LOFA, Inc.
The Lake Of The Falls Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of nature.
Contact us at lofassociation@gmail.com
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Attention, anglers! Please fill out a Fish Count Form whenever you have any luck on our lake.
Get the online form here (click on these words)
or visit the Fish Count Form page to download and print a paper copy. Thanks!
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Action alert: Proposed Wakesports bill falls short
From Mike Engleson, director of Wisconsin Lakes: “A bill proposed by Rep. Robert Swearingen (R-Rhinelander) and Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) to regulate wakesurfing and wakeboarding fails to provide any meaningful protection against the activities’ impacts. While Wisconsin Lakes is pleased to see this issue being addressed, the bill falls far short of what is needed and even makes things worse by undercutting local efforts to manage impacts to lakes and streams. Rather than setting minimum levels of protection for Wisconsin, the bill as written would actually limit the regulation of wakesports.”
Left unregulated, the creation of artificial wakes could wreak havoc with the ecology of a lake like ours.
Read the whole article here, including how you can contact your legislator to tell them that this bill is inadequate, and to call for meaningful discussion to pass minimum state standards that balance the right of everyone to recreate on our waters.
Our fall board meeting is this Sunday
The Lake of the Falls Association Board of Directors will have our fall board meeting this Sunday morning at 10:00 at Beaver’s Resort. We’ll have updates on the DNR’s Directed Lakes project, our efforts to control Curly Leaf Pondweed upriver, and anything else anyone would like to discuss. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Dave Sino
The Lake of the Falls Association board of directors and all of our members extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family of long-time member Dave Sino, who passed away on the morning of September 2. Dave served on the LOFA board from 2017-2023, and was a good friend and neighbor to many around the lake. He will be greatly missed.
Beaver’s Resort will host a celebration of life in remembrance of Dave on Saturday, October 14 from 1:00 to 4:00. Memorials may be sent to Mercer Area Ambulance & Rescue, P.O. Box 409, Mercer, WI 54547. Condolences can be posted at www.bolgerfuneral.com.
Another successful Annual Picnic!
The weather was lovely last Sunday, so we went tentless for the LOFA Annual Meeting and Picnic, and met on the shady lawn south of Beaver’s. Twenty-eight people enjoyed delicious burgers, brats, side dishes and homemade desserts, and many of us lingered long after the food was gone, enjoying the day and each other’s company. At the meeting we thanked Dave Sino for his years of service on the board, welcomed new board member Chuck Spittler, and heard reports on fish and water quality, our family of bald eagles, and the invasive species up the river from Lake of the Falls. You can read the Annual Meeting minutes here. A big “thank-you” goes to Jan and Tom Tesch for organizing everything, to the volunteers who helped with set-up and take-down, and to Tom Ziegler for his expert cooking. A good time was had by all — hope to see everyone again next year!
Our Annual Meeting and Picnic are next Sunday!
The LOFA annual general membership meeting and picnic will be held on Sunday, July 30th at Beaver’s Resort on Lake of the Falls Road. The meeting will start at 11:00 am with the picnic immediately following.
At the meeting we will vote for new officers and to approve the minutes of the Spring board meeting. The minutes are posted on our website and don’t take long to read, so take a look. We’ll talk about the Directed Lakes program being done for us by the WDNR, the latest info on our fish populations, and an update on the invasive species problem up the river. And if there is anything else lake-related that you’d like to talk about, please bring your questions and comments.
Feel free to bring along your family members and houseguests. Brats, burgers, side dishes and beverages will be supplied by Beavers. If you would like to bring a dessert to pass, please feel free to do so, and bring your lawn chairs if you have them. If you haven’t already paid your membership dues, you can pay them at the picnic, and if you would like to participate in the 50/50 raffle, don’t forget to bring some cash! In addition to the usual cash prize, we’re also raffling off a ride in Bill Lauer’s floatplane! And if you’re looking for more opportunities to spend money, our beautiful LOFA signs will be available for $20 each. It’s great to see so many of our signs up around the lake. If you don’t have yours yet, buy one at the picnic and display it on your fire post, at the end of your dock, or both!
Tent set-up will be Saturday, July 29th at about 10:00 am. It’s a big tent, so volunteers are always needed to help get it set up! Please come and help if you can.
Come on out! The picnic is always a lot of fun, and it’s a great way to meet your neighbors around the lake. Hope to see you there.
The state of our fisherie in Lake of the Falls
On Tuesday June 28, 11 LOFA members gathered at Beaver’s for a conversation with our local DNR Fish Biologist, Zach Lawson, on the subject of the fisherie in Lake of the Falls. This is a summary or our wide-ranging and very interesting 90-minute discussion.
According to Zach, the walleye population is in decline not only in Lake of the Falls, but in most lakes across the north woods, likely as a result of our changing environment. Warmer temperatures, overharvesting, variations in ice-off dates, alterations to our shorelines and more are all contributing factors in the decline. Across the region, more fish are being stocked in our lakes while fewer are surviving.
Since 2013. . .(to read the full report, click here)
An audio recording of the full meeting is available on request. Send an email to lofassociation@gmail.com if you would like to hear it!