Subject :
Navigation laws and regulations Q & A review

This is an invitation for everyone who uses Martha Lake, whether it be for swimming, floating, kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, water bicycling, boating of any kind, sailing, fishing, water SKIING, pontoon, cruising, etc.

Join us for an educational learning experience with guest speaker DNR warden, Tom Heisler. Tom is well experienced with addressing lake associations and lake groups for these kinds of presentations. This is a common service the DNR provides.

Tom will review pertinent laws and regulations to clarify lake users’ understanding. Everyone can benefit by refreshing their knowledge. We’ll be able to ask Tom any questions regarding the safe use of our beautiful lake.

PURPOSE:
To educate and inform all of us.

FORMAT:
A friendly discussion basis .

Therefore improving safety and awareness for all lake users

DURATION:
Two hours or less

MOTTO:
Safety, fun and learning.

Please mark your calendars and plan on attending this event for the sake of all friends and neighbors on beautiful Martha Lake

Thank you
Jim Trotter

Jim Trotter:

I am organizing a meeting on July 5 hopefully at the senior center to review navigational laws and regulations. I’m trying to promote this in a positive way that it’s going to be an open seminar based on learning and education. Bring awareness to everyone who use the lake for swimming, kayaking, boating, fishing, water, skiing, pontooning, etc. etc.

Our guest speaker will be Tom Heisler, our local DNR warden. Therefore, we will have an expert on the laws and anybody can ask any questions they would like. We let the authority educate us

Tom is very nice. Kathy and I met with Tom here at our home after a near miss incident last Labor Day weekend. He agrees with me that something needs to be done, but we want to avoid bringing the law on the lake and we reserve that harsh action if this meeting doesn’t work. Tom agrees this would be a smart approach, and he will do a wonderful job that will benefit all of us.

Shared by the Trotters.

Jim and Kathy Trotter had a meeting with Eric Snow, the town board chairman and the road crew boss to understand exactly what they’re doing on Trails End Drive .
We found out they really don’t have a plan (what a surprise) but if you look on the map Trails End Dr like every other town road has a service right-of-way for the town road crew to maintain.
They are clearing the road as wide as they can for ease of plowing and better drainage. The actual road will not be wider just the shoulder and ditch. They plan to continue from Martha Lake Road all the way to the end of the town Road, which is at the edge of Foeringer’s and Trotter’s property lines of Lots 6 and 7.
This is the beginning of planned roadwork all around Mercer.
A few pictures of the way it is 3/4/2024 showing how wide they’re cutting. It is a horrible shock and scar.
Seasonal town road load limits were enforced on February 28. We don’t understand how they can drive dump trucks that are clearly heavier than 5 tons loaded with logs on Trails End Dr or Martha Lake Road. That doesn’t make any sense because the laws apply to everyone.
They did get a jumpstart on these road projects because of such a mild winter and now, of course the frost line is thawing out a month early.

The Trotters expressed their displeasure in ruining the ambience, and it fell on deaf ears. These roadwork projects have been on the docket for many years and unfortunately they can just come in and do what they want to do. They don’t have to warn or even talk to the land owners, or even be neighborly. That’s the part that’s upsetting.















Photos provided by Jim Trotter

Lake level update. A trapper was hired and the damns blown up. There were two significant beaver damns. They trapped one large female beaver and two adult males.

The trapper is pulling his traps for the season. The lake level has significantly dropped due to the demolition of the damn and trapping of the beavers. The trappers bill totaled $360. Plus $75 for the explosives to blow the damns. If you benefited from the lower lake level and want to contribute, Marggie and Geno Mallum are taking donations. Check the Facebook page for their address or use the contact form on this site to get the address emailed to you.

According to the trapper, the beavers were harvesting trees all around the lake. One family lost 4 bigger trees.

We're all in this together, please think of sending something to help. No donation too small. Thanks.

Hello Neighbors,

Back in 2014, Martha Lake property owners founded the FML group to raise money for projects and make collective decisions for the long term improvement of our lake. I agreed to be the secretary/treasurer of our group for the purpose of fish stocking and I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with all of you.

