Over the past few years we have seen a decline in the population of panfish in Kinderhook Lake. This is partially due to the increased amount and massive sizes of Northern Pike found in the lake. The KLC Fish Committee believes it is time to remove some of these large fish to help preserve and balance other species within the lake.
Ice conditions permitting, on Saturday, January 18, 2020, we will hold a Northern Pike Ice Fishing Contest free to the public between 7:00am and 2:00pm. From 2:00pm to 4:00pm we will be accepting Northern Pike for disposal in the large metal building at 9 Old West Shore Drive in Valatie. Only fish caught within the legal size and bag limit per person will be accepted. KLC merchandise prizes will be awarded to those individuals with the longest fish and most fish. Again, this contest is open to the public and no entry fee is required.
We will also have membership applications, member window placards, boat launch keys, trailer stickers, and merchandise available for sale.
Please check our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/kinderhooklakecorp) in the days leading up to this event to see if there are any updates or weather-related changes. Feel free to contact Bio_mikef@yahoo.com or 17freebyrd@gmail.com if you have any questions about this event. Hope to see you there.
July 4th turned out to be a spectacular day on the lake. Beautiful weather, well-attended kayak rally and boat parade, a great ring of fire and evening parties all around the lake. Thanks to all the participants and volunteers who helped make the day’s events so successful.
Kayak rally winners: Kyle Hickey ($50 lake merchandise), Tina Decker ($25 lake merchandise), Jayne Sinker ($15 lake merchandise).
Boat parade winners: Fitzpatrick Family and Friends (patriotic), Ebel Clan (patriotic), K Jade Ng (Funniest – Mermaid Bubble Boat)
Independence Day is just around the corner. Here’s the scoop on the events.
Kayak Rally: 8:30 – 11:30, rain or shine. Paddle around the lake with any non-motorized vessel and collect as many tickets as you can from orange flagged locations. Print your name and phone # on each ticket and bring your tickets to the Rt 28 launch by 12:00 noon. Tickets will be drawn for prizes. Don’t forget a pencil/pen and a plastic bag for your tickets.
Note: We are looking for additional orange flag bearers. The more the merrier. If you are available in the morning to fly an orange flag at your dock and pass out tickets for the kayak rally, please call Pete Walkes by this weekend at 914-217-6770.
Boat Parade: Starts 1:30 from One Tree Island. Decorate your vessel to tour the lake, entertain your neighbors, make some noise and have a ton of fun. Be recognized for best decorations and most patriotic boat.
Ring of Fire: 9:00pm. Light your flares at 9:00pm along the shoreline for the annual Ring of Fire. Flares and KLC logo merchandise will be available at the Rt. 28 launch from 10:00am to 1:00pm on July 4th, or call Pete Walkes 914-217-6770 to arrange for flares at other times.
Keep your fingers crossed for great weather. Please be safe, and let’s have another spectacular Fourth of July on Kinderhook Lake.
Saturday, June 22, 9:00am. Volunteers assembled at One Tree Island to start this year’s water chestnut hand pull event. Volunteers traveled up the west side of the lake along Ottoville Rd picking up hundreds of water chestnut “stragglers,” then entered the north end of the lake for two hours of pulling in the dense weed bed which, by the way, has receded about 50-feet further back due to the last few years of weed pulls. Once again battling this invasive species, an estimated four to five cubic yards of weeds were collected and removed from the lake. Thanks to all the volunteers who spent just a few hours helping to improve the quality of Kinderhook Lake: Melanie Langdon, Eric Piecuch, Doug Peterson, Tina Decker, Linda Leader, Bonnie Bargstedt, Ron Jensis, Dan and Robin Langer, Pete Walkes, Rick Theriault, Fran Sindlinger, John Bruford. If we forgot or misspelled any names, please forgive us and know that your time and assistance was greatly appreciated.
To help reduce the spread of this aquatic invasive species, a water chestnut hand-pulling event is planned for Saturday, June 22, 9:00 am – 11:00 am. We need two dozen volunteers for this event to be successful. Please meet at ONE TREE ISLAND with your kayak, canoe, rowboat, raft, or any vessel that can navigate very shallow water. Don’t forget heavy gloves and perhaps a rake. A few teams of volunteers will be dispersed to various coves around the lake where water chestnut growth has been identified. Pulled weeds will be transferred to the ECO-Harvester and brought to shore for disposal. In the event of pouring rain or lightning, the ‘pull’ will take place at the same time on Sunday, June 23. Please come and be part of the solution.
