LAKE WINNEBAGO, Wis. (WFRV) – We’re less than a week away from the beginning of the sturgeon spearing season.
It’s a winter highlight for many, and preparations have already begun to make it a great season. Several local fire departments conducted training over the last few days to sharpen their ice rescue skills ahead of the sturgeon spearing season.
Neenah-Menasha firefighters spent part of Monday afternoon training with their new air boat that they use for ice rescues.
“Getting down the good operations and best practices for this boat,” shift commander Amos Mikkelson told Local 5 News when asked about the goal of the training exercise on Monday. “It’s pretty new for us, so it’s important that people who are using it are familiar with it.”
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Mikkelson told Local 5 that they will have extra water rescue specialists on staff this weekend with the surge of people out on Lake Winnebago for opening weekend of sturgeon spearing season.
Harrison Fire-Rescue ice rescue training
Harrison Fire-Rescue ice rescue training
Harrison Fire-Rescue ice rescue training
Neenah-Menasha Fire Department ice rescue training
Neenah-Menasha Fire Department ice rescue training
“We look at it through the lens that there’s just so many people out there that the opportunities for calls go way up that weekend,” he said.
Mikkelson said the high number of spearers this weekend won’t, by itself, lead to more 9-1-1 calls. He said the number of calls depends more on the ice quality and the weather during opening weekend.
Harrison Fire-Rescue and the Oshkosh Fire Department also conducted ice rescue training recently.
Oshkosh’s fire chief tells Local 5 News that they began training in early December with shore-based ice rescue training. From late December through mid January, they conducted training on their new 1000 Island Ice Boat. This week, they did some ice dive training in preparation for sturgeon spearing season.
He said on average they help seven to nine individuals out of the water per year.
Oshkosh Fire Department ice training
Oshkosh Fire Department ice training
Local fishing club officials tell Local 5 News that there are about 20 inches of ice in most spots on Lake Winnebago. An early start to the cold weather this fall, and this recent sub-zero snap has led to the thick ice going into the sturgeon spearing season.
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“Ice is great, this is probably the best ice we’ve had in four or five years,” Otter Street Fishing Club vice president Bob Hable said.
The Otter Street Fishing Club does have its ice bridges out on the lake. Hable reminds folks that no ice is ever 100 percent safe.
At the end of January, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources tested the water clarity in Lake Winnebago. The study found that, on average, the water clarity is 13.8 feet (how deep into the water a person can see from the surface), which is the best it has been since 2014.
Reports from those who have been out on the lake recently indicate that water clarity may have deteriorated in some spots since the DNR conducted the study.
“We had an algae bloom, and we haven’t had any snow (which protects the ice from the sunlight the algae needs to grow),” Hable said. “So we’ve lost some clarity.”
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Although spearing conditions look good on Lake Winnebago going into the weekend, first responders always urge caution.
“My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you have done your research on where you can go on the lake and watch the weather,” Mikkelson said.
He reminds folks to spear with a buddy and follow the local fishing clubs for the latest information about ice conditions out on Lake Winnebago.
If you fall into the water, Mikkelson said to try your best to stay calm and hold onto the edge of the ice until help arrives. He said it’s a good idea to bring flotation devices with you out on the lake just in case.