I believe that the FML group has served its original purpose and met its original goals of fish stocking, and therefore I am providing all of you with notice of my termination of the position of FML secretary/treasurer effective 31JUL2018.

Since the FML group does not have a formal organization structure, I recommend two volunteers to assume my responsibilities. One person to act in the role of Secretary/Treasurer and the other to act as Lake Projects Leader as of 01AUG2018.

If more than two people volunteer, I will submit the names to the FML Group via email for a vote. If less than two people volunteer, I will proceed with the last funding directive of our group set forth in our 2017 meeting and spend the entire fund balance on Walleye stocking in the fall of 2018.

Assuming we will have a new Secretary/Treasurer AND a Lake Projects Manager, I will transfer $2,000 of our fund balance to them as agreed in our meeting in JUL2018. The remainder of the fund balance will be spent on Walleye stocking in fall 2018, pursuant to our 2017 fund raising efforts.

I also urge all of you to consider what the mission of the new FML group should be and then create a more formal organization structure with project committees to accomplish the various objectives. Examples include leadership for Fund Raising, Project Management, Safety, Water Clarity/Environmental, and dispute resolution/regulatory. A more formal organizational structure may also qualify for tax exempt status and open more doors to charitable grants.

Finally, I believe we have an obligation to those that preceded us on the lake to be effective caretakers of this precious resource, so that those that follow after us will appreciate the benefits of our wisdom and actions. This includes respect and tolerance of all opinions expressed by Martha Lake property owners and group decisions that benefit the majority of our property owners and their families.

Tim Lutgen

Hello Neighbors!

There will be no meeting of our informal lake group over the July 4th weekend. I have no topics to present and I have not received any requests from other property owners.

In accordance with our fisheries study, we need to complete Phase II of our Fish Stocking project this fall. I have reached out to the same fish farm, as they gave us the best deal. Although I have not had a response yet, I presume the cost will be similar to the stocking that occurred last fall. So, I’d like to set a goal of $3,700 and as of this e-mail, the Martha Lake Fund Balance is $2,763.35. So, that leaves a deficit of about $1,000. If we have a similar donation rate to last year’s fund raising efforts, then a donation of $50 by each land owner, should help us reach our goal.

One positive effect of last year’s stocking so far is that several property owners have reported seeing schools of Crappie on their Sonar again and that the Bluegills are starting to show some size!

You can send your donation via paper or e-check and Paypal. As fall gets closer, I’ll let you know the progress of our fund raising efforts and a tentative date for stocking.

THANKS for your support of our beautiful Martha Lake!

Tim & Roxanne Lutgen

Hello Friends!

One week ago today, Jeff Roth and his assistant (also a retired DNR Fisheries Biologist) conducted the first phase of their project. This phase focused on shocking, sizing, and health assessment of multiple species along the entire perimeter of our lake. Todd Emro joined Roxanne and I on a crystal clear glorious evening with the moon glowing so brightly that we almost needed no lights to observe the action. It truly was one of those special evenings that started out moderately warm, with no bugs, no wind, a sunset that made the sky glow orange and then blue-pink, and a complete silence that was only broken by the haunting calls of our loons and responses from neighboring lakes. Only those who own property on Martha Lake can appreciate and take solace in this awesome beauty of life in the Northwoods.

Since I am not familiar with Fisheries Biologists and how they do their work, I asked a lot of questions and if you don’t mind, I’ll share what I learned with you. First of all, Jeff and his partner arrived around 8PM to get to know us and explain what they were going to do. He said that fish shocking is both an art and science, in that you need to know where to shock, what settings of electricity to use, and follow a careful scientific protocol that you can use to statistically analyze your samples. Jeff said that in lakes, shocking is preferred at night as the fish come in to shore to feed, there is usually less activity on the lake, and in the shallow water, the fish are easier to see and net with the bright spotlights on the bow of their boat. I also learned that the electrical current does not go all the way from the electrode to the bottom of the lake. Rather, the effective range of the current is between 5 - 6 feet deep. He also said that AC current must be used in lakes but that DC current is preferred in streams. Apparently, DC current can be used to lure fish out of holes in streams that otherwise would be missed.

