BLFPOA Projects & News
Annette Spears honored for 34 years of faithful service as the Secretary-Treasurer of the BLPOA
At the 2025 annual meeting President Jim Montgomery presented Annette Spears with a Friend of the Lake Award for long and faithful service. She served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the BLFPOA Board from 1991-2025.
Annual Water Quality Testing
The pollution committee monitors the quality of the lake water. Each summer water samples are taken from two locations in the lake and anayzed for nitrate and e-coli bateria levels. The results have been consistenly positive as long as we have been testing. The samples are evaluated by Daily Laboratories of Peoria. The two lake locations are (A) in the middle of "the well" at the widest western portion of the lake and (B) in the middle of the middle of the lake.
The results for sample A this year (2025) indicated that both nitrates and e-coli in the water were "below detectable threshold". Sample B this year (2025) the nitrates were below detectable threshold and the e-coli was reported at 16 e-coli per 100 ml of lake water. This is extremely below the EPA standard maximum allowable limit of 235 e-coli per 100 ml of lake water. The 2025 BLFPOA results are extremely favorable and well below unsafe levels.
Aquatic plants for ponds and small lakes:
benefits and suitable species
Consider this article on the benefits of aquatic plants on the health of our lake.
"aquatic plants can actually help! If they have not been introduced when the pond is new, a few species of rooted aquatic plants can be beneficial in reducing planktonic algae blooms, filamentous algae, watermeal, and/or duckweed for pond owners. In many cases these beneficial plants can eliminate the need to treat either chemically or biologically for any of these problem plants, especially planktonic and filamentous algae. By out-competing these four problematic type of plants, the beneficial species of aquatic plants will provide: clearer water, reduced shoreline erosion, fish habitat, a wider variety of food items for fish and other organisms, and a fatter wallet for the pond owner. And best of all, not become nuisances themselves!" Read more.
Algae Bloom - Avoid Contact with Lake Water - July 2, 2021
You may have noticed some algae growing in the lake in recent days. It had a different appearance from the duckweed we experience from time to time. After sending pictures to the Illinois EPA, we have now been advised that it is a type of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) bloom. These blooms are impacting lakes and rivers throughout Illinois (see the Illinois EPA announcement). While many blooms can be harmless, some can produce toxic chemicals that can cause sickness and other health effects in people and pets, depending upon the amount and type of exposure.
Children and dogs are particularly susceptible because they have smaller body mass and are more likely to ingest water.
New Boat Launch
In 2019 the association purchased some lake front property and installed a new boat launch available for members. This new boat launch was dedicated and named the Montgomery Boat Launch in honor of our dedicated BLFPOA President, Jim Montgomery.
Here are some additional photos of the new launch being prepared by the board members:
Fish Habitat Project
Leaders of the Fish Committee, Ed Salisbury & Scott Bates, have been looking into ways to improve the fish habitat of Bertinetti Lake. They found an interesting "fish attractor" called the "Georgia Cube" designed by the Georgia the Department of Conservation. They have made one of these and plan to make several more to be strategically placed around the lake for our fish. Fish attractors are man made habitats designed to attract fish by providing substrate, or feeding locations and shelter for young fish and other small aquatic animals.
In 2019 the BLFPOA Board had a work day in September and built some more fish habitat structures. Here's the board members & friends at work:
2018 Fish Habitats:
GPS Mapping of the Lake
Will Peabody finished mapping the lake. If you follow the link below, you can zoom in on Bertinetti Lake and see contours now. Will states that "After I finished I realized I didn’t offset the transducer distance when I switched from my old boat to my pontoon boat. You need to add about a foot to each contour line to be accurate. I plan to remap the lake and upload the results to this website. I will also attempt to get further into all coves."
https://www.genesismaps.com/SocialMap/Index
Fish Population Study
The fish population was studied with shocking by DNR in 2024 and a follow-up study in 2025 was reported at the BLOFPOA annual meeting. As a result of that study new guidelines for fish capture and release and restocking of bass to increase the diversity of our bass population gene pool was completed.
Our Fish Committee seeks to follow the recommendations of the State Fisheries representatives and recently hired The Herman Brothers Lake Management Company to conduct a fish survey. Two groups of bass were stocked in the lake (the first 5-7 inches and the second group 10-14 inches). Based on recommendations, the BLFPOA board has approved the following fish limits for 2025-2026
1 - catch and release all bass
2 - no limit on blue gill
3 - no limit on crappie (harvest all caught instead of releasing)
4 - limit of 6 catfish per day
Silt Removal
In 2024 the BLFPOA completed two silt removal projects. In 2016 we completed the most recent siltation dredging project. This has been fully paid by BLFPOA member annual fees. This was the largest project in 15 years. At the 2017 annual meeting it was announced that no new projects are proposed at this time, but the current silt retention areas need to be cleaned out. The purpose of those sites is to keep the silt from entering the lake itself and retaining it in an area which is accessible to removal.
