This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake
Property Owners Association | Highland, MI
This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake 
August 11, 2018 at 2:34 pm
Carp are an invasive specie of fish. They destroy any body of water they are allowed to populate. They have no natural enemies. They eat fish eggs as well as beneficial seaweeds that provide much needed oxygen to a lake’s ecosystem.
A single female carp lays 4,000,000 eggs in the spring spawn. One single female. 4,000,000 eggs. If only 1% survive, well do the math. If conditions are favorable in the fall, they can have a second spawn. If they are allowed to go unchecked, they will kill all the fish. The oxygen providing plants will be gone. At this stage, the lake becomes stagnant. A swamp. No one wants that.
Getting to the question of this night time activity being legal, yes it is.
An Oakland County Deputy approached us for shooting carp one night, saying someone called. The Deputy was very nice, even smiling, as told us we are doing nothing illegal. He did ask if we could not shine the lights on shore in a certain area, where the complaint came from. Not wanting to cause issues anywhere, to we since only light up the off shore side if the boat around the whole lake.
I understand the Lake Association has a Zoo Fund. How about a Kill The Carp Fund?
We have lots of money invested in this. Even spent a grand for the quietest generator available, just to keep the peace.
Not to mention the fuel and arrows and such. We will buy our own beer.
August 11, 2018 at 5:58 pm
The carp guys are breaking the law. There is no question of this. They must not discharge a weapon, to include a bow within 450 feet of a home that they do not own or rent. (check the DNRs web site).
But I feel they are providing a very great service to Duck Lake. I will never call in a complaint to the DNR. As others have commented, Carp will destroy a lakes’ fishery. In past years. Duck Lake held fishing contests each year. the winners included those that caught the most Carp. I would suggest to the all ready over worked Duck Lake board, that they take on this issue. The Carp contest should be reinstated as a way to reduce the invasive carp.
Yes the bow men need to control their spot lights, but they are now much more aware of how to position their lights so we, who benefit from their sport, should be more understanding of what it takes to harvest a carp in the water.
August 12, 2018 at 1:25 pm
Hank, l am not one to break the law. Thanks for informing me we are breaking the law when we carp shoot. We will take our boat and gear to other lakes where we don’t risk prosecution. Plenty of carp around. Perhaps Duck Lake will address this issue and throw money at the growing problem. They fund the zoo, which is better great. Good luck. Adios.
August 12, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Please do not stop. Don’t let one person ruin it for the rest. We appreciate the hard work you put in. If you need monetary support for gear let me know
Karl reel
3670 Kingsway drive
August 12, 2018 at 9:51 pm
Yes don’t stop!! Don’t let the crabby patties on the lake that like to do nothing but complain ruin it !! It seems a lot of people on the lake like to forget lakefront is about having fun and enjoying it considering Michigan we only have so much summer time to enjoy the lake Let me know your beer of choice and I can promise you I can have a case of beer at my dock anytime you need it!! Keep up the good work it’s appreciated by most !!! Hopefully the negative Nancy’s decide to move to a non-sport lake / swamp and they can enjoy!!
August 13, 2018 at 8:18 am
That would be wonderful if they would all move!!!!!
August 12, 2018 at 2:00 pm
I was not threatening you. I applaud your carp hunting. I just wanted you to know to be careful. Duck Lake is the least likely lake to see a DNR officer on it since there is no public launch site for them to put their boat in.
August 13, 2018 at 8:10 am
I’d like to help with the carp problem also, contact me if you want some help one night. I can also help with some fuel or tools needed. And, if Byron (fishing committee) is reading this, I’ll be available to help with a tournament or two next year.
August 11, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Question(maybe this has been asked previously): several times so far this summer(and in last couple years) several different boat have come down our canal 10pm-11pm with extremely bright lights ‘shining’ for fish with bow and arrow. These boats have never caused any issues(so far) ie. no loud music or or loud voices. In fact, usually the only time we notice is when a reflection of those bright lights come in thru our doorwalls or windows facing the lake. My question is this: is ‘shining’ legal on our lake? Thanks for any response. P.S. also no loud motors so far.
August 11, 2018 at 1:30 pm
I believe these are the guys keeping the carp population under control. Which is a very good thing.
August 11, 2018 at 2:37 pm
Under control? Not by what we see at night time. Maybe making a dent.
August 11, 2018 at 2:19 pm
I understand it is legal AND desirable. They are removing carp that crowd out other fish. If I understand correctly, they are an invasive species that don’t belong here.
August 8, 2018 at 10:36 am
Who was in charge of goose round up the geese are over coming I have forty on my yard it is ridiculous
August 8, 2018 at 3:08 pm
Barry, can we count on you to help with this next spring? We could always use more volunteers. Thanks.
August 15, 2018 at 7:20 pm
Hi Barry,
We had the same company that we have hired for the last 4 years (and I believe many before that) do the round up again this year. They are called Goose Busters. Please feel free to let them know your displeasure. I agree, it seems that this year was especially bad. I don’t want to cut them too much slack, but if you can remember, the weather this spring was HORRIABLE. I believe this made a large impact as it was snowing during the normal breeding cycle. One day they were schedule to come out, they could not gain access due to blinding snow.
