odd unusual snorkeling spots/stuff

[popolarbear]

any odd interesting spots anyone care to share. im totally up for road side ditches and ponds also. would like to encounter some of our freshwater amphibians but have not yet. so far this year ive lost more gear falling off my boat while driving than stuff ive found!! my favorite snorkling spot on tonka now has become a graveyard of my lost items in the weeds, so im thinking soon it will have enough stuff that i might start finding stuff.

[DiverQueen]

Try around the swim areas / diving platforms in Shady Oak Lake as long as the Life Guards don't get all "upset" about snorkels and stuff in the deeper water  :

Lake Nokomis (Look out for bikes and other stuff thrown from the Cedar Av. Bridge!)

Wirth Lake (I hear there are a lot of old bottles in there from way back when.)  Who knows what else gets dropped in?!?!

Calhoun...I've seen a huge wagon wheel or pulley from ancient equipment of some sort.  People routinely fish, kayak and sail boats there.  Could be lots of cool "treasure"!

[popolarbear]

ive been hasseled too much at shady oak, by both the local neighbors and the offical park police. its  managed jointly by both minnetonka park board and hopkins. being a local resident should get me some grace, but it doesnt, even if i got my kids with me( i guess they prefer the kids do something more disruptive than swimming!), but the few times we have done the shady oak deal,the lures we found were near perfect, so im not sure if that means that the lake is well picked or heavily used.
calhoun has been good to us. it one of my go to lakes when i dont have the time too  rig up one of my boats. we live close enough that i can park, walk down and do a shore dip and be back home all within an hour or two.  vis this year has been bad for some some reason. and no interesting finds. the water is realy low also.

[bowman12]

Not sure where you are but Clearwater Lake east of Clearbrook, MN has a good supply of mudpuppies. I've never seen one before and I was diving at a sunken island two weekends ago, flipped three flat rocks and they all had a puppy below them. Awesome experience. The last one I flipped was covered with eggs so I quit checking to not disturb them anymore.

[popolarbear]

im not familar with this lake. is this far from the cities. im near lake minnetonka on the west side of cities. but this is exactly what im looking for. mudpuppies sound interesting. i assume plublic launch. i will have to road trip that lake with my boys. thanks for suggestions.

[bowman12]

It's quite a trip from the cities. It's about 50 minutes north of Bemidji. The clarity gets real good around the middle of July. I suppose around 10 feet or so, probably not considered real good, but when you're used to the mudholes up here by the border I'd consider it real good. 

[lunatim]

I went snorkeling in Lake Calhoun this summer and was surprised at how good it was.  Vis was almost up to Square Lake standards and it's very accessible to me.  BTW, does anybody know if there's lockers available near any of the beaches on Calhoun?