Here is a picture of their boat completely rigged up and electrodes (3 per boom):



Here is a picture of their boat in the water minutes away from starting (sorry for the blurred photo but we couldn’t hold the boats still enough!):



Their journey took them around the entire perimeter of our lake in a clockwise direction starting off of our northern point and ending along the south shore of loon island. For safety, we were instructed to stay about 50 yards away at all times until they turned their motors off. It was interesting to watch the long pauses of no action followed by a few occurrences of frenzied netting. We also got to see a few occurrences of apparent explosions in the water. We later learned that the really big muskies can sense the electrical current a fraction of a second before the rest of the fish and respond by a vigorous attempt to get the heck out of the way as fast as possible. No netting of big musky’s occurred because they didn’t want to harm them by trying to net them and because the big musky’s got away before they were able to be stunned.

Jeff said that the current used was a small as possible to only stun the fish for about 30 seconds. Jeff was the driver of the boat and adjusted current as needed. His assistant stood on the brightly lighted platform and had about 270 degree visibility to net the fish rapidly. Once the fish were netted they were put in a large tank in the center of the boat and kept until they could be studied. No fish were lost or harmed as a result of the stunning process. When the tank got sufficiently full, the would pull up in the sand, shut down their motors and begin their assessment and recording. This occurred twice during the course of the evening and we were then allowed to pull up next to them and observe their study. Jeff net a fish from the tank, determine it’s species, measure it’s size, assess its health, and determine its spawning status while his assistant feverishly recorded the data. Then we were allowed to take pictures before the fish was returned to the lake. All fish were very active and were anxious to get back into the lake! We took several pictures but here are the highlights:



Their work concluded before midnight and when prompted for their observations, they were like physicians, hesitant to make a diagnosis until they performed more tests and could study the data in more detail. This shocking project focused exclusively on game fish. They will return for several netting projects in June to study both pan fish and game fish.

Todd Emro made several excellent observation that he wanted to share with you:

• Jeff and his team are data driven professionals and cautious to prematurely draw conclusions or make recommendations until the analysis is complete.


• First phase was electroshocking of the entire shoreline in very shallow water from approximately 9:00pm to 11:00pm


• Not all fish observed were captured and recorded


• Second phase will be four overnight nettings in four locations around the lake, to occur second week in June


• Depending on the results of the first two surveys, another electroshocking may occur in the fall


• Overall quantity of fish found was lower than expected


• Some natural reproduction of walleye is occurring as a 14" was found, although this was only walleye captured


• Musky appear to be reproducing well as a number of two year old fish approximately 10" were found


• A good number of mid 30" musky were also captured with the largest being 37", a couple larger than 40" were observed but not captured


• Smallmouth appear to be doing fine and look healthy with the largest captured being a beautiful 19" fish


• Largemouth as well with the largest being 17"


• A few pike were captured all in the upper teens to low 20" range


• Black crappie were found in the 10" range, more to follow on pan fish after the netting results


• The forage base appears to in good shape as 2 large white suckers 16-18"were captured and a number of others observed


• Overall the fish captured looked healthy all be it in somewhat lower numbers than expected

We do not yet have specific dates for the netting phase but Jeff plans to do the work on consecutive days starting on a Monday and ending on a Thursday. We will let you know when we get more details.

