Devildiver
06-23-2009, 04:25 PM
Hey guys,
There aren't too many PNW posts, so I'm going to post my dive report from Otter Rock AKA: Devils Punchbowl State Park. I need to preface this story with the fact that I was NOT spearfishing. My only gun is a Riffe Euro x 120, far too large for the poor vis on the Oregon coast. Until I finish my first gun build (http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=86621), I decided to scout the waters for good spearing. There are some pics from the trip at the end of the tread, unfortunately none from underwater.
My family recently inherited a home on Otter Rock, a community North of Newport by about 8 miles. The home sits on a peninsula that pushes out into the pacific ocean for about 2-300 yards, and about 150' above the water. On the South side of the rock is some of the best surfing on the Oregon Coast. There is a nice staircase going down to the beach 30 yards from my front door:D.
The North side of the peninsula is a marine garden/state park where the taking of invertebrates is prohibited, but spearing/fishing is legal.
As a spearfisherman who has been land locked for the past 8 months, I've been dying for an excuse to get in the water. It got so bad that a week ago I went diving in a lake with such poor vis that on my descent, I found the bottom with my face after running straight into it!
Anyway, I started out on the South side of the rock, freediving around the base of the cliffs. There were probably 50 surfers there, though they stayed clear of my limestone and kelp playground. This was my first experience diving in kelp, or on the Oregon coast for that matter, and let me say WOW!! I have never seen anything so cool!
Vis was close to 6' on my first push along the South side. There was kelp mixed in with large limestone rocks. I found Tunnels, caves, and trenches, all supporting an extremely rich ecosystem. I saw urchins, Dungeness Crab, starfish, anemones, and best of all - Fish! Nothing huge, mostly nursery fish, but they were there.
My second push found the same bio-diversity, although I got pushed around by a fairly strong rip-tide.
Sunday morning was a -2.7 low tide (about as low as it gets on the Oregon Coast). I took that opportunity to explore the North side of the rock, and to see what kind of structure was available during high slack tide. Later that day I went back and dove the North Side. Again...Unreal! :thumps:. This side has WAY more structure, and is full of 2-15' open top trenches. I spent about an hour freediving, swimming through these trenches, looking for fish, and basically just enjoying the experience. I did see some flatfish, a few tall fish (taller than they were long) that I could not identify, and one holed up fish that was just out of reach in a hole. There was a group of Russian tourists waiting for me when I got out. As I walked out of the water, an older gentleman walks up to me from the group and says "how long u stay sea in dis costum?" wearing my one piece 3mil from Florida I said "about an hour, maybe an hour and a half." The guy looked at me like I was crazy and made a gesture indicating that he thought I must be freezing my ass off. I told him that you get use to it after a few minutes. From growing up here, and surfing these waters, I've learned that "you'll get use to it" really means "you'll get numb."
All in all it was an awesome experience that FAR exceeded my expectations. I saw more life in two little tidal beaches that I have in a few years of diving in the gulf. Granted there was not the variety of large fish, or the great visibility and warm waters, but it was really neat. I will be continuing my exploration and spearing on the Oregon Coast until I head to another University or Medical school. If anyone is interested in going, shoot me a PM. There is a ton of fun to be had on the coast so long as you can handle cooler water temps!!
Here are some photos:
Me with my dive buddies
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0049.jpg
Bio-Diversity
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0152.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0105.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0131.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0143.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0194.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0212.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0139.jpg
There aren't too many PNW posts, so I'm going to post my dive report from Otter Rock AKA: Devils Punchbowl State Park. I need to preface this story with the fact that I was NOT spearfishing. My only gun is a Riffe Euro x 120, far too large for the poor vis on the Oregon coast. Until I finish my first gun build (http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=86621), I decided to scout the waters for good spearing. There are some pics from the trip at the end of the tread, unfortunately none from underwater.
My family recently inherited a home on Otter Rock, a community North of Newport by about 8 miles. The home sits on a peninsula that pushes out into the pacific ocean for about 2-300 yards, and about 150' above the water. On the South side of the rock is some of the best surfing on the Oregon Coast. There is a nice staircase going down to the beach 30 yards from my front door:D.
The North side of the peninsula is a marine garden/state park where the taking of invertebrates is prohibited, but spearing/fishing is legal.
As a spearfisherman who has been land locked for the past 8 months, I've been dying for an excuse to get in the water. It got so bad that a week ago I went diving in a lake with such poor vis that on my descent, I found the bottom with my face after running straight into it!
Anyway, I started out on the South side of the rock, freediving around the base of the cliffs. There were probably 50 surfers there, though they stayed clear of my limestone and kelp playground. This was my first experience diving in kelp, or on the Oregon coast for that matter, and let me say WOW!! I have never seen anything so cool!
Vis was close to 6' on my first push along the South side. There was kelp mixed in with large limestone rocks. I found Tunnels, caves, and trenches, all supporting an extremely rich ecosystem. I saw urchins, Dungeness Crab, starfish, anemones, and best of all - Fish! Nothing huge, mostly nursery fish, but they were there.
My second push found the same bio-diversity, although I got pushed around by a fairly strong rip-tide.
Sunday morning was a -2.7 low tide (about as low as it gets on the Oregon Coast). I took that opportunity to explore the North side of the rock, and to see what kind of structure was available during high slack tide. Later that day I went back and dove the North Side. Again...Unreal! :thumps:. This side has WAY more structure, and is full of 2-15' open top trenches. I spent about an hour freediving, swimming through these trenches, looking for fish, and basically just enjoying the experience. I did see some flatfish, a few tall fish (taller than they were long) that I could not identify, and one holed up fish that was just out of reach in a hole. There was a group of Russian tourists waiting for me when I got out. As I walked out of the water, an older gentleman walks up to me from the group and says "how long u stay sea in dis costum?" wearing my one piece 3mil from Florida I said "about an hour, maybe an hour and a half." The guy looked at me like I was crazy and made a gesture indicating that he thought I must be freezing my ass off. I told him that you get use to it after a few minutes. From growing up here, and surfing these waters, I've learned that "you'll get use to it" really means "you'll get numb."
All in all it was an awesome experience that FAR exceeded my expectations. I saw more life in two little tidal beaches that I have in a few years of diving in the gulf. Granted there was not the variety of large fish, or the great visibility and warm waters, but it was really neat. I will be continuing my exploration and spearing on the Oregon Coast until I head to another University or Medical school. If anyone is interested in going, shoot me a PM. There is a ton of fun to be had on the coast so long as you can handle cooler water temps!!
Here are some photos:
Me with my dive buddies
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0049.jpg
Bio-Diversity
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0152.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0105.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0131.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0143.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0194.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0212.jpg
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh12/devildiver223/Otter%20Rock%20June%2020-22%202009/DSC_0139.jpg