After three weeks of cool, cloudy and windy days, Friday was finally a nice day all day long. There were a few periods of high clouds, but mostly it was blue sky and relatively calm. The temperature climbed to 69F. The warmest since the 24th of April. Saturday morning is gorgeous. Mirror calm water, 44F, and blue sky. It is forecast to cloud over quickly and a brisk southerly wind start to blow mid-morning. About a 50/50 chance of rain has crept back into the forecast for this afternoon and evening. Sunday should be nice during the day with rain returning late Sunday night into Monday morning. Temperatures remain near seasonal, which is 68F for a daily high.
The rain last week has raised the lake level about 2 inches. We are back to right on "normal" for this time of year.
I got an inquiry from a cottager on Friday who is missing a roughly 4 foot by 4 foot piece of the walkway for their dock. It is unpainted, pressure treated wood. No additional floatation. Just the wood itself. Most likely toward the west end of the lake.
You may be surprised to find more retail outlets open this holiday Monday. Over the past few months, the province has quietly removed Family Day and Victoria Day from "must close" holidays. Closing is now up to the individual retailer.
There was another hopefully positive development on the Dixon Creek access issue on May 1st, and a further update on May 12th. First, we learned that it is not a creek or river. The waterway does not fall enough meters per kilometer to be considered a creek or river. It is officially a "waterway." 2nd is that taking identifiable photos of anyone on a waterway without their permission is illegal. The Municipality is working behind the scenes (with the assistance of numerous cottagers) on both short term, and long-term solutions to ensure continued motorboat access to Dixon Lake for years to come.
Whether renewing or becoming a new member of the Limerick Waterways Ratepayers Association (LWRA) you can do it easily on their website at: lwra.ca. Dues are $50 per year per cottage. Please support the organization that works on many issues of importance to the lake community.
The LWRA has been involved with the Lake Partner Program for some 40 years. Here is a link to a graph of water clarity testing results that covers the past 30 years. You can see from the dotted red trend line that there has been almost no change in water clarity in that time.
https://lwra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Secchi-graph-2025.pdf
Transport Canada is digging into our pocketbooks this year. Most of us now have to renew the registration of our boats every 5 years. (finally found my registration paperwork that expires in 2035 and have a copy of it in the boat) 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 (the 5G signal is some 15 dB stronger this spring that it was last year, so there have been some technical improvements) on the lake. It appears they throttle the 5G connection to 40MBps down, and 10MBps up. That is plenty of bandwidth for any single-family use. I am now into my 3rd season of using the service 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 summer hours through August 31. It is open Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays from 11AM to 6:00PM. (Note those are changed hours as of late 2025. It used to be 1PM to 8PM on Wednesday and Sunday) The Roads Department that oversees the landfill is doing a great job of keeping it neat and organized.
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.
