The Beginning of the MuckMat Pro

With the invention of the LakeMat, came the MuckMat. If you are like most waterfront owning Michiganders, you hate walking in that lake bottom muck. Here’s how we solved the problem of a mucky lakebed with the MuckMat Pro. When we launched Lakemat.com we were amazed at the response. We had LakeMat orders coming out our ears. The demand for a safe, simple, economical, and environmentally friendly way to control lake weeds was huge. And our LakeMat was a great solution.

We soon found lake muck was also a problem for many of our customers. Some tried lake muck digester pellets — didn’t work. Others had lake muck blowers, lake muck rollers and other lake muck removal tools that also didn’t work. Lake muck and weeds often go hand in hand. The LakeMat controlled weeds and helped with shallow muck, but many customers had very bad, deep lake bottom muck. There weren’t really any lake muck control products on the market that worked.

Customers wrote that while LakeMat controlled their weeds, it didn’t do much for their muck. It felt like walking on a trampoline or a “waterbed without enough water in it.”  It was better than sinking in muck, but it wasn’t right. Some wanted to remove lake muck but that’s not a realistic solution in most cases and it costs thousands of dollars. So, I went looking for solutions. For a while I didn’t find anything that made sense.

Finally, I consulted with an expert professional in road construction. I told him about my issue. He said, “You should use this stuff.” He handed me a piece of material that reminded me of chicken wire with big holes, except it was made of plastic.

“Would it hold someone up walking on muck?” I asked.

“It holds up trucks in swamps — it will certainly hold up a person,” he said.

The guy gave me a big piece of the stuff to try. I fastened it to the bottom of a LakeMat and went to a lake with some nasty muck. I laid it on the muck and stepped on… And there I stood on top of bottomless muck, like I was standing on a giant snowshoe!

I didn’t sink, in fact, I walked around like I was walking on my lawn. It was incredible. I immediately dubbed it, “Lake Muck Mat,” which got shortened to simply — MuckMat.

A neighbor was watching me. I thought I’d try out my new slogan — “I can’t walk on water — but I can walk on muck!”

“Cheesy slogan, but the MuckMat works,” he said. So, I dropped the slogan and kept the MuckMat.

After a few prototypes, I felt ready to let the muck-suffering public know. And so, with the help of my friend (an internet guru!), we decided to shoot some videos. Even with the weight of my friend, the MuckMat held up. Then, he stepped off the edge, into the muck, went down on his butt, and filled his waders…it was hysterical. Too bad the camera wasn’t running at the time; it would have gone viral.

So, that’s the story of the beginning of the MuckMat. We made improvements over the years and the MuckMat evolved into the MuckMat Pro, and LakeMat became the LakeMat Pro. See one of the videos we made by clicking here!

— Doug Fast