Category Archives: News

News from around the lake.

25 April 2021: Diminishing ice cover on Maine’s lakes could impact fish populations

Lake Auburn. This picture links to the article.

Here on Clary Lake we haven’t been keeping ice in and ice out records for long enough to see a shortening of the iced-in period. Our records go back to 2001 and in that time, there’s no obvious trend but over significantly longer periods (many decades and longer) it’s clear that Maine winters are gradually becoming milder and anyone who’s lived around here for more than a few years can testify to that fact. This article in the Kennebec Journal discusses some of the impacts of shorter iced-in periods on Maine Lakes.

Diminishing ice cover on Maine’s lakes could impact fish populations

12 April 2021 PSA: Mind Your Docks!

September 2013 picture of Art Enos’s dock. It just so happens his dock did NOT have floating decking but if it had, it would have floated away!

Despite it being early April, many people have already put in their docks this year, perhaps because the lake is relatively low for this time of year, or they just want to get a jump on the boating season. Like who doesn’t? However, most of the docks I’ve seen are just barely clear of the water. The lake is currently only 0.17 feet (2 inches) below the HWM, much lower than it’s been the past two years on this date. While it’s been relatively dry so far this year, it is not unreasonable to expect significant spring rains at any time. If that happens the lake could easily rise 3-4 inches (or more!) almost overnight and flood the docks. If your dock is of the stationary (not floating) kind and if your decking is of the unattached floating variety, you might want to make sure to attach it to the frame so it doesn’t float away. Zip ties work well for this or use some clothes line or something similar to tie the decking down.

01 April 2021: Trouble With Squirrels

Wait. What?

I suppose this sounds like an April Fools post. I wish it was! To be honest, I had considered a gag post for April 1st but couldn’t round up the gumption to do it. So here I was, minding my own business when I noticed that for the past hour or so, Clary_cam1 had not been uploading pictures. Rebooting didn’t help and I couldn’t connect to it with my phone. So I went to look it over and found that a critter, most likely a squirrel, chipmunk, or maybe even a mouse (given the size of the tooth marks), had chewed the end of the wireless antenna off (picture at left) allowing rain to get inside and shorting it out. Harrumph. Well it turns out the manufacturer used essentially the same antenna on this camera as on the old cameras, so I was able to swap out the antenna with a working one. Problem solved. You’re welcome! Continue reading →

27 March 2021: Close But No Cigar

Not yet folks. Close, but as the saying goes, no cigar. Our criteria for ice-out is when there’s no ice left along the shore line, at least not enough to interfere with a boat or canoe. There’s still a good amount of ice on the south shore on what used to the the Antogoni property as you can see in this picture at left. Below is a panorama photo I took showing the extent of the ice. There’s also ice remaining in some coves on the south shore but this is the biggest extent. I expect *maybe* the ice will be all gone sometime tomorrow. Time will tell.

Full Sized Panorama

25 March 2021: Ice Out Update, It’s Getting Close

It’s getting close folks. I got an email from David Hodsdon this morning saying that he saw 6 loons yesterday in a spot of open water at the point near his house. Compare the picture at left, taken just a few minutes before Noon today, with the one I posted yesterday! A lot of open water out there…

2021 Clary Lake Ice Out Contest

Here are the names of people who entered the contest and their guestimate of when Ice Out will occur.

Your name:	What day do you think the ice will be completely off Clary Lake?
Kathryn Ference	03/22/21
Alan Nicholas Decker	03/25/21
Kelley Doore	03/25/21
Bambi jones	03/29/21
Ronnie Spann	04/01/21
Des FitzGerald	04/01/21
Stephen Viti	04/01/21
Beverley Bowen	04/01/21
Andrea Antognoni	04/01/21
Malcolm Burson	04/02/21
Karen Stutzer	04/02/21
Carolyn Curtis	04/02/21
Leslie Gillette	04/02/21
George Fergusson	04/03/21
Tara Doe	04/03/21
Stan York	04/04/21
Ray Martin	04/04/21
Jack Holland	04/04/21
Donhogg	04/04/21
Jay Bridgforth	04/06/21
Stephen Viti	04/06/21
Steve Relyea	04/07/21
Gareth Bowen	04/07/21
Paul Devlin	04/07/21
Karren Briggs	04/07/21
Stephen Viti	04/07/21
Ellis Percy	04/08/21
Steve Cowles	04/09/21
Rich & Megan Luisi	04/09/21
Thurlow Crummett	04/09/21
Tom Lawton	04/09/21
David Knight	04/10/21
Dan Burns	04/12/21
Mark Doe	04/13/21
Richard Gallion	04/14/21
Linda Gallion	04/15/21

24 March 2021: Ice Out Update

Ice Out approaches and it’s now looking like it’ll go out sooner rather than later. The ice is getting decidedly darker and this morning there is an odd brown stain over a large area that is visible in the Clary_cam3 photo at left. This warm weather is really wreaking havoc with the ice! Below is a Clary_cam2 photo from this morning showing a good deal of open water right on shore, and a large open lead heading off towards the boat launch. Also, it wasn’t that long ago that a few of us adventuresome people were driving our cars around on the lake. Steven Giampetruzzi sent me this picture of him and his Scoobydoo parked out in front of his camp, and Clary_cam2 caught me cruising by the day before:

03 March 2021: CLA Secretary Driving His Car on Clary Lake

A couple of short videos I took while out driving my Subaru on Clary Lake today. The ice was pretty rough. At 16″ thick it was plenty solid, but rough. If it was smoother I’d probably still be out there.

