They Call it Wisconsin’s Third Great Lake
OK, so we just can’t say enough about Lake Winnebago. The thing is, our city’s name, Fond du Lac, is French for “Foot of the Lake.” When your town is named after where it is in comparison to a lake, you know that’s got to be one heckuva lake.
Lake Winnebago is one of the country’s largest freshwater inland lakes and it is situated entirely within the state’s boundaries – a rare thing for such a large body of water. Visitors are always surprised by the sheer size of it, which takes over 80 miles to circumnavigate. Of course, size isn’t everything. It’s what you do with it.
There’s a whole lot to do on it, locals and visitors alike know that Lake Winnebago is practically custom-made for people who love boating, fishing and the great outdoors. It is said there are two seasons of fishing on Lake Winnebago: hard-water and soft-water season. In addition, the lake is home to the world’s largest self-sustaining lake sturgeon population in the world. Speaking of sturgeon, Fond du Lac is known as the Sturgeon Spearing Capital of the World and each year holds a massive, rollicking, quirky, winter festival on the second weekend of February to ring in the sturgeon spearing season.
Lake Winnebago’s proximity to the Niagara Escarpment and relatively shallow average depth mean it’s also ideal for wind sports, so whether your thing is sailing, windsurfing, or ice kiting, this is a bucket-list destination. As a past and future host of the World Ice and Snow Sailing Championships, Lake Winnebago was recently dubbed by race participants as the “Kiting Mecca of the World!” And if you just want to chill, Lake Winnebago is also known as the world’s top “Sit on Your Butt, Sip a Brandy Old Fashioned, and Watch a Stunning Sunset” destination.