Diving in clear, cold rivers

  • My brother and I were discussing this when I was home on R&R back in December .


    He and I headed out to flyfish the White River that was located a few miles from where my family and I were staying . R&R for all of us , you could say . Lots of trees , babbling water and a great overlook of Beaver Lake ; which incidentally really needs the rain . Bad. I saw sandbars and timber stands that you'd usually never see except for maybe the top tips of them.


    Fishing was 'ok' at first until it dawned on me that I was actually seeing rises and those tiny wet nymphs that are standard for winter rainbows and browns weren't the ticket after all. So once we switched over to dries, it was game on . No pictures , but then the fishing isn't the point of this post .


    Drew , my little brother , reminded me of how when we were younger we used to dive similar rivers in the Missouri Ozarks in early spring and pole spear the 'suckers' that would make their migrations from the lakes in order to spawn . In between , waiting on schools to move through, we'd gather crawdads .


    Now, when gathering the mud bugs we'd simply move underwater from rock to rock and grab 'em . For the fish, we'd sit on a high point and wait until we saw a school move in and then get into the water and intercept . Usually you didn't have to get very deep , as the schools we'd see were only in four feet of water . But the larger of the school , would hug the deeper outside edge of the bend . This was the place to go . In order to beat the current and not spook 'em , we would go just a tad up river and then by the time we'd hit the deeper channel we could drift down where we really wanted to be ; anchor onto a rock by holding on and then hit 'em with pole spears as they came past . The key requirements were a 5mil wet suit , a lot of weight, and a bonfire going on the rocky bank. It's a cold ,cold activity diving spring fed rivers in late March and early April . No fins needed .


    We're going to start doing this again when I get home. The sheer amount of fish and filets produced doing this was incredible. Both of us miss doing it.


    Long post to try to paint you guys a mental picture - that out of the way. What he and I remembered , while trying to figure out what the hell the trout were hitting, was how incredibly long our static breath hold seemed to be . Maye it's was a perceptional thing . But it seemed like we were down forever either grabbing crawdads or spearing suckers. Even when we were actively spearing and stuffing fish into our net bags , it seemed like an infinite amount of time we could stay down. Was it a combination of being mostly relaxed and not moving coupled with really cold water ? I'll get some pics to help illustrate.

  • Here's some pics to give you a good idea of the waters and species . The one with the bluff is a great example of the ideal area Drew and I would look for. Clear and slower water, with deep drop near the bluff . And a rocky bank to safely get a fire going .


    Like I said , as he and I were fishing we both kinda said at the same time ," How come we don't still do this ?". That's getting ready to change.

  • Aaron, I am very jealous of the awesome experience you describe.
    As far as breath hold. It is 99% mental. For me clear water makes a huge difference as does distraction. If I drop and do an aspetto, it almost doesn't matter if I am in 15' or 45', I can only stay there 30 seconds. If I am tryjng to wrestle a bug out of a hole or get a speared fish, I can hold my breath seemingly forever. I have to remind myself to surface it seems :)


    The thing I am wary of is not ignoring my body's cues. As long as I am feeling good and have not hit my first contraction, I know I am fine.


    For comparison, in less than 10' of vis I can barely catch my breath on the surface.

    i like to spear fish

  • One we get areas nailed down , Judah, I'll send out invites . It's been a few years so, the waterways may have moved and shifted. I think I know some areas a bit closer to my current home, as well.


    Not "here" , precisely. But 'home' home. LOL.


    Good points, bro. Thanks.

  • Sounds real nice Aaron, as long as there's some relief on the bottom and at least 10ft depth.


    Time seems to slow down when you're doing it. In reality it's just enough time to do what you need to get done. If not, you stop to breath. There's no risk since it's not deep, so you can stop worrying and completely rely on your body to tell you when you need air. This kind of activity, as well as picture taking, really builds up breath hold. To then apply this breath hold to dive deep is just psychological. Learning to conserve energy while deep and going after fish takes more time.

  • That place looks spectacular Aaron, I look forward to seeing more pics. I agree with Judah, distraction makes a huge difference for me. If I'm pursuing a fish or a bug, my bottom time feels irrelevant, however if I'm just hanging on a rock looking around, I find myself continuously glancing at my watch as I feel like I've overstayed my limitations.

  • Sounds real nice Aaron, as long as there's some relief on the bottom and at least 10ft depth.


    Time seems to slow down when you're doing it. In reality it's just enough time to do what you need to get done. If not, you stop to breath. There's no risk since it's not deep, so you can stop worrying and completely rely on your body to tell you when you need air. This kind of activity, as well as picture taking, really builds up breath hold. To then apply this breath hold to dive deep is just psychological. Learning to conserve energy while deep and going after fish takes more time.


    Dan, those areas along the bluffs are usually between 10-20 feet deep . Not very deep to be sure. But it's one of the few areas that I've dove that are relatively near home that produce a lot of good eating table fare . And the vis is great .


    So sick of shooting damn carp . Make great bait , though .

  • That place looks spectacular Aaron, I look forward to seeing more pics. I agree with Judah, distraction makes a huge difference for me. If I'm pursuing a fish or a bug, my bottom time feels irrelevant, however if I'm just hanging on a rock looking around, I find myself continuously glancing at my watch as I feel like I've overstayed my limitations.


    Thanks , Nate. I ddin't have any pics off hand so when I went to looking up the North Fork river, which is where Drew and I would go , these were pretty good representations of the area. Actually, the bluff picture really looks like near where we've been .

  • Great post Aaron, That part about the crawdads gave me flashbacks to by childhood. I never caught many by hand though, had one of those wire bait traps I use to drop in the creek. My mouth is watering now thinking about horseradish and cocktail sauce bathed critters.:D


    Cheers, Don

    "Great mother ocean brought forth all life, it is my eternal home'' Don Berry from Blue Water Hunters.


    Spearfishing Store the freediving and spearfishing equipment specialists.

  • I find that diving in water less than 78F cuts down on my bottom time. :D
    Thicker wetsuit, more constriction.....brrrr. I dive best with a thin suit in the summer time.


    Nice pics Aaron. Beautiful spot.

  • I've stayed up near Branson, MO and we've fished/water skiied in the Lake of the Ozarks, but never fished the tributaries. That's some gorgeous country up in early fall while the water is still warmer..But then again I've been swimming in some cold creeks/rivers in Northern AR too. That area around those bluffs looks killer for some largemouth bass and crappie.

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