By Mark Schram, Myfishingpartner.com

As of 3/24/21, Lake Winnebago remains about 40% ice-covered. The ice sheet continues to breakdown and has been shrinking daily.

Ice shoves can be seen along some of the main lake structures and shallow back bays. The lake levels remain extremely low, and the ice shoves which generally impact the shoreline have been restricted to the lake bed.

In some lake areas, exposed lakebeds can extend out from the receded shoreline up to 50 yards.
Many of the feeder creeks have minimal water and a lot of exposed riverbeds. This may be the lowest level of water I have ever seen on the system. The dams at Shawnow, WI, are near high levels, but water is not being released into the system. Many theories explain why the Core of Engineers is holding the water (ranging from protection of shorelines from ice shoves, proactive spring rain management, construction projects, and other thoughts), but ultimately levels are greatly diminished. The Core has indicated they will release water into the system once the ice sheet breaks down further.

Many system boat launches are currently un-launchable at this point unless you have an airboat. The Fox River in Oshkosh can be accessed without issue at Rainbow Park.

The Wolf River also remains exceptionally low. Some launches are being utilized, but boaters need to be cautious when moving throughout the river. The fishing reports have been fantastic on the Wolf, partially because the walleyes can not hide in the sloughs and other shoreline covers, as they do not have enough water. Walleyes are highly concentrated in the river.

More reports to come. I plan to release a Fox River Fishing report in DePere shortly.