Continue reading →

We’re Having Some Technical Difficulties!

Well we WERE having some technical difficulties installing an SSL cert on the site and getting all the redirects working. We’re up and running now. Thanks for your patience, and thank you to those who pointed out busted stuff!

12 February 2021: Maine Cabin Masters on Clary Lake

A camp on Clary Lake belonging to the Andersen family was featured on Maine Cabin Masters this winter. The camp is over on the west shore of the lake. I recall the camp being worked on last summer, and more than once I waved at the folks working on it while out fishing. At the time I didn’t know it was a Maine Cabin Masters project and I didn’t learn that until long after they were gone. I also lost track of this project and didn’t know when it was going to air or I’d have posted about it sooner.

Check out the Maine Cabin Masters post. The before and after pictures are impressive, and the 3D model is pretty sexy 🙂

603 – The Old Fishing Camp

Many thanks to Dan Burns for bringing this to my attention.

22 January 2021: Clary_cam2 Has Been Upgraded

Dave Knight and I just finished installing the new Clary_cam2. The camera’s 1920 x 1080 image needs to be adjusted slightly, it’s a little dark. I’ll swing by this weekend and tweak it a bit. As is, it’s already a big improvement from the old camera:

Here’s the old image from earlier today. As you can see, the new camera has a wider field of view and better resolution, not to mention color rendition:

I was going to replace Clary_cam3 today but I’ve run out of gumption. I’ve got 2 more cameras on order and I’m going to hold off until I can replace both Clary_cam1 and Clary_cam3, sometime next week. Stay tuned!

14 January 2021: Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

I received this email this morning from Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society) and thought I’d pass it on to our Clary Lake readers. I attended several Maine Lakes webinars last year and found them interesting and educational. I’m sure this year’s programs will be as well. I’ve already signed up for the first one, Winter Lake Monitoring. There’ll be more webinars. I’ll post notices of additional programs when I receive them.

Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

In light of the continuing health concerns about COVID-19, Maine Lakes will be hosting this year’s Maine Lakes Conference speakers in another series of “Wednesday Webinars” running the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, from February through June.

This year’s theme, A Deep Dive Into the Lake Book, features many interesting and relevant topics that correspond with our soon-to-be published 4th edition of “The Lake Book.” While we are currently finalizing speakers for some of the webinars, we are happy to announce that registration is open for the following presentations. Registration is free and easy. Hope to see you there!

Continue reading →

Maine Lakes Fall 2020 Newsletter Is Out

The Maine Lakes Fall 2020 Newsletter is out, and it’s 20 pages are packed full of news, interesting information, and stories focused on Maine’s lakes and ponds. It’s available as a PDF or as a re-sizable webpage. You should also plan on attending some of their Maine Lakes 2021 Conference sessions by Zoom on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month at 4 p.m. starting February 3rd through June 16th. I attended several webinars last summer and they were fun and informative. To be notified when registration is open, check out their website, www.lakes.me, after the new year or email info@lakes.me. I’ll also post a webinar schedule here when it becomes available. The Clary Lake Association has been a supporting member of Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society) for many years.

09 September 2020: Sour Grapes

The hearing for oral arguments in the matter of Aquafortis Associates LLC (AQF) v. Board of Environmental Protection (docket AP-20-4) took place yesterday afternoon in Lincoln County Superior Court, Judge Daniel Billings presiding. The hearing was held using Google Meet (picture at left) and a few CLA board members including myself joined. I had planned on recording the hearing and making that recording available for viewing, but unlike Zoom meetings (with which I’m more familiar), recording is not an option with Google Meet. I did however take copious notes. Attorney for AQF Dennis Carrillo presented his case first, followed by Assistant Attorney General Scott Boak who represented the Board of Environmental Protection and finally, counsel for the Clary Lake Association Randy Creswell spoke. Judge Billings periodically asked questions. The hearing was scheduled to last 1 hour but it went considerably longer, about an hour and a half. Continue reading →

