Monday started out with haze and smoke from the fires out west. Visibility was low enough that the far shoreline was not visible. The haze lightened up a bit in the afternoon and it was quite nice. Afternoon high in the mid 80F range and the wind subsided leaving the lake calm. Tuesday is starting out a bit cooler with less haze and smoke. They say it will continue to be typical July hot today and Wednesday. Thursday is forecast to bring a change with showers and thunderstorms being generated by a cold front. The water temp at 3 feet deep is 77F down from 78F. Some years it hits 80, most it never does. July 20 is statistically the warmest day of the year.
Latest update on boating access to Dixon Lake. The creek is open and navigable, but Land Escapes employees continue to attempt to intimidate boaters into not boating to Dixon Lake. There will be a delegation to Council at the July 21st meeting to further discuss the situation. The bottom line for now is the creek is open, and you have every right to use it and to use the shoreline of both Dark and Dixon Lakes.
The construction along Hwy 62 south of Madoc is underway. On the 10th they were working on several sections near Ivanhoe and the Crookston turn. I have been taking the 14 to Stirling and Marmora then across the 7 at times. If you are coming from the east, I recommend the 41 to the 7.
The LWRA will be having their traditional activities on the August holiday weekend. The paddle sports (canoe, kayak, etc.) competition will be Saturday morning August 2. The AGM and social event will be that afternoon (being held at the Aaron Huizinga cottage across the bay from the dam on St. Ola lake. There is a yellow slide on his dock.) and the sailboat regatta will be Sunday afternoon August 3. More info will be posted closer to the event dates.
The Rogers 5G tower on Sutton Rd. is operational. The Rogers / FOCA special pricing plan for internet service is $60 per month this year. (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 us on the lake. Once you are an LWRA member, we can provide you with a link to the "Rogers Preferred Program" webpage. It appears they throttle the 5G connection to 50MBps down, and 15MBps up. That is plenty of bandwidth for any single-family use. I have tested the connection and can stream three videos simultaneously on three separate devices with no buffering on any of them.
The municipality is on summer burning rules. Daytime burning is not allowed until November 1. (see exceptions below) No permits were issued last year. Campfires less than 3 feet by 3 feet are allowed from 7PM to 7AM.
Now, to answer some more technical questions about daytime fires. I am fairly adept at reading Ontario "O.reg" legalese but will insert the disclaimer here that this is MY interpretation of what was provided by the "Fire Prevention Officer" for the municipality. O.Reg. 207/96 sections 8.1 through 8.4 say that during the day:
You can use a commercially sold camp stove during the day that uses a liquid or gas fuel as long as that stove can be turned off by a control valve.
You can have a charcoal fire in a BBQ designed for charcoal while using only commercially available charcoal, AND, you are within 100 meters of your permanent dwelling.
You can have a charcoal fire in a BBQ designed for charcoal while using only commercially available charcoal, AND, you are in a commercially operated campground with permission from the campground owner/operator.
You can have a wood fire in a commercially available wood burning stove or oven as long as the stove is 5 meters from any combustible material, the area under the stove is bare rock, the stove encloses the fire on all 4 sides, and the stove is within 100 meters of your dwelling.
You can have a campfire in a commercial campground in an above ground grate that is permanently affixed to the ground and cannot be moved and is clear of any combustible material by 3 meters in all directions including vertically (no overhanging branches) and you have permission from the campground owner/operator.
You can have a daytime campfire that is less than 1 meter in diameter and 1 meter high as long as it is on bare rock and at least one meter from all flammable material.
This last section (taken from O.Reg. 207/96 Section 8.5 paragraphs 1 through 4) seems to say that as long as you build a small fire on bare rock, you can have a daytime campfire at a wilderness campsite. Remember, all of these exceptions are for daytime burning when a total "fire ban" is NOT in effect.
The dump is on summer hours. It is open Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday Mondays from 11AM to 6:00PM. It changes back to winter hours on September 1.
The 2025 fishing regulations are available on the Ontario.ca website. The Limerick chain of lakes remains at the very south end of fisheries zone 15. Pages 104 to 114 of the regulations book. Bass season opened June 28 and closes November 30. Lake trout season opened January 1 and closes September 30. The Limerick chain of lakes has a "slot size" for lake trout that MUST be returned to the lake if caught. It is roughly 16 to 22 inches. It is also a "one line" lake when ice fishing.
