Lake Winnebago

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Lake Winnebago from space, July 1996. The string of clouds in the upper left of the image runs almost perfectly north-south, with north being at the bottom of the image.

Sunset over Lake Winnebago, taken from near the top of the Niagara Escarpment near the East shore

Fishing near the shore of Lake Winnebago, taken from the Stockbridge Harbor

Lake Winnebago is a large freshwater lake in eastern Wisconsin.

1 Statistics
2 History
3 Fishing
4 External links

[edit] Statistics

It is about 30 by 10 miles (50 by 16 km), and has a surface area of about 137,700 acres (557 km²), making it the largest lake completely within Wisconsin. It has an average depth of 15.5 feet (4.7 m) and a maximum depth of 21 feet (6.4 m).

Lake Winnebago has two primary tributaries, the Wolf River and the Fox River. It is drained by the Fox River which flows north towards the Bay of Green Bay. Lake Winnebago is part of a larger system of lakes in Wisconsin known as the Winnebago Pool.

Cities on its shores include Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Neenah and Menasha. Cities that draw their drinking water directly from Lake Winnebago include Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha and Appleton.

[edit] History

The lake is a remnant of Glacial Lake Oshkosh approximately 12,000 years ago. [1] Ice blocked water from entering Lake Michigan at Green Bay, and the glacial lake ponded against ice since it had no outlet.

The Niagara Escarpment is a few miles east of Lake Winnebago. The softer Ordovician rocks that under lie the lake have eroded away, and the stronger Silurian rocks stand as a ridge that formed the lake basin. [2]

Lake Winnebago is not man-made, but its level was raised by two dams erected in 1850. The lake level is today regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

[edit] Fishing

It is a popular sport fishing lake; many fisherman consider it one of the nation's top walleye fisheries. The lake also has a population of sturgeon, which are speared during a February season. Other species present include Bluegill, Largemouth bass, Muskellunge, Northern Pike, Perch, Burbot, White bass, Freshwater drum, and Smallmouth bass.