NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – Although many are celebrating the arrival of spring, not everyone is thrilled about the warmer weather.

Don Herman from the Otter Street Fishing Club and Sunk? Dive and Ice Service sent FOX 11 this photo.

It happened on Lake Winnebago by Black Wolf Avenue near Oshkosh.

Herman said the driver went through the ice while coming back to shore from fishing.

The driver wasn’t injured, and Herman was able to pull the truck out of the water.

In Door County, officials say a 59-year-old Sturgeon Bay man went through the ice on his snowmobile.

It happened just before 6:45 p.m. Friday between the Maple-Oregon Street Bridge and the Bayview Bridge in Sturgeon Bay.

Police say the man was traveling toward the city’s downtown when he turned around and the back of his snowmobile went through the ice.

The man said he was in the water for one to three minutes up to his neck but was able to pull himself out. He was not injured.

Authorities said they suspected he had been drinking, and tell FOX 11 the man then admitted he was drinking. Officials say initial tests showed he was over the legal limit. He was arrested for operating while intoxicated.

Officials are urging everyone to use caution on the ice and venture out at their own risk.

The Door County Sheriff’s Department said conditions have deteriorated with the warm weather and the predicted rain will only make them worse.

They said anyone going out on the ice shouldn’t go alone, carry a cell phone, have proper clothing and equipment and be aware of current ice conditions and weather.

via Truck sinks in Winnebago County.

OSHKOSH — Rescuers used a Husky airboat Sunday to retrieve a fisherman who was stranded overnight on the ice of Lake Winnebago.

The fisherman, Ronald R. Derr, 47, of Oshkosh, was not injured in the ordeal.

A spokesman for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said Derr had gone to his shanty Saturday night and became stranded as high winds pushed apart the ice. At 7:45 a.m., a passer-by spotted Derr on the ice about a quarter mile offshore near the W. 24th Avenue boat landing. About 200 feet of open water was between the shore and Derr.

The sheriff’s department said high winds have created an impassable crack in the ice extending from Merritt Avenue to Black Wolf Point in the southern part of the county.

via Ice conditions leave fisherman stranded | Appleton Post-Crescent | postcrescent.com.

Monday’s incident on the Bay of Green Bay, where people were stuck on ice that separated from the shore, raises the question of how safe local ice is right now. It’s an important question as we get closer to the ice fishing and sturgeon spearing season.

Each year thousands of people flock to Lake Winnebago to take advantage of it in its frozen state. This year is no different. And with fairly cold temperatures recently the ice seems to be in pretty good shape.

“We have about five to eight inches on Lake Winnebago and there isn’t any open holes,” says ice expert Don Herman.

He adds, “We took snowmobile around the whole lake yesterday, so the lake looks actually in excellent condition, but with the warm weather coming that could change in a hurry.”

Those changes could come this week when temperatures are expected to be above freezing.

The warm-up, according to Herman, will definitely have an effect on the ice and delay any preparations for opening these gates to allow for heavy vehicle traffic on the lake. Those delays could linger into the season.

“Most of the events start at the beginning of February, and sturgeon spearing is a month away yet, but if we don’t get cold weather it can affect all of that.”

Even though conditions out on Lake Winnebago right now may be pretty good for foot, four-wheeler, and snowmobile traffic, the sheriff’s department warns ice is never 100% safe and those who venture out on it need to protect themselves.

Lt. Greg Cianciolo with the sheriff’s department says, “We just don’t see a lot of use of personal flotation devices in the winter, and certainly if somebody goes through the ice that is going to increase their odds of survival and their odds of being recovered quickly if they can stay afloat. So one of the things I always try to do is persuade people to wear a PFD even during the winter on the ice.”

Because with changing conditions, it’s always best to be safe.

via Lake Winnebago Ice Conditions – WBAY.

A boater’s drive to create a no-wake zone on the Fox River from Lake Winnebago to the Butte des Morts bridge appears dead in the water with an advisory board and the city manager both against the proposal.

About 119 people signed Oshkosh resident Daniel Henning’s petition that asks Oshkosh Parks Director Ray Maurer to designate the entire length of the Fox River from Lake Winnebago to the Butte des Morts bridge a no-wake zone.