As Matt mentioned, we are always looking for people to help and take the lead. It sounds as though you have the drive needed to help assist with this program. Barry, can we count on you to be our Goose man? Please feel free to reply so that we know that we can count on you to help bring solutions to problems that you feel are effecting our lake. You in?
Very much looking forward to you help!
August 6, 2018 at 7:54 am
Do you know if there is a lake treatment coming up in the near future? The reason I ask is that there are weeds sticking out the water a few inches about 30 ft. from our shoreline off of Castle Ct. which I have never seen before. Again thank-you for all of your hard work facing the lake challenges and opportunities over the past few years!!!
August 6, 2018 at 6:29 pm
Aquaweed came out ten days ago to survey and treated areas seven days ago. I let him know about this area and a couple other areas I noticed this weekend and he said he’d come back this week and survey again.
August 6, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Thanks Matthew for the quick update. I will keep an eye out for Aquaweed.
August 8, 2018 at 3:07 pm
He should be out to treat again early next week. Because of the aeration system, he now has to give five days notice to the DEQ about treatments.
August 2, 2018 at 12:26 pm
Lake Augmentation Install schedule (baring set backs, or weather delays)…..
Installation:
1.July 10th – Layout work within Lake-Savers for all 7 sites completed
2.August 6th – Layout work on-site with LS installation supervisor, Khris Twigg resulting in layout markings in paint on each site and confirmation that each site is ready for installation as proposed.
3.August 8th – Scheduling of DTE and O’Donnell completed.
4.August 8th – Next steps in installation defined with a goal of site prep and compressor pads before Labor Day weekend.
5.September – First two weeks hope to have first ‘real’ equipment going on site and activity on the water.
6.Installation site priority is: [4, 5, 7] [6, 1, 3, 2] (multiple sites may come online at same time with main body and deeper waters coming online first and then shallower waters coming online)
We will be having weekly updates provided to us from Lake Savors as the project moves forward. I will be posting those here for all to access. Please let me know how I can improve the information transfer, as it will be exciting watching the system we have worked on for a LONG time get installed.
July 29, 2018 at 1:47 pm
Any update on whether the well is running yet. The last update I read said July 27th was the target date but our cove water level is so low we couldn’t get our boat out without putting waders on to push it out and this water is so low it smells bad – you can smell the muck. Pretty discouraging.
July 29, 2018 at 7:29 pm
Today the lake is 2.5″ below legal level. Not bad considering the hot dry weather we have had. I suspect that you will have issues even with the lake at legal level, not much we can do about that , other than hope the aeration project will have an effect on muck levels back in your small cove after a few years of operation. I understand we have a few residents that live in areas very sensitive to low levels, for the vast majority of the lake residents a few inches low is not a problem at all. I, too, was disappointed that they did not get the pump turned on Friday as they thought they would, I will check on the delay Monday. As far as I can tell, all they need to do is run the conduit underground to the pump (it was trenched yesterday) and complete the wiring. DTE was out and re-energized the meter, so we are inches from completion.
July 31, 2018 at 11:29 am
Hello was wondering any updates on the well start date? Or the muck lake savers time frame?
Thank you
July 31, 2018 at 3:21 pm
The well start-up is scheduled for tomorrow, August 1. If all goes OK, I see no reason they cannot leave it running until the lake reaches legal level. I would personally object to running the well to get to the 2″ over as allowed by the court order as the intent was to not “waste” rainfall received after the lake reaches it’s legal level.
July 31, 2018 at 3:24 pm
The status of the aeration system was a point of discussion recently in other comments in this discussion forum, I refer you to Ryan’s comments there.
July 31, 2018 at 5:21 pm
Court order?
July 31, 2018 at 7:07 pm
On June 11, 1962 Judge Clark Adams issued an order establishing the level of Duck Lake at 1016.63 feet above mean sea level and that a “maximum height and level of 1016.80 will be allowed to accomplish the normal height and level of 1063.63 feet”, That order also indicated that “some 180 persons having appeared by counsel and introduced their proofs both as to a higher lake level and a lower lake level…”
August 1, 2018 at 10:12 am
Oh thank you! I thought it was someone with nothing better to do than cause trouble.
August 13, 2018 at 10:32 am
Thanks for this update but it doesn’t appear that the well is working yet. We are new to living on this lake (one year) so I am not sure how to tell if it is running or not. It didn’t sound like it was running when we went by the well yesterday – can anyone confirm or update the status?
Not sure where you are situated on the lake, and while I can appreciate your right to personally object to running the well to get those extra 2 inches, where our property sits we could certainly use the extra 2 inches. The last couple of times we took our boat out our engine started to overheat because the water level is so low and there is so much muck and now weeds. It would be so great to be able to get our boat out without having to push it or risk damage to our engine.
Thank you to all the people on the board who are working so hard to try to improve the quality of Duck Lake. This is only going to improve all of our home values and our use and enjoyment of the lake.
