OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Winter is here as snow has returned to Northeast Wisconsin. But the ice isn’t quite thick enough to start venturing out on the biggest lakes around the area.
“We need below-zero weather for Lake Winnebago to actually become safe,” said Don Herman of Sunk? Dive and Ice Services. “I’m sure if it gets cold enough and the wind stays down, they’ll get out there. Walking out, and maybe four-wheelers within a week. But right now, I would not venture out on Lake Winnebago because there are open spots out there.”
Meanwhile, some smaller bays have anywhere from 4-6 inches of ice cover, and people have begun walking and even taking four-wheelers out in those areas.
While ice fishermen might be getting a bit impatient and start dipping their toes in the water, they’re also hoping to avoid getting literal cold feet. An ice-fisherman’s worst nightmare is having to call Herman and his Sunk? Dive and Ice Service team. Because calling Donnie likely means your truck is in the lake.
“I’ve always said the lake is never 100% safe when you’ve got ice on it,” Herman said.
Sunk? Dive and Ice has been pulling vehicles out of the ice for over 30 years.
“We already pulled a vehicle out this year. On the 19th of December, someone accidentally drove out at night and thought it was a road. I don’t know how they did that, but anyways, we pulled them out,” Herman said. “Some years we do ten, some years we do fifty jobs. It all depends on the ice conditions. That’s how we base it. Normally, I’ll start pulling stuff out right after Christmas…Our best years are when we have really good ice and we don’t have a lot of snow. When we have a year where we don’t have very good ice, people don’t know that so they don’t venture out. So really my best years are when we have good ice.”
Local ice fishing clubs will put bridges out to guide people towards safer ice each year. The average time for doing that over the past 40 years, Herman says, is typically between January 12th-25th. However, there have been times where they’ve been out as early as the first of the year, as late as February, or in the case of this past year – not at all.
Herman says those bridges and marked roads out on the lakes are important, especially for people who might not be familiar with the territory.
“The best fishing is the beginning of the year and late in the year. And that’s also the worst ice conditions. That’s how that goes!” Herman said. “For the next three months, you never know because when people start driving out there they can drive anywhere. And then they drop in a river or they go in the wrong place…If you’re driving out on the lake, follow the roads and stay on the roads if you don’t know where you’re going.”
Herman will usually respond to calls to find people in the water around areas that should generally be avoided, no matter how thick the ice is in that spot. The mouth of rivers, major cracks, areas with springs underneath, and other bad spots are common areas where the ice tends to be weaker – and could lead to a cold, wet day for those who aren’t paying attention.
The Midwest’s largest ice fishing tournament, Battle on ‘Bago, is still set to be held February 19th-21st across Lake Winnebago, Lake Butte des Morts, Lake Winneconne, and Lake Poygan.