On Monday, the Oshkosh Advisory Parks Board unanimously voted to reject Henning’s request, saying it would hurt boating-related businesses and increase travel times between Winnebago and Butte des Morts. Henning was the only person at the meeting who spoke in favor of the no-wake expansion.

“You’re taking your life into your own hands if you try to go out in the afternoon. We’ve had several close calls,” Henning said. “Something needs to get done, that’s all I know. It would still be ‘Oshkosh on the Water.’ It’s just going to be Oshkosh on the Water, Safely.”

The petition cites “terrible” shoreline erosion and the damage done to little boats as they make their way along the river. At present, there are already no wake areas from the mouth of Winnebago west to the Oregon Street bridge and another no-wake zone from west of the Wisconsin Street bridge almost to the Butte des Morts bridge.

Oshkosh City Manager Mark Rohloff has recommended the city take no action on the petition and leave the existing no-wake zones in place.

“We don’t support it. We’re recommending the Parks Board take no action it,” Rohloff said. “We don’t think it’s necessary.”

Parks Board members agreed with him on Monday, saying it would hurt marinas, restaurants, hotels, bait shops and other businesses that cater to boaters. Board member Terry Wohler also noted it would significantly increase the amount of time it takes boaters to get from Lake Winnebago to Lake Butte des Morts.

“This is going to kill everything in Oshkosh. You can’t have a no-wake zone on the whole thing,” Wohler said. “It would take you all day to get from one way to the other.”

Beyond those who signed the petition, there appears to be little other support for the idea.

Rohloff said he’s gotten about 20 calls from businesses, residents, boaters and fishers from the region and all expressed opposition to the idea. Maurer said he’s received more input on the petition in three days than he did on the entire Menominee Park Master Plan in six months.

“Everything I’ve gotten in the last 24 hours has been unanimously against it,” Rohloff said. “It’s totally impractical. At the speeds they recommend, it would take 55 minutes to go from the Butte des Morts bridge to the Pioneer.”

Mercury Marine tests many of its boats on a stretch of the Fox River near the Wisconsin Street bridge and Director of Product Integration Engineering Daniel Clarkson said a no-wake zone would add about 3,600 hours of test time to each project when driving times to areas of Lake Winnebago are factored in.

“All of those tests we do are able to be done because of our access to the Fox River, the Winnebago System,” Clarkson said. “We know that access to the river and to the Winnebago and Butte des Morts systems are paramount to our ability to complete the work that’s part of the pride we have in the marine industry today.”

Only a portion of the signatures collected come from Oshkosh residents, though. The remainder come from boaters from Racine, Oconomowoc, Edgerton, Fort Atkinson, Elkhorn, Lake Delton and other areas of the state.

Henning said he collected the signatures in a week or two from people he runs into along the river. He said a lot of the close calls he has had in the past could be avoided if boaters used more common sense.

“There’s just an awful lot of stuff we see on the river … a lot of these guys don’t use any common sense when it comes to the river,” Henning said. “There’s a lot of stuff that could be addressed if people slowed down.”

Jeff Bollier: (920) 426-6688 or jbollier@thenorthwestern.com.

http://www.wbay.com/story/16773620/2012/02/08/rescuers-go-on-and-through-the-ice-on-lake-winnebago?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6724105

Click on the picture to get to the video

Just days before the start of sturgeon spearing season, an ice rescue team gives us a firsthand look at the danger looming on Lake Winnebago.

Ice rescue teams around the lake are worried they could be in for a busy weekend. Sturgeon spearing season starts Saturday, and thousands of people are expected on the ice.

But authorities say our extremely mild winter has left that ice extremely dangerous.

It’s a bumpy ride on top of Lake Winnebago’s rugged ice, and that alone poses a problem.

“With these ice conditions, it’s going to be challenging even for us to get out here quickly,” Mike Sipin of Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue said.

Sipin and Ryan Krings are part of Neenah-Menasha’s Ice Rescue Team. Their Husky Airboat is putting on a lot of miles this week, scouring the lake for dangerous ice.

As we find out, it doesn’t take long.

One mile off Neenah’s Rec Park, just north of Davis Point, our boat breaks through the ice.

It’s an eerie sensation.

“If this were a vehicle, once you’re in, you’re in; there’s not much you can do to get yourself out.”

We continue north towards the Menasha channel, a quarter mile off shore. Just two days ago this was all open water, Sipin says.

