OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Recent cold temperatures may be just what many in the Fox Valley are hoping for, as they get ready to have some fun on the ice this weekend.
On Saturday, Lake Winnebago might be the place to be, as thousands are expected for the 61st Annual Otter Street Fishing Club Fisheree in Oshkosh.
A steady stream of trucks headed onto the lake at the Merritt Avenue Landing. The launch is a busy place.
“It’s been cold for the last couple weeks, and it just, it’s making ice every day when it’s cold like this. It’s pretty good this year,” said Don Herman, Otter Street Fishing Club Vice President.
Herman says there are about 17-20 inches of ice off the landing in Oshkosh. The club installed bridges capable of carrying vehicles over cracks in the ice on January 27.
“We got one road going to Quinney, but like I said, there’s nothing to plow. It’s all ice. Make sure you wear your creepers, because it’s very slippery out there,” said Herman.
But slippery ice is expected to tie in with the 61st Annual Otter Street Fishing Club’s Fisheree at Menominee Park. There will be a pond hockey tournament on Millers Bay, and inside the heated tent, food, raffles, and fun. Club leaders say Saturday’s celebration doubles as a major fundraiser.
“We’re a non-profit organization. So these events help us especially in the winter, maintain our ice roads, our bridges and all our trucks. We have three trucks, and it’s $10,000 a year roughly to maintain them all. So we got to have the money coming in for it,” said John Nourse, Otter Street Fishing Club Board of Directors Member.
Back on the ice, experts say travel on the 132,000-acre lake is a little bumpy in places.
“It’s rough. We got some rough ice. If you get an old, or get on one of our roads that we plowed earlier, it’s pretty smooth. But you get off road, you still got little snow banks and everything, but you can still drive just about anywhere,” said Herman.
The fisheree begins Saturday at 10 a.m.
And for those venturing onto the frozen lakes, experts say no ice is ever considered to be 100 percent safe.
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