Yes, the loons have returned and Mommy loon is diligently sitting on her nest as she awaits the birth of one or more baby loons. She is suffering from some anxiety though because we also have an eagle that likes to perch in a tree on our point and observe her. Hopefully, the eagle will not harm her baby this year. If you have not seen her yet, here are a few nice pictures of her that Roxanne took:







Finally, I also wanted to share with you that we have a Summer meeting set for our Friends of Martha Lake group on Saturday, 02JUL2016 at 3PM in the Mercer Senior Center. In addition to updates on our various projects, this will also be a good opportunity to meet and greet the new residents on our lake including Mike and Jackie Mueller and Bud and Kim Goblisch, if they can attend. I would like to suggest that everyone bring either cold drinks or something to munch on. Last year the temperature was sweltering, so if history repeats itself, several icy cold libations would be appreciated. If anyone is willing to assist with the set-up and clean up, please let me know. The Mercer Senior center staff allow us to use their building at no cost, so I believe it is appropriate that we leave it clean and tidy.

Thanks again for the wonderful support from all of you! I hope you are all feeling a sense of pride in the accomplishments that we have made in the collective stewardship of our lake. Roxanne and I look forward to meeting you on the lake and joining you in sharing the spirit of the awesome natural resource that we are blessed with in Martha Lake.


Tim & Roxanne Lutgen

Hello Friends of Martha Lake!

With the help of Max Ackerman performing essential anchoring engineering functions and Todd Emro as our sea captain and sonar wizard, we were able to place Martha Lake’s first two USCG safety Buoys on this past very windy Sunday afternoon! Here are some pictures showing how our our collective efforts are now protecting property owners and guests of Martha Lake.

The placement of the Buoys are a little different from our old Rubber Duckie and milk jugs. The latter could be placed literally, on top of the highest point of the rock piles because they were small The new Buoys are five feet tall with two feet submerged and anchored to a concrete weight six feet below. So, the new Buoys now mark the general location of the rock piles instead of floating right on top of them. The North Buoy was the most difficult to place due to the steep descent of the rock piles to the bottom of the lake. As you or your guests navigate our waters, please consider a 100 foot radius around the Buoys to be dangerous and therefore, navigate appropriately within that radius. This should help prevent an unpleasant accident requiring a prop repair (or worse).

I want to thank all of you that have contributed to the Martha Lake fund to make this navigational safety project a big success for generations to come!

Fisheries Project Update:

I am pleased to inform you that our Fisheries Survey project is well underway. The biologists prefer to wait until the surface water is consistently in the 60’s before starting the first phase of the project. Todd Emro has been measuring the lake temperature almost daily. Since the lake is now in the mid-50’s , we are close to beginning this project. The survey crew will not allow any of us to be on their boat during the shocking and sizing phases of this project. However, they have no problem with us observing the process from our own boats. Unfortunately, I do not have a specific date that I can give you at this time for their first survey. However, I have asked the crew to let me know a few days in advance, if possible, so that I can get the date and time out to all of you via e-mail. So, if you are interested in observing the shocking and sizing phases of this project, please keep checking your email.

Finally, I wish to thank the vast majority of you that have supported these projects with your time and your contributions. We are in good financial shape but I still have not heard from about seven property owners. It is not too late to contribute and your donations will help kickstart the next projects to be undertaken for the benefit of our lake and all of us.

Roxanne and I are looking forward to seeing all of you and enjoying good times on our lake as summer rapidly approaches!

Tim & Roxanne Lutgen

South Buoy


North Buoy

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Friends of Martha Lake
September 6, 2015, Mercer Senior Center

Tim Lutgen chaired the meeting, called to order at 3:15 pm.

A report was given on the status of beaver dams and water level. At the moment, the large beaver dam is mostly gone, and the water level of the lake is good.

The minutes of the July 5, 2015 meeting were posted, and were approved by those present by acclimation.

A discussion ensued concerning the status of the water testing. The water quality monitoring is ongoing, as is the clarity testing. Edna McCarthy took the water samples at several locations in the lake and Tim took them to a water quality testing laboratory. Sandra at the DNR office in Spooner said that the department would review the results at no cost. The results are expected by the end of September. The water quality testing examines the presence of phosphorous and nutrients in the water. A comprehensive test costs $155/sample. Secchi disk sampling showed clarity extending to 8’ below lake surface. This is better than the average in the Martha lake area (which is 7.4 feet), though some lakes in the area tested via secchi disk showed clarity to 10’.

