From The President's Chair
by Harlan Meints, President DLARA
From the Kandiyohi County Lakes
RE: NO WAKE ADVISORY ON KANDIYOHI COUNTY LAKES
THe Kandiyohu County Sheriff's Office is issuing a "No-Wake Advisory" for lakes in Kandiyohi County. With the abnormal amount of rain that we have recently received, the lakes in the county are at high levels. The No-Wake Advisory is advising boaters not to create wakes with any type of watercraft, boats, ontoons, personal watercraft, etc. Creating wakes with the boats will cause further erosion to the shorelines of the lakes.
The Sheriff's Office is asking all boaters to be aware of the water levels and reduce the speed of their boats so as not to create a wake. The Sheriff's Office will have deputies patrolling the lakes to remind boaters of the advisory. The No-Wake Advisory will be in place until water levels have retreated.
Sheriff Dan Hartog
(Editor's note: This is a first in my lifetime; hopefully the Advisory will be lifted by the time you receive this issue of the News).
Missle Lane
Thanks to the good offices of local Minnesota Representative Mary Sawatzky we have learned that the highway department has an office of the ombudsman. Board member Colleen O’Leary has collected signatures from south side residents bedeviled for years by speedsters endangering walkers, joggers, bicyclists, and residents just slowing down to pull into their driveways. County officials have shown no interest in these efforts thus far. Maybe the ombudsman will help.
On July 10 at 6 pm the Middle Fork Crow River Watershed District will be hosting a watershed ag tour, food served, but please RSVP. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the ways agriculture is working to improve water quality in the area. Call the Watershed District office for further details (320 796-0888) or email Mike Behan at mike@mfcrow.org.
Worthy of note: gas and food items are available at County Park #3 on the west side of the lake. Ice cream and treats, as well as Lakeside gas, is available at the North Breeze Resort on the southeast side of the lake. A number of cabins are available for rent (320 974-8165), and they have a very nice beach.
Reynard the Fox has been wreaking havoc with the chicken community on the south side of Diamond Lake. Any information leading to his arrest may be reported to this editor. A chicken suitable for broiling awaits the informer.
The Atwater Area Living at Home Block Nurse Program is holding its annual Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 19 at Atwater’s Island Pine Golf Course, 9am registration, 10 am start. $60 will get you 18-holes, a cart and a meal. For those who aren’t familiar with this fine program it provides in-home services for mostly seniors who could use a hand with chores, and transportation, professional assistance free of charge. The LAHBNP is also looking for volunteers – call Sharyl or Karen for further details (974-8737).
ANNUAL DUES for 2014 are still being accepted. We will publish a list of paid up members in the next issue. $25 dollar dues can be sent to Diane Rivard @ 14529 Breezy Point Road, Atwater 56209. Thank you in advance.
Carp Wars
by Craig "Fishsticker" Mackedanz
The 2014 Minnesota State Archery Assoication Bosfishing Tournament was held on Diamond Lake on May 17th. It all started great with warmer (that the last 9 months!) temps during the day. This helped not only with getting some fish active, but participants as well. There were 21 teams present for the shoot, all eager to get on the water and start harvesting some fish. During registration we had a visit from the local C/O inspecting boats for invasive species and wishing us luck for a good harvest.
Once on the water the boats spread out across the lake and it looked like the Carp were getting hit from all angles! I thought it was going to be a good numbers kind of night. Once my partner and I got on the water that thought quickly left my mind. The water temperatures apparently hadn't warmed to an acceptable level for the target species of the night. We made one trip around the lake, zig zagging through the bull rushes and weed patches only to come up with one or two shots occasionally. The fish were definitely sitting tight and low this night, but that didn't stop us from finding some risk taker kind of fish in some of the shallow waters.
The team of Chris Jarve and Kyle Bemboom came in with a Big 5 fish countweighing 158.2 pounds! The number would go on through the night and hold the top spot. The team of Darrel Lego and Jake Roers would clain the 2nd spot with a weight of 127.8 pounds worth of carp. And in 3rd place was the team representing Minnesota Archery, Jeremy Lewernez & Brandon Mathews with a harvest of 121.4 pounds. The Big fish award went to our 1st place team repectively with a carp tipping the scale at 39 pounds. And the small fish award went to team Full Barrel, our 2013 defending champs, it needed photo proof that Tyler Roder shot it with an arrow, but they documented the harvest well enough to claim the small fish award for 2014.
