OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Ice is thickening on Lake Winnebago, and fishing clubs are preparing to put out the bridges for full-sized vehicles this week.
“The bridges will be going up either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning for the vehicles. The four-wheeler and ATV bridges are out already,” said Don Herman of Sunk? Dive and Ice Service. “All of the fishing clubs have by-laws, well most of them, say they’ve got to have at least 12 inches of ice [for the bridges].”
Herman says most of the lake currently has at least 13 inches of ice coverage. Even an area blown open a few weeks ago has solidified.
The bridges aren’t the only responsibility the clubs will take this weekend. They’re also set to plow and mark roads across the lake to help people navigate their way to their favorite spots, and then find the way back home.
“We usually plow right across the lake to Quinney and meet up with the Quinney Fishing Club. Eventually we get a road 3-4 miles south, and then 3-4 miles north or further,” Herman said. “Some people don’t know what the trees mean, but the trees are actually an old-fashioned GPS from before you had GPS on your phone and everything…They’re usually every eighth of a mile. If you see two trees, it’s two miles out – three trees, you’re three miles out and so on.”
The trees are also placed to point towards shore.
But even with the bridges and roads going into place, Herman issued his usual reminder.
“The ice is never 100% safe…You’ve got to be safe out there. The ice can change every day when the weather and temperatures change. Not so much with the wind anymore because there’s 14-15 inches of ice out there,” Herman told WTAQ News. “Just because you drove on a road the day before to go out fishing, if it gets cold or warm, that road could crack down the middle. So you just have to pay attention because the ice moves around with the temperature.”
You can check out Herman’s latest ice report here:
