Thin ice could push back winter fisherees

LAKE WINNEBAGO - Lake Winnebago ice expert Don Herman says this is only the third time in the last 37 years he has seen open water on Lake Winnebago in mid-January. Aerial video shot over Lake Winnebago Monday shows how much open water there is.

"Right now it's dangerous, you can't come out here with a four-wheeler or even walking," said Herman.

But it's not stopping fishermen from venturing out into the bays around Lake Winnebago. Normally by mid-January groups like the Otter Street Fishing Club have put out bridges over large cracks in the ice. But club president Scott Engel says it's not something they are even thinking about right now and if they aren't out by the time sturgeon spearing starts February 11th, they may not put them out at all.

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"It feels like October, it really does and until the snow last week, green grass and we have 50 degrees last week and it's hard to fathom," said Engel.

Engel is also worried about the club's annual fisheree, just three weeks away. He says if there isn't at least 12 inches of ice they will have to host the event on shore. On Lake Winnebago, sections of thin and thick ice are just feet apart and the fishing clubs say it will take at least two weeks of cold weather to make any parts of the lake safe.

"Right here is about six inches of ice and over there is maybe an inch and you can't really tell that there is a difference," said Herman.

Herman says many fishermen would normally be out scouting the lake for sturgeon spearing. Ice shanties that would normally start going up next week may not be able to go up at all if the ice doesn't thicken up for vehicle traffic and that has some fishermen concerned about their chances of spearing the big one.

"It definitely makes your chances of being successful less because you can't get out there and check things out," said Bob Kaminskas of Rosendale.

The DNR says the sturgeon spearing season will go on regardless of how much ice is on the lake. Which right now is testing the patience and the weight of fishermen brave enough to head out.