26 August 2020: State Boat Launch Posted No Swimming

We were as surprised as anyone when a No Swimming sign appeared at the State boat launch on Clary Lake a few weeks ago. We spoke to Diano Circo, Chief Planner at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) and asked about the sign. It appears there have been numerous complaints of swimmers not getting out of the way when a boater wants to launch or retrieve their craft, both at the Clary launch and at other State-owned launches around the State. According to Mr. Circo, the IF&W has decided to post all State-owned boat launches. Whether this is true or not we can’t say, but another reliable source has confirmed that the State does plan on taking this action in the near future. Department of Conservation rules of conduct at State boat launch facilities prohibit swimming at State-owned boat launches but the no swimming rule has generally not been enforced. That “look the other way” stance has apparently changed. Continue reading →

26 June 2020: Clary Lake Association Files Brief in AQF WLO Transfer Appeal

On Thursday June 25th the Clary Lake Association through their counsel Randy Creswell timely filed their brief in the matter of Aquafortis Associates, LLC [AQF] v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection [BEP] Docket No. WISSC-AP-20-04. The State of Maine filed their brief a week ago, on June 19th. AQF now has 14 days from the service of these briefs to file their reply briefs. For the State’s brief the deadline is July 3rd and for our brief, the deadline is July 9th. Someone is going to have a fun-filled Fourth of July weekend!

The Clary Lake Association is but a Party in Interest to this appeal and as such we really didn’t need to file a reply to AQF’s brief, especially considering how thorough and irrefutable the State’s brief is. Nonetheless we felt that providing some additional arguments supporting our right, title, and interest in the Clary Lake dam was a worthwhile effort. Continue reading →

Lake Stewards of Maine’s Summer Webinar Series

The Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly Maine Volunteer Lake Monitor Program) is putting on a series of weekly webinars on various topics of interest to people involved with Maine Lakes. This notice is from an email I just received. I’ve attended 2 webinars so far, the first on Climate Change and it’s Impact on Maine Lakes and most recently, a program on Metaphyton. Highly recommend taking in some of these programs if you can find the time. Head over to their website to see what’s being offered. I’ll try to publicize future webinars here.

Please Join Us for our Summer Webinar Series:

In lieu of our Annual Lake Monitoring Conference, Lake Stewards of Maine – Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program will be hosting a series of weekly informational webinars from June through August on a wide range of topics pertaining to Maine Lakes. The sessions will be approximately one hour in length, and will include an opportunity for Q&A for those who attend the live webinars on the posted calendar date. Pre-registration is required for all who plan to attend. The webinars are open to Maine’s citizen lake scientists, as well as the general public.

The live webinars will take place at 4PM on Friday afternoons, beginning on June 5, and will go through August 28, with the exception of the holiday weekend of July 3. All sessions will be recorded, and made available for future viewing on our website.

The Next webinar looks quite interesting:

Citizen Stewards and Maine Lakes:

Collaborative Approaches for Sustainable Systems

Presented by Firooza Pavri, PhD; airing this Friday, June 26 at 4pm

Freshwater resources provide vital societal and ecosystem services. Keeping our lakes and ponds healthy for future generations will require that we strive to gain a more nuanced understanding of the complex factors that influence their well-being. Historically, models aimed at identifying which Maine lakes may be most vulnerable to ecosystem decline have rarely considered the role that private citizens may play in the process. However, local citizen stewardship efforts such as water quality and invasive plant monitoring, watershed surveys, and other citizen-driven conservation and management efforts can be a major factor in determining the long-term resilience of an aquatic ecosystem. In this webinar, Dr. Pavri will share her recent research looking at the important role that citizen lake scientists and other lake residents play in protecting Maine waters for the future, and how we can use this information to more clearly determine lake vulnerability.

Drought Conditions

A while ago we had a Drought Monitor page on the website, but it stopped being supported and finally stopped working. I’ve added this U.S. Drought Monitor graphic to the Weather page. When I originally posted this article on June 18th, we were considered to be “Abnormally Dry.” So far this month we’ve only recorded a hair over 1″ of rain.

Hatha Yoga Classes at Clary Lake Bed & Breakfast This Summer

Looking for something to do this summer near Clary Lake? There will be Hatha Yoga classes held at Clary Lake Bed & Breakfast this summer! The classes will be held outdoors on Saturdays from 10-11 am. Classes will start June 13th, and continue all Saturdays throughout the summer until the end of August, with the exception of the 4th of July.

This is the second year these classes have been held at Clary Lake B&B. For more information please contact Kathryn Jensen or Linda Gallion.

2021 Clary Lake Ice Out Contest

Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

Please join in on the first Clary Lake 4th of July Boat Parade!!

When: 4th of July Where: Clary Lake Time: 2 PM

Details: Decorate your boat and meet down by the public landing for a cruise of the lake! Let’s celebrate the 4th in style.

For more information or if you have questions please feel free to text or call Shanna Pease at 485-4171.

Please join in on the first
Clary Lake
4th of July Boat Parade!!

When: 4th of July
Where: Clary Lake
Time: 2 PM