Local lake tour great way to spend a Friday morning

A few weeks ago, I found out that the Bangs Lake Advisory Committee was hosting $5 tours of Bangs Lake in Wauconda.

I wrote a quick article about it, and after talking to Jane Richards – a Wauconda resident who narrates the hour-long tour – I decided I wanted to take the tour myself.

The morning of July 9, I did just that.

I can’t give away all of Richards’ finer points about Bangs Lake – you’ll have to take her tour to find out how the lake was formed or what kinds of aquatic life dwell there – but I can tell you a few things.

The average water clarity of Bangs Lake is 14 feet from May to October, Richards told nine of us, which means during that time, an onlooker can see 14 feet down into the water.

Not bad for a 306-acre lake that reaches a depth of 32 feet.

Most other lakes in Lake County only have four and a half feet of visibility, she said.

Man, the residents of Wauconda are blessed.

There are 17 varieties of fish in Bangs Lake, too, which made perfect sense to me. There always seems to be some sort of fishing derby taking place on the lake, and now I know why.

I learned a lot about Bangs Lake and also water ecology, in general – plus I got to spend an hour on the water, cruising around in the sun. You can’t beat a tour like that.

Richards and other members of the Bangs Lake Advisory Committee – including Wauconda village Trustee Ed Lochmayer, who captained the boat tour I took – will continue to host tours at 9 a.m. every Friday through July 23. The tours take off from Wauconda Boat, 231 E. Liberty St., in Wauconda. A $5 donation is asked of all attendees.

To sign up for a tour, contact Bangs Lake Advisory Committee co-chair John Lambert at 847-404-6349 or lambertart@sbcglobal.net.