“This is going to probably give a false sense of security when people see the ice and know what the temperatures are.”

Sipin steps out of the boat to demonstrate the danger.

In the blink of an eye, he goes down.

“I didn’t start to hear any cracking under the ice until maybe a foot or two before it happened, and it was just like that going down.”

In just a short time these rescuers prove why their concerned about this year’s sturgeon spearing season.

They’re urging everyone to leave their cars and trucks on shore and to talk with local fishing clubs before stepping foot on the ice.

“The last thing we want to do, or any rescue agency wants to do, is to have to come out here and pull somebody out. It’s always a bad situation.”

Boating on Lake Winnebago - Ice Roads

Those who plan to sturgeon spear this season might have to do so on foot.

All seven of the fishing clubs on Lake Winnebago have decided against maintaining roads for cars and trucks.

They’re hoping to discourage people from taking chances.

Scrapping plans to put out the bridges, fishing clubs across Lake Winnebago are calling off plans to plow and maintain roads even as sturgeon spearing season approaches.

Many are warning drivers- not to venture out.

“The fishing clubs don’t have any liability at all on the bridges. We put them out every year, and people fall in. They’re there for the convenience of the fishermen, and to let them go out and fish, but we’re not liable at all. We tell everybody if you have to go out on the lake, it’s at your own risk,” Don Herman of the Otter Street Fishing Club said.

Right now, the Otter Street Fishing Club plans to put out a smaller bridge by next week near Ceape Street in Oshkosh that’s being constructed for ATVs. But even that’s in jeopardy without a colder spell.

Near Van Dyne, Christmas trees stockpiled on the shore of Lake Winnebago are normally used to mark roads on the ice. Last year they went out on January 4th.

Shawn Wendt of the West Shore Fishing Club said, “We have a road three miles straight out, and a road to the northeast we run three miles straight out. This year those trees will be staying on shore. As far as we can tell, there’s no cold weather in the forecast.”

If the ATV bridges are put out, it’s not necessarily a safety endorsement. While the lake itself is frozen over, some spots are only four to six inches thick.

That’s why fishing clubs say it’s up to each person to evaluate their surroundings.

“You venture out, you’re at your own risk. It’s kind of like sturgeon spearing. They will not close it, you have to go out on your own risk,” Herman said.

Lake News: Lake Winnebago Fishing Clubs Won’t Mark Roads: Drive “at Your Own Risk”.

MADISON – The state Department of Justice has fined two Fox Valley companies for unpermitted work they did on a Wolf River development.

The Attorney General’s office released a statement today concerning Appleton developer G&G River Investments and Gene Frederickson Trucking in Kaukauna.

The department said G&G River Investments built a pier, seven boat lifts and five permanent boat shelters for a development on the Wolf River in the Fremont area. Those structures were not covered by the company’s permit.

The release also states Gene Frederickson Trucking and G&G River Investments placed unauthorized riprap on the shoreline.

A Winnebago County judge today signed an order for G&G River Investments to pay $137,000 in fines. Gene Frederickson Trucking will have to pay $15,000.

G&G River Investments is also required change the shoreline development so it fits the permits and monitor the site for five years.

via Two Fox Valley companies fined.

While the boating season is coming to end on the Lake Winnebago  system, construction  season never ends on US 41. specifically the US 41 causeway across Lake Butte des Morts.

The Wisconsin  Department of Transportation  (WisDOT) wants to advise boaters to use extreme caution in the vicinity of US 41/Lake Butte des Morts causeway.  Construction is scheduled to begin after Labor Day on a $54 million WIS 21 interchange project which includes replacing all six US41 bridges crossing Lake Butte des Morts.

Construction  is anticipated to continue through July of 2013.

WisDOT is advising boaters to exercise caution when proceeding through this area by boat. To facilitate construction  contractor will be utilizing numerous barges with large cranes and other construction  equipment. and will need to relocate navigational channels.  Boaters will need to watch for additional navigational  buoys. and be alert for changing navigational alignments.

Danger and navigational  buoys will be placed in the water and warning lights will be installed on cofferdams and barges.

Please pass this information on to boaters that use your marinas.

If you have questions.  please contact me at 920-232-5831.

Tom Buchholz. P,E.
Project manager
Wisconsin  Department of Transportation