updated on the bullhead in the toilet tank....she was still there last weekend! 

[DetectorGuy]

The weather was good today and I had the opportunity to get in three dives at Square lake. I did some metal detecting at the beach. I came up with 8 quarters, 7 Kennedy half dollars, 17 small dollars (mix of Susan B. Anthony, Sacajawea, and Presidents), 16 steel washers, a key, and a few nails. There was another diver that cruised by me but he kept on going toward the North. I had the 7mm wet suit on with a 3mm shorty  underneath. I started to get the shivers by the third tank. I didn't look at the water temp yet but the visibility was about 12 feet.

[blizzardbacker]

Water temp Friday 10/17 was about 56 on average.  7 mil was plenty.  Good viz.  Good diving!

[mcdiver]

I am taking 3 brave souls out this weekend to complete their open water certification. However, I have decided to dive dry, they of course will be wet, but at 20' there is little compression of the wetsuit, so they should be fine.