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STROLL around our spacious and peaceful grounds
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RELAX the northwoods way
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STROLL around our spacious and peaceful grounds
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RELAX the northwoods way
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Bay of Little Saint Germain Lake
Fish House The Estrold Resort 1130 Gessert Rd. St. Germain, WI 54558
715-479-5274 |
Articles Feel free to browse some recent articles from our northern Wisconsin resort newsletter. Sign up to receive our free newsletter at the top of this page! Lake Turnover - Every fall as the air temperatures drop, the water temperature of the lake drops as well. No kidding, right? Well, do you know what happens as the temperature of the water continues to drop? A process called "turnover" occurs. Now, bear with me for a moment while I give you some background on this wonderful substance we call water. Let's dust off those old high school chemistry brain cells and recall that generally, cool water sinks and warm water rises due to the density of each. Water is one of the only substances that becomes more dense as it cools along with expanding in size. Remember that bottle of beer you put in the freezer to cool quickly and you forgot about? It leaked or worse yet, burst. Anyway, in the summer, the cool water is down deep and the warmer water is near the surface. A fairly stable situation. As a matter of fact, when I did some water sampling for the DNR over the years, the water temperature in the deepest part of West Bay would be in the 40's while the water temperature near the surface could easily be in the 70's. OK, so here comes fall with its cooler and eventually colder temperatures. The water at the surface cools and sinks. This continues until something funny happens. At about 39 degrees Fahrenheit, water no longer sinks. This is because of the special molecular properties of water. So, at some point we end up with the entire lake at 39 degrees. At this point, all the water in the lake mixes very easily distributing oxygen and other nutrients throughout the lake. From here on, as the surface water cools, it will remain at the surface, eventually freezing and becoming a winter playground for snowmobilers, ice fisher people, ice skaters, hockey players, snow shoers, and cross country skiers. That's lake turnover. As you can imagine, a similar, but reversed process occurs in the spring as the ice melts and surface temperatures increase. Year after year the cycle continues. Oh, don't forget about that beer you put in the freezer! Aerators - Little Saint Germain Lake has two aerators operating during the winter to increase the oxygen levels. One is located in East Bay in the middle of the bay by the big island, and the other is in South Bay near the north east corner of the bay. Increasing oxygen levels helps fish survive the winter when the lake ice prevents the fish from leaving South and East Bays seeking better oxygen levels hence more hospitable living conditions. The East Bay aerator first operated during the winter of 2002 and the South Bay aerator began pumping oxygen into the lake in the winter of 2003. They have proved to be successful by increasing the dissolved oxygen levels. Before the aerators were installed and operating, the winter fish kill was both more noticeable and detrimental to the fishery. The process of turning on the switch to the aerators is an interesting one. Let me explain. The first step in the winter is completed by Mother Nature, and that is the lake needs to freeze so it’s safe enough to walk and snowmobile on. Once that occurs, a group of volunteers gathers the necessary supplies to rope off the soon to be open water. The supplies include: painted orange 2x4’s with a notch for inserting a rope, a large spool of rope, reflectors, and a large sign warning of the open water condition. Using GPS coordinates, a perimeter is marked around the area of soon to be open water. Then using ice augers, 6 inch deep holes are drilled into the ice every 10 feet or so along the perimeter. The 2x4’s are inserted snuggly into the drilled hole creating fence posts all along the perimeter. The rope is strung and inserted into the top notches of the 2x4 creating a fenced off area. Now here comes the fun part, the aerator is turned on, and in just a few minutes, larger 8 inch diameter holes are drilled directly over the aerator (which is resting on the bottom of the lake) inside the roped off perimeter. Anyone want to volunteer for that job? Once the aerator is running and these starter holes are drilled, because of the force of the oxygen rising up through the lake, a large gusher of water blows through the starter holes. This is always a shock to the person drilling the holes, even though they know it’s going to happen. Five or six starter holes and by the next day, a small area of open water is, hopefully, contained inside the roped off perimeter. As the days roll by the open water area continues to grow. The aerator project manager inspects the location of the open water to ensure the fence is in the correct place. Remember, the fence was installed before the aerator was turned on. Why? Well, you can’t have open water and then fence it off, because of the liability. Imagine if some unfortunate snowmobiler, ice fisherman, or cross country skier unexpectedly came across the open water before the fence was erected. Not a good situation. There have been times when the initial placement of the fence wasn’t quite right and had to be adjusted because the open water was getting too close to the fence. A lot of good a fence will do after it falls into the open water. Obviously, if this happens, the fence either gets moved or extended to ensure a compete and secure fence is around the open water. For those of you who might be interested in learning more about this topic and the actual study conducted by the USGS and the Little Saint Germain Lake District (the taxing authority that pays for all this, like a home owners association with the power to tax its members), go to the report issued by the USGS at: USGS REPORT on Little Saint Germain Lake St. Germain 5th Annual Radar Run St. Germain held it’s 5th annual Radar Run on West Bay. Basically, it’s a contest to see who can go the fastest on their snowmobile on a 600 or 1000 foot straight track. Only one at a time for safety reasons. There are categories for each size of machine and your speed is recorded by a radar gun, the same kind used by the state patrol on the highway. Anyway, . . . . . . . . . As part of the Radar Run, a “Bikini Run” was held to warm up the afternoon. To the right are a few pictures of some of the participants. Top speed for the lovely ladies was 88 mph. Most said they weren’t cold during the race, but the ride back to the starting line was cold. The temperature that day was 3 degrees above zero! (See the flagman in the orange hat? . . . None other than Zeke!)
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