This year, some of the water chestnuts will be pulled with the ECO-Harvester. However, due to the risk of damage to the harvester drum, the harvester cannot run in the very shallow water where many of the water chestnuts are growing.
23 kayakers cruised around the lake for the morning Kayak Rally collecting tickets from 22 flag locations. Congratulations to the following kayakers and many thanks to all the families who flew the orange flags.
- First place: Carl Heiner, $50 in KLC merchandise
- Second place: Becky Becker, $25 in KLC merchandise
- Third place: Ann Tortoso, $15 in KLC merchandise
- Most Patriotic Boat: Tony and family
- Funniest Boat: Ebel & Trousbach Families, The INCREDIBLES
- Most Original Boat: Langer Family, DISCO PARTY
Photos will be uploaded to the GALLERY in a few days.
Independence Day is just around the corner. Here’s the scoop on the events.
Kayak Rally: 8:30 – 11:30, rain or shine. Paddle around the lake with any non-motorized vessel and collect as many tickets as you can from orange flagged locations. Print your name and phone # on each ticket and bring your tickets to the Rt 28 launch by 12:00 noon. Tickets will be drawn for prizes. Don’t forget a pencil/pen and a plastic bag for your tickets.
Boat Parade: Starts 1:30 from One Tree Island. Decorate your vessel to tour the lake, entertain your neighbors, make some noise and have a ton of fun. Be recognized for best decorations and most patriotic boat.
Ring of Fire: 9:00pm. Light your flares at 9:00pm along the shoreline for the annual Ring of Fire. Flares will be available at the Rt. 28 launch from 10:00am to 1:00pm on July 4th, or call Ken Bosen (see DIRECTORS page for contact info) to arrange for flares at other times.
Keep your fingers crossed for great weather. Please be safe, and let’s have another spectacular Fourth of July on Kinderhook Lake.
Weeds Piled High
Helping hands can make the difference. A record 25 volunteers showed up at the north end of the lake on Saturday morning June 23rd to hand-pull water chestnuts. This aggressive invasive species can be expensive and difficult to control, but since the roots are fairly shallow, they are easy to pull by hand. Volunteers made a huge dent in the weed bed. Offloading pulled weeds was much easier this year as volunteers were able to transfer the weeds onto the ECO Harvester conveyor belt. In a little more than two hours, the harvester bin was filled with over 2-1/2 loads of water chestnuts, which equates to about 10 cubic yards of weeds (a dump truck full). A hardy thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help – you are making a difference. See more photos on the GALLERY page.
| Michael, John, David Attebury | John Bruford | Patty and Ken Bosen |
| Jennifer and Bond Clark | Lauren Desharnais | Mike Francoeur |
| Carl Heiner | Jim Hodgkins | Ron Jensis |
| John Johnson | Bernie Kelleher | Robin and Dan Langer |
| Henrietta and Adam Nagay | Diane and Doug Peterson | Briggette Roose |
| Fran Sindlinger | Rick Theriault | Pete Walkes |
To help reduce the spread of this aquatic invasive species, a water chestnut hand-pulling event is planned for Saturday, June 23, 9:00 am – 11:00 am. We need two dozen volunteers for this event to be successful. As in past years, please meet at the north end of the lake with your kayak, canoe, rowboat, raft, or any vessel that can navigate very shallow water. Don’t forget heavy gloves and perhaps a rake. Pulled weeds will be transferred to the ECO-Harvester and brought to shore for disposal. This year, a few teams of volunteers may be dispersed to various coves around the lake where water chestnut growth has been identified. Light refreshments will be provided. In the event of pouring rain, the ‘pull’ will take place at the same time on Sunday, June 24. Please come and be part of the solution.
Why don’t we pull the water chestnuts with the ECO-Harvester? Two reasons: (1) Our DEC permit does not allow it, and (2) There is a risk of damage to the harvester drum if we run it in the shallow water where most of the water chestnuts are growing.
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