Watch now: The iceman of Lake Winnebago helps create a safer ice fishing season | Local News

“We might move this bridge tomorrow or the the next day,” Herman mentioned of the quickly altering and unpredictable ice situations. “Sometimes we move them twice a day just to keep people safe.”

Venturing onto the ice is all the time a dangerous proposition, however with the right precautions, a little frequent sense and, via the work of volunteers like Herman and people concerned with different fishing golf equipment that ring the lake, most journeys onto Lake Winnebago and different our bodies of water could be accomplished with out getting moist, or worse.

According to the state Department of Natural Resources, no ice is ever 100% secure. There are simply too many variables. They can embody wild temperature swings, underwater springs and currents, wind that may break up huge sheets of ice, strain ridges and heaves, and insulating snow cowl that may scale back the speed at which ice types.

Earlier this month on Green Bay, greater than two dozen anglers needed to be rescued from a sheet of what seemed to be steady ice that had indifferent from the mainland. Passing barge visitors, which created waves, is being blamed for the incident. Thankfully, nobody was damage.

Back on Lake Winnebago, snowmobiles and ATVs are working the floor, however the ice isn’t thick sufficient for automobiles and vehicles, which want a minimal of 12 to 16 inches of ice. But that’s a uniform thickness, in accordance with Herman.