Questions were raised concerning the possibility of leaking private waste disposal systems around the lake. Currently, all of the aquatic plants in the lake are natives – no invasive plant species at all. It is important for residents to wash their boats when coming to Martha Lake to avoid bringing unwanted invaders, like Eurasian milfoil and purple loostrife to the lake. All of the 45 plant species observed are natural.

Erik Krumdick noted that while snorkeling around the lake, he observed that in the North bay, something has gone wrong with the flora – where previously it was billowy soft plants offering shelter to pan fish, this year much of the weed growth is gone. Big walleye are there, but not reproducing. Small mouth and large mouth bass are present, but Northern pike are almost gone. Muskie are present and doing OK.

In addition, this year Wisconsin lakes have a record bloom of the species of algae that makes people sick, although Martha Lake has not suffered from this problem. Nonetheless, due to the heavy rain and runoff, the ecosystem isn’t in its normal state.

Max Ackerman reported for the buoy project. He examined U.S. Coast Guard buoys, and went to the Woodruff DNR office for a permit to mark the rock piles on the bottom of the lake. Permit approval must come from both the Mercer Town Board and from DNR. The application was submitted on August 24th and action is expected soon. By next Spring,, Max expects that buoys can be installed. Buoy costs vary from$114/buoy + shipping to $300 for a pair, depending upon size.

The Martha Lake fund stands at $225 currently. The fund will need additional contributions shortly.

Todd Emro met with a retired DNR fisheries biologist in Park Falls who will work with the group on the Fisheries project. In order to evaluate the fishery in Martha Lake, the biologist would shock the lake at a non-lethal level to survey the population of different fish species. Currently, there is one fish crib in the lake, and adding additional cribs would help. The bluegill population is greatly reduced by the lack of vegetative cover or cribs. There are no otters on Martha Lake this year.

Until the study is completed next Spring, it is premature to raise money for the fishery restoration. Once the survey is complete, will need an action plan describing what and when to stock, and why. This will require funding of $150 – 200 per landowner to complete the study, and more if a stocking program is implemented. Leo Sabec commented that $200 wouldn’t hurt any of the lakefront property owners.

Discussion ensued on whether to create a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the environmental quality of Martha Lake. Larry Bechler will report back to Tim on the feasibility of qualifying as a 501(c)(3) organization. The plan is that if the group decides to move in that direction, fund-raising will be deferred.

Tina Krumdick suggested working on a lake owners directory, with contact information for all of the owners around the lake. Joe Lambert indicated that the last list of owners dated back to the 1990s.

Joe also reported that the lake is entirely spring-fed, except for one storm water culvert coming in from a swamp on the south side of the lake. There is a nutrient load from lawns around the lake, as well as from the culvert that drains a corn field. There must also be re-examination of the beaver dams, since beavers typically work a site for 7-8 years.

Tim discussed the timing for future meetings. For sure, a meeting will be held Memorial Day weekend, but another meeting may be held on a Sunday in October if the water testing provides a need for further discussion sooner than the Spring.

Meeting adjourned at 4:15 pm.
Submitted by Larry Bechler

Presentation by Tim Lutgen

Minutes of the meeting of Friends of Martha Lake

July 5, 2015, Mercer Senior Center

Tim Lutgen chaired the meeting, called to order at 3:06 pm

This list of those present may not be complete. A signup sheet was circulated.

In order, going around the lake: Bukreys, Edna McCarthy, Joe Lambert, Roger and Peggy Foehringer, Jim and Kathy Trotter, Max and Lori Ackerman, Conrads, Jean Kleman and Ron Kessler, Bill and Janice Zelmer, Nancy Williams, Ted Sibilsky, Leo and Mary Ann Sabec, Carol Daniels, Tim and Roxanne Lutgen, Gino and Marge Mallum, John Wander, Tina Krumdick, Jim and Dorothy Wahner.

Participants introduced themselves.

