Vehicles continue falling through ice and into open water despite warnings

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With less than a week before the start of sturgeon spearing on Lake Winnebago and the up river lakes, the ice conditions couldn’t be more dangerous. Just in the Fond du Lac County area Sunday, February 2, 2025, there were three separate instances on the ice involving vehicles getting stuck or becoming submerged in the water due to unsafe ice.

The first came in to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office around 11:30 AM when a snowmobile with two riders fell through the ice out from TJs Harbor Restaurant, just north of the Fond du Lac County line. Both subjects were able to self extricate themselves from the water and refused an ambulance.

Just before 2 PM an SUV got stuck on a crack in the ice about a half mile north east of the Lakeside Park Lighthouse. The driver was able to escape the vehicle before it eventually became totally submerged in the lake.

And just before 6PM, three people in a UTV got stuck in a crack a couple hundred yards west of Roosevelt Park. In this incident, none of the three occupants went in the water and they eventually were able to get the UTV out.

This all comes just a day after two men on a 4 wheeler went into open water about a 1/4 mile out from the Fond du Lac Yacht Club. That incident occurred Saturday around 12:25 PM. Bystanders were able to get both men out of the water after about 20 minutes, but unfortunately, one of the men had died, despite life saving efforts from the public and Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue.

Local fishing clubs have taken to social media to post warnings about unsafe ice. Friendship Fishing Club posted a video on their Facebook page about a hole in the ice they found on Saturday out from Cemetery Road…

Drone footage shows lots of open water south of Wendts On The Lake near an area of small islands, as well as sporadic holes and cracks throughout the south side of the lake.

These holes as well as cracks of open water are numerous out on the lake, and often times they are just feet away from where the ice is 15 inches thick.

Sturgeon Spearing starts this Saturday. Anyone headed out on the ice is strongly encouraged to get a thorough briefing of ice conditions from a local fishing club before they head out.