August 13, 2018 at 3:30 pm
The well is not running. Today the lake is 2″ below normal summer level, not a lot but enough to cause concern for a few residents located in sensitive shallow muck areas. We get that. I have both a phone call and text into the WRC requesting an update on the well, and to request they expedite finishing whatever it is that they need to in order to turn the well on and leave it running until the lake reached the normal legal level. I suspect the County does not want to leave the well running (it had been run for a test period) until they have the site secured with fencing. The well contractor has said the well is ready to be turned on.
Anyone can apply for an MDEQ permit to perform “maintenance dredging”. A permit is more likely to be issued if you can show that the area was previously dredged, even if it was 50 years ago, and has filled in. As only the fronting homeowners would benefit, the DLPOA is not likely to help with costs of obtaining a permit or the costs to actually remove the localized muck. Unfortunately the MDEQ has not been our friend in these situations and there is no guarantee in them even issuing a permit. However permits have been issued for several canals on White Lake for said “maintenance dredging”. The MDEQ will NOT issue permits for wholesale dredging of Duck Lake. If you have shallow muck, DO NOT allow vegetation to become established, as that will make it much more difficult to obtain a dredging permit in the future. Again, the aeration project should have a significant effect by reducing muck thickness over the length of the project. But there are no guarantees. Personally, if I had a local muck issue in front of my house that was significant enough to spoil my use of Duck Lake, I wouldn’t be looking to others to remedy the problem.
I am fortunate that when I bought property on the Ramada Canal 44 years ago I made sure I was happy with the bottom conditions on my personal lake frontage. At the time it was sand and gravel. Hard work every single year since then, raking leaves, weeds and sticks out to 4 feet deep in the fall and again in the spring (not a fun job) has kept my entire 130 feet of frontage quite muck free, out to 5-6 feet of depth. Yes it is getting harder each year and a very thin layer of black will discolor the fairly hard bottom. Hopefully the aeration project will solve that problem. My MIL lived on Watkins Lake in Waterford and used to quip “If you live on a lake you feel like you were born with a rake in your hand”. Just like you have to mow your lawn regularly to keep it in order, you need to rake muck causing weeds, leaves and sticks out of your beach/boat areas. if you already have a foot of muck, you need to look to other solutions.
August 13, 2018 at 3:57 pm
Sorry, but does this mean we still do not have all the approval for the muck prevention to start, even though all the money has been obtained? Since you mentioned we might not get a permit, then what??
Please explain and thank you for the up date on the well.
August 13, 2018 at 5:44 pm
We have all the permits for the aeration program, see Ryan’s recent status report. I was referring to dredging permits, sorry if I wasn’t clear.
August 13, 2018 at 7:09 pm
Thank you Ole can you tell me when the
Muck prevention will start?
August 13, 2018 at 7:22 pm
Sorry that was my response (Anonymous), working on my phone at the time, not logged in. Again, see Ryan’s aeration update comments dated August 2, 2018.
August 13, 2018 at 7:05 pm
Hi Ole. Just saying, the bay by Castle Court has at least 5 feet of muck and six inches of water. It was dredged in the 1980s to 6′.
August 13, 2018 at 7:09 pm
That is where Bill and Nancy live.
July 24, 2018 at 9:37 am
Amen again! It is easy enough to identify these inconsiderate boat drivers. We all know what their boats look like already and where they live. Just video them on your phone as they drive by with the stereos blaring and supply that as well as their home location to the sheriff. Done deal.
July 20, 2018 at 8:59 am
Hello,
I should have read the comments regarding aerators further down the page. Thanks for the updates.
Jim
July 20, 2018 at 7:41 am
Hello,
Are there any updates on the aerators? When should we expect them? Thanks!
Jim
July 18, 2018 at 4:23 pm
Danny, I am very surprised you would object to a banner supporting the library in your community. It is not a political sign. The sign is there to remind people to vote in the primary election August 7th and to support one of Highland’s greatest assets…..the library. To expand your knowledge of what the library offers you and the entire community, please go to the website voteyeslibrary.com
July 18, 2018 at 5:23 pm
Whether support it or not is not the point but obviously yours is support. I am sure you would object if someone hung vote no on it! Wouldnt you!? Whats next, vote hilary or trump? If one person starts hanging political stuff which it is then others will think it is ok for their causes. Have some respect. People use the lake to get away from that stuff and enjoy the lake, not to look at billboards of someones opinion.
July 18, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Yes, you are correct. If someone placed a banner stating vote no, I would definitely object. Again, the sign was placed in support of our community. I believe the banner was put up over a week ago. You are the first person to complain. We can agree to disagree. That is what civil discourse is about. Not’next time I go by I will rip it down and use it in my bonfire’. I am sure the banner will be removed per your complaint in the next day or two.
July 19, 2018 at 8:43 am
I would agree with Danny, I do not want to see any “issues” posted on the lake. The problem is you display only your opinion/support for this issue. There are always good points to the other side of the issue. This may not be a “Political” issue, but it is definitely a “Taxation” issue. This is a slippery slope where do you draw the line: voting on Political Candidates, Immigration, Zoning Laws, etc. Suggest you place the signage on your own personal property and the problem goes away.