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It’s not enough to be called the Sturgeon Spearing Capital of the World. This February, Lake Winnebago will be teeming with activity below the surface and on the ice. Fisherman can expect a larger sturgeon harvest now that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has increased the cap for 2015, and on the ice, racers from around the world will be competing in the 2015 World Ice and Snow Sailing Championship. It all begins Monday, Feb. 9, when racers from Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine and the U.S. take the ice for the world’s only competition that includes three classes of ice sailing: Sled Class, with handheld sails, otherwise known as windsurfing; Kite Class, which features kites with skis and snowboards; and Wing Class, which involves kite wings with skates or skis. WISSA will take place throughout the week off the southeast shore from Roosevelt Park on Lake Winnebago, culminating on Saturday, Feb. 14, when the 2015 Sturgeon Spearing season begins. Overlapping each of these events is Fond du Lac’s 26th Annual Sturgeon Stampede, a winter outdoor festival, which kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 12 and runs through Sunday, Feb. 15. New to the 2015 Stampede will be a Bootie Run Adventure Race and the Spear a Fatty Fat Tire Bicycle Race, which also takes place off the shore of Roosevelt Park. There will also be a free kite fly-in, ice bowling, winter tether ball, broom ball, “Big Air” kite jumping, a Sturgeon Spearing Shanty display, kite and windsurfing demos and dog sled rides provided by Siberian Outpost. An event schedule of the races and winter activities, FAQs, and registration requirements is available at wissa2015.com. WISSA 2015 is hosted by the Fond du Lac Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Winnebago Association of Kiteboarders and Wind Power Windsurfing Kiting Center. The main sponsor of the event is Altmeyer Electric.
