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Old 09-14-2010, 01:19 PM   #1
bltpyro
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Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

There is nothing worse than planning a nice spearfishing trip a ways away just to find out the visibility is horrible and spearing/diving is useless. As we had read that Causey reservoir is supposed to have good visibility from one of the below links, our high hopes were killed by 2 ft of visibility since we went at the wrong time. I am hoping this post can be a collaborative effort to give fellow spearos/divers an idea of when the better times to go to certain areas are, or if they are worth going at all any time. I will include non-spearfishing waters as well for diving practice. If there is any place you have been with good visibility or something cool to see (is there still a ghost town standing under Electric Lake?) go ahead and post it. I will try to keep the first post updated with reports. If it turn out to be useful I would love to see something similar for other states as well to make trip planning easier.

Useful Resources:
http://www.underwaterdynamics.com/di...tah_diving.php
http://utahscubadiver.com/sites.aspx
http://www.utahdiving.com/divemap.htm

Utah Visibility Reports
Spearfishing waters:

Causey Reservoir
7-3-10
2 ft

Deer Creek Reservoir
July – August
6-8 ft on top, 8-14 down

Fish Lake
7-31-10
20+ ft

Flaming Gorge Reservoir
7-17-10
10 ft at top through large algae chunks, 15-20 feet down

Jordanelle Reservoir

Kens Lake

Lake Powell

Lost Creek Reservoir

Pineview Reservoir

Red Fleet Reservoir
8/30-9/1 5-15 foot visability

Starvation Reservoir
9-11-10
Indian Campground, 7-8 ft on surface, 10-15 down lower until silt stirs up

Steinaker Reservoir
8/25 5-10 foot vis

Willard Bay Reservoir
Heard visibility never good enough?

Yuba Reservoir
Heard visibility best early June but bad after? One part of reservoir ok vis other bad?

Non-Spearfishing waters:
Blue Lake – DWR word of mouth says OK to spear tilapia

Bear Lake

Strawberry Reservoir
8-14-10
15 ft

Electric Lake – sunken town still there?

Last edited by bltpyro; 09-15-2010 at 09:19 AM. Reason: Update
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Old 09-14-2010, 07:13 PM   #2
Spearsd
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

red fleet 8/30-9/1 5-15 foot visability
steinaker 8/25 5-10 foot vis
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Old 09-15-2010, 03:22 PM   #3
Paul Benson
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Red Fleet gets murky really easy, don't make a special trip for it. Ive seen awesome viz at Starvation once this summer and at Antelope Flats at Flaming Gorge. But all of this depends on the wind. Went to Starvation last Saturday, got two walleye and half a dozen carp just diving along the dam. Hopefully headed to the Gorge this weekend. Ive been wondering about the viz on the Wyoming side of Flaming Gorge if anybody know anything.
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Old 01-30-2011, 03:08 AM   #4
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

anyone trying Powell this spring? Or causie/ causey?
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Old 01-30-2011, 11:14 AM   #5
Mojave Green
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Mead 1/28/11
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Old 01-30-2011, 07:14 PM   #6
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by drbabs View Post
anyone trying Powell this spring? Or causie/ causey?
I'll be trying Powell I think. If I do Causey, it wont be until June when the season opens for game fish.
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Old 01-30-2011, 08:33 PM   #7
Paul Benson
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Utah is old news. What are the lakes like in Wyoming?
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Old 02-15-2011, 04:20 PM   #8
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Dove blue lake Saturday, Feb 12, 2011. 5ft vis.

With the good weather that week we thought we would have some good visibility. We were the first ones in the water so thought we might beat the stirred up silt, but no luck. Even our bad days at Deer Creek seemed better than here. We learned from some of the other guys there that it is because of the Tilapia eating the plant life that held the soil together that the visibility has been getting worse and worse. The water was very nice though. It was cool getting there and seeing the steam rise up from the lake. We got some good practice diving trying to find the deepest spot. I have to say going deep isn't as fun when you can't see that well. The stirred up silt plays tricks on you making you think you are about to hit the bottom but then end up swimming through it. Didn't see much in the way of life. By the time you got near a fish you would only see the silt trail it left behind. Only saw one tilapia, but it may have been a bluegil.

