STURGEON BAY, Wis. — It was a windy spring day on the waters around Sturgeon Bay. That meant additional traffic at Howie’s Tackle & Archery.
That’s where Lance LaVine is busy helping anglers get their spring fishing started.
“A lot of guys started their fishing early. They’re prepping. They’re buying. We pushed a lot of our orders up because we have open water now,” he said. “It’s looking good. Our water is warming up nice. The bass, the walleye and the northern pike will be phenomenal.”
It was a different story this winter when a lack of ice put a big chill on the ice fishing season and sales. It’s the second winter in a row where ice fishing conditions have been less than ideal.
“It is a nice bonus to get started a little early just to make up for some of the lost revenue in the winter season during the ice fishing season,” LaVine said.
Hard numbers tracking the impact of the unusual winter in Door County aren’t yet available. Jon Jarosh of Destination Door County said it was a bit of a mixed bag.
“The warmer temperatures in the winter did hurt some of our more traditional tourism offerings. For example, ice fishing really had a rough year just because there wasn’t much ice,” he said. “Some of those snow-related activities people love about up here, they were down just because people couldn’t get out on the trails. We had good trails for a shorter time period this last year.”
Others saw business they might not have in a normal winter.
“On the other hand, we also heard anecdotally that some places were a little busier,” Jarosh said. “Their customers felt roads were clear, and they didn’t have to worry about weather-related travel issues, so they were maybe a little bit more comfortable coming out to explore Door County.”
LaVine said if he had his way, the warm weather that hung around all winter will extend its stay into the spring and summer.