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Well, with yet another day of above-average temperatures, local ice anglers are getting anxious
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wondering when or if they'll be able to fish this winter season
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Their frustration is a major concern for businesses, some of which depend on ice fishing for winter sales
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Erie News now's Ethan Kibby has more. A sunny day in Erie means a quiet day at East Endangler on Eastlake Road
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with only a handful of customers stopping by. That's bad news for owner Kirk Ritzinski, who's watched sales melt along with the snow
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Everybody goes to the bay coming out and getting minnows and their tackle for ice fishing
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And, yeah, it's probably around 50, 60 percent for the loss on ice fishing
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The last two years, when ice fishing sales boomed, supply chain problems stunted sales
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Now, with gear readily available, there's no one to buy it. We had inventory left from last year that we did a late order, which took a long time to get
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and then we only had two weeks of ice fishing, so that went away
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It wasn't a whole lot, but enough to get us started for the year
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So instead of ice fishermen, Ritzinsky is counting on anglers like Randy Whittlesey
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Fish is from the shore and says local creeks like 4 Mile are loaded with fish
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It just gives me something to do, breaks up the day. So, and it keeps my wife, January and February when I don't ice fish, it can be a little
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testy at home. So, you know, I get out of the house once in a while
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I'll give her a break. Brad Zinski says customers like Whittlesea help, but they don't make up for ice fishing sales
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So like the rest of us, he's watching the forecast, but he's hoping John Stalen delivers
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some freezing weather. That would be really awesome, John. Come on. Let's get with it here
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Snap, snap, chop, chop
