Ice Out?

It seems like the ice will never go out, considering last year was the second earliest ice out on record.  Everyday I look at the latest satellite photos to watch the painfully slow progress.  The photos are fuzzy and it's difficult to see much more than the difference between ice and open water.  However, I have this clear, old aerial photograph of ice going out to help visualize what the lake looks like today.  Technically it is just early ice breaking up, and struggling to form in November 1951, but it makes me happy anyway.

Ice on the East Basin of Lake Puckaway and Fox River, November 1951

A Bit of Old News - Duckhunting #1

I've been running through old newspapers and thought I'd occasionally re-print some articles about Puckaway, or Apuckawa, or Puckawa as it is sometimes called.

"W. W. Haseltine, E. J. Pfiffner, and A.E. Morse went down to Puckawa lake the first of the week on a days hunt and succeeded in bagging 42 ducks.  At least that is what they all say, and duck hunters never prevaricate"

Steven's Point Daily Journal November 7, 1885

Panoramics

A few photos from 2012. Click to enlarge

West Shore Lotus Bed

Northwest Shore

Emergent Planting

Eurasian Water-milfoil

Emergent Planting Report

The emergent planting is a success going into winter.  We will now have to wait and see how they handle ice, snow, muskrats and the high water of spring.   We will lose some plants, but overall they are looking good as the lake freezes.  A report is available with many photos of the plantings.  Click REPORT to see it.

Site 2a the most successful planting so far.  

November 15, 2012 Water Monitoring Report

Last one for the year!  Unfortunately I ran out of time to go up river.  However, the river upstream of Puckaway was very clear as usual, and the Secchi disk was visible sitting on the bottom to of the inlet.  The big difference on this day was the water clarity in the West Basin, which was the second best of the year for that location.

October 21, 2012 Water Monitoring Report

Temperature of the lake today was about 48-50 degrees, no wonder turtles are still sunning themselves in the fall sunshine.  With recent rains water levels are back up, and all the plants we established look good standing in the water.

Secchi disk was still visible on the bottom of Fox River Inlet

October 2, 2012 Water Monitoring Report

Not to much new to report, most of the plants are dormant, or soon will be for the season. There were a number of diving ducks bobbing up and down in the West Basin, and hundreds of coots in East Basin.  Even though the water is no longer that green, algae is still abundant.  It is not as noticeable at first because the green and blue-green algae we see in the summer is now uncommon.  They have largely been replaced by the golden-brown algae (diatoms).  The current algae bloom happens to be the diatom Melosira granulata as seen in the photograph below.

Secchi disk was visible on the lake bottom at Fox R. Inlet.