Can you only edit posts for a certain amount of time? Would like to update the main post but it looks like it isn't an option.
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Old 02-17-2011, 10:50 AM   #9
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

I don't have specific dates but I spear northern utah all summer long so I can give you some generals. Contrary to what was posted above Willard does have decent vis 6-10 feet early in the year before the boats come out in force, april-may. Pineview has 5-10 foot vis all summer on weekdays, don't bother on weekends or after a windstorm, except in the narrows where you might get a break from the boats. In september and october after the boats are gone for the most part the water really clears up. Causey has good visibility through June about 10-15 feet but through july and agaust all the algea clouds up the water and you will be lucky to get 5 ft. I dove it once in october after the kokanee restriction is lifted and vis was about 6-8 feet. I have only dove lost creek a few times so this may not be true all summer but visibility was pretty good at 10-15 feet with an overwhelming number of crawdads. The Gorge has always been great for me with vis from 20-? ft.
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Old 02-17-2011, 12:57 PM   #10
Paul Benson
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Istickfish View Post
I don't have specific dates but I spear northern utah all summer long so I can give you some generals. Contrary to what was posted above Willard does have decent vis 6-10 feet early in the year before the boats come out in force, april-may. Pineview has 5-10 foot vis all summer on weekdays, don't bother on weekends or after a windstorm, except in the narrows where you might get a break from the boats. In september and october after the boats are gone for the most part the water really clears up. Causey has good visibility through June about 10-15 feet but through july and agaust all the algea clouds up the water and you will be lucky to get 5 ft. I dove it once in october after the kokanee restriction is lifted and vis was about 6-8 feet. I have only dove lost creek a few times so this may not be true all summer but visibility was pretty good at 10-15 feet with an overwhelming number of crawdads. The Gorge has always been great for me with vis from 20-? ft.
Russ
The Gorge is the best reliable viz
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Old 05-04-2011, 05:40 PM   #11
drbabs
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Istickfish View Post
I don't have specific dates but I spear northern utah all summer long so I can give you some generals. Contrary to what was posted above Willard does have decent vis 6-10 feet early in the year before the boats come out in force, april-may. Pineview has 5-10 foot vis all summer on weekdays, don't bother on weekends or after a windstorm, except in the narrows where you might get a break from the boats. In september and october after the boats are gone for the most part the water really clears up. Causey has good visibility through June about 10-15 feet but through july and agaust all the algea clouds up the water and you will be lucky to get 5 ft. I dove it once in october after the kokanee restriction is lifted and vis was about 6-8 feet. I have only dove lost creek a few times so this may not be true all summer but visibility was pretty good at 10-15 feet with an overwhelming number of crawdads. The Gorge has always been great for me with vis from 20-? ft.
Russ
Good info. thanks for the post.
Anyone try Pelican? I used to fish that with rod and reel. EXCELLENT vis fifteen years ago. Im talking 20-25 feet.

Any updates for spring 2011?
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Old 05-04-2011, 07:15 PM   #12
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

As of today (May 4, 2011) Pineview-Dirty, Willard-Dirtier, I hear deer creek is pretty clear and I am planning on trying it next weekend unless someone who lives closer has better info.
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Old 07-30-2011, 04:03 PM   #13
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

Tuesday July 26, 2011
Just thought id give you guys an update on Flaming Gorge, Monday and Tuesday Viz was 15-20 feet on the surface in the morning and about 5-10 feet by 11, about 15 feet down it was pretty consistent all day for 20 feet viz. Found a bunch of carp, my wife got her first one (15 lbs) and we got a few bass for dinner. Going back up in a week from today
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Old 07-31-2011, 10:25 AM   #14
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

July 25th starvation 5-8ft vis
July 23rd deer creek 3-5ft vis
will post jordanelle when return not expecting much with all those beautiful boats.
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Old 08-01-2011, 12:18 PM   #15
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Re: Utah Visibility Overview (please contribute!)

July 29th, Strawberry 20-25 feet. We were in the Ladders area scooping up crawdads.
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