Inland Lobster Feed
Crawdad Races
Our annual local dive for crawdads and fun will be at Lake Natoma Saturday morning on July 13.
Inland Lobster Feed & Potluck
Please send me a reply if you are joining us. I’d like to know how many divers and non divers will be with you. (You do not need to reply if you will not be joining us).
I don’t need to know what you are bringing to the potluck, I only need a head count so I’ll know how many hamburgers, hot dogs and how much corn-on-the-cob to purchase.
I can also use help with cooking the hamburgers, hotdogs and corn. If you have a portable BBQ grill we can borrow that would help, too.
Please invite your family and friends to join us at Lake Natoma for our “Inland Lobster Feed” dive and potluck this Saturday, July 13, at the Negro Bar picnic area. Holger has offered to loan us a few crawdad traps that we will set out on Friday.
Saturday morning all of the divers must meet at the Negro Bar picnic area by 8:45 for a safety orientation, then we will boat up past the Rainbow Bridge for a fun drift dive. You should plan on arriving at the Negro Bar picnic area early because we want to be in our boats and ready to dive by 9:00! There are a lot of big crayfish hiding under the rocks so bring a “Goody Bag” to grab the biggest and fastest ones you see. There are also a lot of lost “treasures” that fishermen and swimmers have dropped in the lake so we can also do a lake cleanup and scavenger hunt while we dive. I have found several working watches and a gold ring on previous dives so be sure to keep your eyes open. The deepest you can get is only about 40 feet. There will be a current sweeping us along so you will have to hug the bottom to keep from drifting too fast. Visibility is typically about 6 to 10 feet and the water temperature has been in the low sixties on previous dives. If you are going to catch any crayfish please be sure to bring your fishing license with you – Yes, you need one to catch crawdads. If you are just getting one that someone else has caught you do not need a license (but they do).
After we have made our dives we’ll meet all of our non-diving family and friends in the picnic area for the rest of the fun. We will have prizes for a BIG crawdad contest and a crawdad race for the adults and the kids, so be sure to save your biggest and your fastest crawdad. If you aren’t a diver you can still enter: Just pick out your favorite for the contests from among those that we catch in the traps. We will also have a “Liars Contest” where we will spin yarns about the “treasures” that we find. We will fire up the barbeque and cook up the crawdads, hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob and enjoy all of the delectables that are contributed to the potluck.
Please bring a $3.00 donation per adult to defray the cost of the prizes, soft drinks, hamburgers and corn on the cob. Please also bring a potluck dish, and don’t forget your dive gear, hats, beach chairs and sunscreen. Several members have offered to bring their boats to ferry all the divers to our entry point, and back. If you have one that you would like to bring we will all appreciate it. We will also need a few boat operators to stay in the boats while the divers are in the water so we can help them when they surface then bring everyone safely back to shore. If you do bring a boat I suggest that you bring a bucket to put any crawdads in so they don’t get loose and crawl around in the bottom of your boat. (I have found escapees hiding in my boat several days later when their odor gave them away – YUCK!)
Directions: The entrance to Negro Bar is on Greenback Lane about ½ mile east of the Round Table Pizza at Madison and Greenback. After you pass the ranger station, where you need to pay for your day use, drive into the boat trailer parking area, then turn right and follow the road all the way to the end, at the picnic parking area. We will be waiting for you by the lake. There is a boat launch area immediately below the ranger station. If you are bringing your boat all of Lake Natoma is a no wake zone with a 5 MPH speed limit. If you are bringing a boat please be prepared to launch it by about 8:30 so you can meet us at the picnic area in time to load divers and gear.
Jack (916) 955-8017
