Wednesday was another of those two-part days. The morning was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and the lake calm as glass. (with frost on the dock) It clouded over around 10AM and a light easterly wind began to blow. Rain started around 3PM and lasted into the evening. Never hard, but fairly constant. Resulted in about 1/10th inch of rain falling. The afternoon barely topped 40F making it a chilly day. The water temperature at 3 feet deep even fell a few degrees. All good excuses to read my current novel (Remarkably Bright Creatures) and skip the chores. Thursday morning is overcast with a light easterly wind blowing. Not a very nice morning. The next few days look to be a mixed bag of sun, clouds and rain with temperatures remaining well below normal for early May.
The lake level is falling quickly. So quickly it is a bit concerning. Within the next few days, it will be lower than last year. (See the chart on the weather page.) From what I have observed, we are still in drought conditions. It is normal for there to be two, small streams coming down the hillside here for a few weeks just after the snow melts. Spring fed from somewhere up the hill. Neither of those streams flowed this spring meaning the ground water is still below normal levels.
Had the opportunity to cross the lake at low speed on Tuesday and never saw a single lake trout on the sonar. Hope that I was just in the wrong place.
There have been some hopefully positive developments on the Dixon Creek access issue. The Municipality is working hard behind the scenes to restore access and is having some success.
I tied up a piece of runaway dock to the shoreline at 222 North Shore. If you are missing a nice, modern (built on floats) piece of dock that is roughly 6 feet by 10 feet, that is where it is.
The Packs have the marina in great shape. Please watch for soft areas. No need to leave muddy ruts behind. (or get stuck)
Transport Canada is digging into our pocketbooks this year. Most of us now have to renew the registration of our boats every 5 years. Pretty much applies to every boat that has an engine of 10hp or more regardless of age. More information here:
https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/vessel-licensing-registration/licensing-pleasure-craft/apply-manage-pleasure-craft-licence-pcl/apply-manage-pleasure-craft-licence-pcl
There is a $250 fine if you get pulled over for a safety inspection this season and your registration is not up to date.
The Rogers / FOCA special pricing plan for internet service remains $60 per month. (unless you have a Rogers phone in which case it remains $50 per month) Even at the $60 price it is the best internet service for many of us on the lake. It appears they throttle the 5G connection to 40MBps down, and 10MBps up. (tested to that speed again recently) That is plenty of bandwidth for any single-family use. I have used the service for two full seasons and grade it an A-. If the service keeps working through power outages in the future I will up their grade to A+.
Summer burning rules came into effect on April 1. Fires are permitted 7PM to 7AM only through October 31st. Check the municipal website for information regarding total fire bans during the summer should that become necessary. There is also information there on how to apply for a permit for a legal daytime fire through the summer months. (conditions allowing)
The dump is on winter hours through April 30. It is open Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays from 11AM to 4:30PM.
Dirt roads in the municipality are now on half-load restrictions tentatively through May 15. That date may change depending on the spring thaw. Do not order any heavy deliveries until that date or later.
The 2026 fishing regulations are on-line.
https://lwra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2026-fishing-regulations-summary-en-2025-12-08.pdf
The fishing seasons and regulations for this area (zone 15) remain the same as 2025. They are on pages 104-114 of the regulations book. Bass starts June 27 and ends November 30. Trout started January 1 and ends September 30 with the slot size of 16 to 21 inches to be returned to the lake. It is a one-line lake for ice fishing.
