OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) – Not everyone was complaining about record low-temperatures last week, as ice conditions on Lake Winnebago are much improved in anticipation for Sturgeon season.
Never a doubt, right?
The ice on Lake Winnebago is now about thirteen to nineteen inches thick, which comes after record-low temps helped to gain six or seven inches last week alone.
Don Herman, of Sunk? Dive and Ice Service, says before the cold snap it wasn’t looking promising.
“This cold weather was a blessing for fishermen and snowmobilers,” says Herman.
He describes the conditions prior to last weeks frigid weather.
“We got a base of about seven to ten inches last Sunday and if we wouldn’t have got the cold weather, we probably wouldn’t have gained much ice,” explains Herman.
The cold snap didn’t last very long, but Herman says the conditions were extreme enough to make an impact on the ice.
“We gained like six inches, seven inches in the last four or five days,” he explains. “So now we have about thirteen to nineteen inches out there.”
Even with the rapid growth, ice conditions are slightly trailing where they tend to be at this time of year.
“Every year is a little different,” he explains. “Normally the average ice is right around twenty to twenty-four inches.”
Nonetheless, the ice will be thick enough for vehicles to travel on.
Herman gave a rundown in November on ice safety and how thick ice typically has to be in order for vehicles to venture out safely.
Fishing enthusiasts are just relieved to avoid a potentially disastrous situation that has rarely been seen before in the past.
“Two weeks ago we thought, ‘Boy, it’s going to be a doomed season like in 2011,’” he says. “We never even put the bridges out in 2011.”
He spoke in early January about his concern regarding thin ice on Lake Winnebago and the notion that bridges might not be put in place this year.
Thankfully, ice thickened to an extent that avoided those concerns.
Herman says they were able to get a vehicle bridge out Thursday night and again Friday morning.
