pv conditions 7/18

thanks for the 411 chris,,,,Joe

Thanks Chris, sounds like little has changed since I was in the area Sat, I had my Computer in my wt belt pocket and found 58 degrees on the bottom a few times.
Cheers, Don

[quote='chris oak','http://spearfishing.world/forums/index.php?thread/&postID=34774#post34774']After work I checked conditions from pedro all the way to about middle pv grounds. Swell was coming in and although you can make it out easily, it looked like I'd take a beating on the way in. It looked pretty green all the way around but I found a nice cove with tiny waves so I took a chance. Vis was crap, probably 15 feet on the reef where the opaleye are but 5 feet in the kelp bed. QUOTE]

I Know where that spot is!:D Yes, there are some monster Calico in there!

Wow, I can't believe it's still that freezing here!

Quote from chris oak

It was a nice break from the heat and watching the bait/sargo/opaleye swimming around was entertaining. Better than being stuck at home in my hot house! Swell is picking up even more so be careful should you venture out there.

Thanks for the report. It is fun watching the schooling fish. Big water temp variance from the North side to the South side.

ive seen a lot of videos (just on youtube) of pretty good viz in PV,, is that more the exception than the norm?
i guess obviously they wouldnt post vids of the crummy days

Quote from sdeisen

ive seen a lot of videos (just on youtube) of pretty good viz in PV,, is that more the exception than the norm?
i guess obviously they wouldnt post vids of the crummy days

Yep. There's days in Laguna Beach with +35 ft visibility and then there are days with 5ft visibility. It's the same everywhere along the Southern California coastline. Only on the islands can you find the best visibility consistently.

When the visibility is nice people bring out their cameras. So just because there is great vis in the video does not mean that the same area will have great vis when you go there in person.

gotcha,, bein from sofla im always lookin at cali videos and posts and all. theres somethin really special bout it

Is 35ft vis the best possible for that area or can it rarely be better to say 60ft?

Steven i really agree.. I love being underwater because it is an alien landscape, but I am intimately familiar with our reefs...to see other worlds underwater is so cool to me

Quote from Dan

Is 35ft vis the best possible for that area or can it rarely be better to say 60ft?

In my experience, the "average best possible" viz for a lot of spots in SoCal (including Catalina frontside, which is regularly awesome) is generally 30-40, but 99% of the time that we dive the coast it's 10-15 or less. Light penetration is a problem under the kelp canopy, as opposed to wide open areas. That makes deeper dives rather creepy.

The best viz I have EVER seen was 100+ on the outer edge of La Jolla, and that was a really rare and exceptional day.

Quote from Dan

Is 35ft vis the best possible for that area or can it rarely be better to say 60ft?

Visibility can be good during the winter months if the swell is small and the Santa Anna winds are blowing. Fifty to sixty feet is possible. Thirty five is real good conditions for PV. Most of my fish are shot in low visibility 5-15feet.

Quote from ladvr

Visibility can be good during the winter months if the swell is small and the Santa Anna winds are blowing. Fifty to sixty feet is possible. Thirty five is real good conditions for PV. Most of my fish are shot in low visibility 5-15feet.

first of all, this makes what you left coasters do, that much more impressive....and i was already impressed

second, do you think this percentage is because of the cvis in general or because you are primarily targeting halis who chill in the surgey areas where it is all stirred up?

Quote from LunkerBuster

first of all, this makes what you left coasters do, that much more impressive....and i was already impressed

second, do you think this percentage is because of the cvis in general or because you are primarily targeting halis who chill in the surgey areas where it is all stirred up?

The vis in general here depends on alot of factors: swell, surge, temp, sunlight etc...

An average day on the coast is going to be 12-20' vis, but can get as good as 30-50' but that's rare. The areas tend to be a mix of reef and sand and when there's swell, the sand gets a bit stirred up. When the water warms up, the kelp tends to "shed" which puts alot of particulate in the water. Both conditions have an adverse effect on the vis. Obviously, the reefs tend to be a bit cleaner, but then again, depends upon such factors as kelp conditions and red tide which is a phytoplankton we have here and can completely shut down the vis.

Depending upon what species we are actively hunting, sometimes we're looking for cleaner water (yellowtail and calicos), or dirtier water (halibut and white seabass.)

The islands here tend to have consistently better vis and it's not uncommon to have 30-80'+ vis.

A very clear explanation Gobig, thanks.

Cheers, Don

Quote from LunkerBuster

first of all, this makes what you left coasters do, that much more impressive....and i was already impressed

second, do you think this percentage is because of the cvis in general or because you are primarily targeting halis who chill in the surgey areas where it is all stirred up?

Great question. PV is somewhat like an Island in that it has areas protected from North swell in the winter and South swell in the summer. So across the entire peninsula conditions are variable. I dive where the fish are and deal with the crappy vis. I enjoy the challenge of diving the adverse conditions and it is also less crowded as most guys will go over to the Islands for better conditions. I target halibut in the winter and spring, WSB in the spring and summer and YT in the summer and fall. If I have fish in the freezer i generally dive camera only and seek out better visibility as it makes for better video. I dive with a gun/polespear about 30% of the time.

Mike

Quote from LunkerBuster

first of all, this makes what you left coasters do, that much more impressive....and i was already impressed

second, do you think this percentage is because of the cvis in general or because you are primarily targeting halis who chill in the surgey areas where it is all stirred up?

there is a lot of plankton,sea snow,microorganisms, etc brought in with the summer current and warmer water.This stuff is great for the baleen whales and other fish who eat it but limits the viz. We also get algae blooms ( like red tide) triggered by a combination of nitrogen runoff and warmer water. Catalina stays clearer because of the current pattern and limited population polluting the water.
We don't primarily target halibut in the summer. White sea bass,yellowtail,albacore,dorado,tuna, and other pelagics are the prime candidates - lurkers under kelp pattties.
Halibut and calico bass are here year round and accessible from shore dives and easier to spot in bad viz conditions.