The weather provied to be too much for some participants, we lost 4 teams to the cold conditions and one team to mechanical faailure early in the evening. The temps did dip down to less than 40 degrees after the midnight hour and I have to admit, I was getting quite chilled myself around the 2am time frame. Overall most teams made it through the all nighter and had a good time. Howere, for 2014 I do not think the event will be an all nighter, there were a lot of comments in the group about "getting older" as the sun came up on the landing this year. So watch for a time change in next years event.
On my trip around the lake that night I was very impressed with all the home owners that I had a change to say "HI" to at the end of their docks.
The support for the event was great to see and is appreciated by everyone who participated. I'd like to extend a BIG Thank You Diamond Lake Association members and board for partnering with us for another successful event in 2014!
In closing I would like to pass along to all bowfishermen out ther - keep the bowfishing sport in a good light, take care of your harvest appropriately and know the laws!
What can you do to help stop the spread of A.I.S.? When you boat in waters other than Diamond Lake or your guests arrive from other lakes:
1. When leaving the water, move away from the ramp to clean, inspect and drain your
boat.
2. Clean off all plants, mud or mussels from boat, trailer and wet equipment. Clean the
hull using a stiff brush if necessary.
3. Inspect all surfaces on boat, trailer and equipment as the little terrorists like to collect
in cracks and crevices. Carefully feel your hull for any rough or gritty spots which
may be juvenile mussels that are trying to call your boat their new home (even if you
can’t see them). They will feel like sandpaper or sesame seeds.
4. Drain every drop of water on your boat and wet equipment including pumps, hoses,
coolers, live wells, ballast areas, bilges, anchor lockers. Veligers (microscopic
mussels that cannot be seen with the human eye) can live up to 27 days in even a
tiny amount of water without a food source. They got here sloshing around in
ballast tanks in rough oceans and they survive in pipes at damns with water
moving through at a very high pressure so they can likely survive in your boat as
well.
5. Dry the boat and all equipment completely, ideally out in the sun on a hot day with
all hatches open exposed to the wind until everything is “bone dry”. Adult
mussels can live for up to 30 days out of water and without a food source.
The following chart is a guideline to help you know how many days you may have to dry your boat and equipment. It is just a guideline and it is the minimum time you should dry. To be safe, dry beyond these times. For more complete dry time guidelines go to www.100thmeridian.org and click on “how long can a mussel survive”. These guidelines are not there to irritate or purposely inconvenience you, it’s just the science dictating the circumstances and attention must be paid to how long the little critters live or we let them win!
Time of year in Minnesota Dry Time-Consecutive Days
Summer: July-August (80ºF-100ºF) 7 plus days
Early Summer & Early Fall: June & September (60ºF-80ºF) 21 plus days
Late Spring & Early Fall: May & October (40ºF-60ºF) 30 plus days
Winter Freeze for 3 days (72 Hours)
What if you don’t want to wait that long? Find a decontamination station and decontaminate everything on and in your boat including your engine. Our legislators passed a bill this year that is sending funding to counties with lakes so they can purchase decontamination units and conduct inspections. Until those counties get programs up and running, call the MN Department of Natural Resources to find out where the closest DNR decontamination unit is to your boating location. www.mndnr.gov In Kandiyohi County there is a decontamination located at Saulsbury Beach access in Spicer Thursday-Sundays 9am-7pm weather permitting.
REMEMBER, THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES. ONCE INFESTED, ALWAYS INFESTED.
by Todd Anderson, Manager
We have been filling up very early this year, with people all the way from the southwest part of the state to the north, a mix of young and old, some fishermen and some that that just enjoy the lake, many recounting stories of prior managers/neighbors Rambows and Knutsons. While seasonal camping spots are all taken, there are still some weekly reservations available (should friends or relatives want to stay close by). Full hookups for campers run $31.37 daily and tent sites are $23.89. There are 2 shelters for rent at $30/day, a great option for family reunions. (320 974-8520).
There is also a small store and bait shop on the premises. We sell flatheads, crappie minnows, nite crawlers, earthworms and wax worms in season. The store is a nice stop off for something you need for fishing, burgers, hotdogs, brats, Wick’s beef jerky, milk, ice cream cones and other snacks. We have a bulletin board available for posting activities, sales, and general messages. We are also here to help fishermen know where they can locate a good fishing spot.
We are open from the Fishing Opener to Labor Day. Starting Memorial Day we try to have the store open as much as possible, at least from 8 am to 8 pm. Gas is available in front of the store. Area residents are welcome to stop by.
