No fish can live below the main thermocline as the isn't any oxygen down there. Just dead fish that sink down to those depths. There's dive footage just like this from 185 foot deep Lake Pleasant in Arizona, same situation. I've heard two anecdotes about huge flatheads seen in Tenkiller. One from a scuba diver of a 7-footer he saw laying on the bottom, and another second-hand from a cliff jumper of one the size of him, about 200 pounds. Of course they would be in much shallower water above the thermocline. I saw a four and a half or five-footer in about 4 feet of water in bright sunshine in Lake Pleasant in Arizona while fishing once. But below the main thermocline is a dead zone. I found a strong sharp thermocline at about 12 feet while free-swimming in a shallower lake, Lake Thunderbird during summer. BTW, did you have any instrument to measure dissolved oxygen in the water with you? And iff so, what was the oxygen level both above and below the thermocline? And what was the water temperature above the surface?
Yes there are a small species of jelly here now. Craspedacusta sowerbii. They are no threat to human size creatures , Just too small . I have had a few encounters with them. Thanks for the view and comment.
No Jelly fish? I was on my 2nd certification dive when a jellyfish showed up in front of my mask around 60'., It shrunk to the size of a pea, and expanded to the size of a half-dollar.
yep you are correct. the excess phosphates from chicken litter has the lake very contaminated with heavy silt. its not from the arkansas river but the illinois river. over the years before regulations were put in place. but the damage has already been done.
Hey there, My name is Kordell and I work with a production company in Knoxville TN, called Streetcar Entertainment. We're currently making a documentary and would love to get in touch with you in order to license your diving footage if possible. Is there an email you have that I can contact, or would you like mine? Thanks!
Okie homa no it's not the deepest in the lake, but it is in the pine cove, state park area Pine creek channel depths will average 120-130 ft.... The area around the dam area aka the Illinois river channel will be in the 150-165 ft depth, but its is not safe for any recreational diving , currents are very strong when the tunnel is open, as a fun dive goes,anything below 65-75 ft gets very cold and very dark, Kinda takes the fun out of it.. 52 degrees is chilly ..this dive was a dry suit 32%EAN with a bailout also 32% was a no deco dive.. just did the video because a lot of people ask me what's at the bottom of the lake my reply as usual A whole lot of cold dark water not much else.. Thanks for watchin...