History of 2014 water problem caused by the beaver dam. The access creek to Tank Lake determines the lake level. DNR does not manage Martha Lake because it is private. Beavers trapped by a professional trapper with private funds. Similar problem this year. Beavers removed. Dam dismantled. $240 paid to trapper.

Tim reported that $640 has been raised from 32 property owners. $240 to trapper, with about $380 remaining in Martha Lake fund. Details are available in the pdf of Power Point slides on the website bigmartha.com. At present, donations can be given to Tim Lutgen, checks made out to him.

Water quality. It appears there has been a decline in quality but we have no data, only observation. DNR and county ag agents can sample water for quality - temp, oxygen, weeds . DNR will not deal with our lake but will provide equipment to monitor quality. Secchi disc method.

Fishery. DNR will provide support but no intervention. They don't recommend restocking until there is a fish survey. Between 1994 and 2004, there have been seven stocking events, involving over 15,000 fish at a total cost of $7,500. Overall results have been disappointing. For future, Jeff Roth, fishery biologist would do the survey in the spring shocking and summer netting to assess population. We could do the survey in spring 2016. Analysis of kinds of fish currently present. If, for instance, we have too many muskies DNR can adjust size limits and how many can be taken. Fish survey, $5000, 10% down. We have had a 90% donation rate for other projects.

Other possibilities: buoy to mark hazards or speed limits. Shifting to formal not-for-profit lake association. Tax deduction, grants, etc. Committee structure, secretarial chores, member list update, dispute resolution, etc.

Discussion: Should water quality be done before fish study. Volunteers needed to do the study. Tom Conrad and Jean Kleman offered to coordinate a water study. There is DNR training involved for volunteers. We agreed to go ahead with water quality. There seem to be sufficient numbers of volunteers. Defer fish study.

Lake Association? Consensus is that we have a less formal structure. But you can't, for instance, keep funds in a bank unless you have a 501c3 and tax ID. If we do not have a named not-for-profit entity with 501c3 standing and tax ID, our fund collection will continue to be informal. At present we will continue to use the "shoebox fund" with donations sent to Tim Lutgen.

Permanent buoys for rock piles? If we mark them are there liability issues? Buy the buoys. Put them out. Ackermans will research buoys.

Any resident interested in volunteering for current projects can contact project organizers:

• Water quality (Conrad, Kleman)
• Buoys (Ackerman)
• Communication (Krumdick)
• General organization (Lutgen).
• Facebook page. Closed group. Contact Tina Krumdick through Facebook to be included.
• Dick Bukrey's webcam Internet address is www.bigmarthalake.net.
• Lake website is www.bigmartha.com.

Adjourned 4:35 pm.
Next meeting. September 6, 3:00 at the Senior Center.
Submitted by Fran and Dick Bukrey

Hello fellow lake residents!

Based on the feedback that I received from those that responded, the most popular time for a meeting was Sunday, July 5 in the afternoon. I called to make a reservation at the Mercer senior center, but the earliest we could get in was 3 PM due to a conflict with the morning's pancake breakfast.

I am bringing a lot of information to this meeting to share with all of you and I am hoping for a volunteer to take the minutes of the meeting and then summarize the meeting minutes and action plan in a document that could be posted on our Martha Lake webpage. If anyone can please assist me as the "secretary" of our group please respond to this email. Also, if there is a technology wizard in the audience, is there a chance that Skype could be set up so that other people can video conference in?

I kept the agenda brief in hopes of keeping the meeting to a little over an hour. I suggest that all participants bring their own beverages and perhaps one light treat to pass. This might be a good opportunity for property owners that have not met before to get to know each other a little better.

The senior center is large enough to accommodate all those interested in attending and their families. There is no need to reply if you plan on attending. However, please check this site as often as you can for any changes or updates.

Thanks for your time and Roxanne and I look forward to seeing all of you and being part of the leadership that helps our lake and surrounding lands make effective changes to preserve our piece of paradise for years to come!

Tim Lutgen