OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – If you’re looking for a way to get rid of your Christmas tree, look no further than the Fox Valley.
An Oshkosh club is collecting old trees to make ice fishing a bit easier, and safer.
It’s been referred to as an old-fashioned GPS system of sorts.
“Every eighth of a mile we put a tree out,” Otter Street Fishing Club chairman Don Herman explained.
“We put a big tree out for mile number one and, at two miles, we put two trees, and three trees for three miles, and so on.”
The Oshkosh club has been using the method out on Lake Winnebago for decades.
Herman tells FOX 11 it takes about a hundred trees to create this tree line, which serves as a guide for vehicles crossing the lake.
“We lean them toward shore – we drill a hole, actually on an angle, and we lean them toward shore so, if you do come across a tree in fog or anything like that, if you see a tree, you know exactly which way shore is.”
You’d normally already be able to see the Christmas trees and bridges on Lake Winnebago.
But with recent warm weather, Herman says this may be one of just a handful of times in over 40 years where the trees and bridges may not go up.
“It’s not looking good this year because, last year at this time, we had our bridges out for a week already, and I don’t see a lot of cold weather coming.”
He said there should be about 12 to 16 inches of ice on Lake Winnebago. But right now, Herman would be surprised if it’s even up to seven or eight inches yet.
While the club continues collecting the Christmas trees, Herman cautions people to stay off the lake.
“The lake is never 100 percent safe; the ice is never 100 percent safe, so you just have to use caution. This year, you have to use extreme caution going out there.”
The trees are also used for mulch after the season is over, so fishing clubs will actually get about two or three uses out of one Christmas tree.
Christmas trees can be dropped off at the end of Merritt Avenue, near the landing in Oshkosh.
