WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsBusiness up for local bait shops compared to last winter

Business up for local bait shops compared to last winter

Eau Claire (WQOW)- With all the brown outside this winter, you might guess that ice fishing sales would be down.  A local bait shop owner says thanks to the lack of snow, business is much better this year.

Mike Buroker has operated a bait and tackle shop in Eau Claire for nearly 30 years.  He says business isn't great this winter, but it's a lot better than last year, when the snowfall got to be so much that people weren't going to local lakes to ice fish.

"In 26 years it was the worst winter I've ever had because I missed the whole month of December.  There basically wasn't any business in December last year.  I could have closed up and nobody would have known I was gone," says Buroker.

He blames Mother Nature for the decrease in sales.

"Last year, in early December, we experienced that blizzard, 22 inches of snow fell on about five inches of nice ice and it ruined the conditions for at least a month," Buroker remembers.  "It was probably well into January before I started having any amount of business."

But this year, the lack of snow has allowed a thicker ice-base to form and fishermen are back out on area lakes in full force.

"This year, the ice came slower but we have no snow out there.  So we have good ice," Buroker says.  "We have about 10 inches here on Lake Altoona, from what I'm hearing, and its excellent ice.  Business has been better and hopefully we can get a little more ice before we start getting the snow on top of it."

WQOW also spoke with three other bait shops in the area Friday and they all said their sales are up compared to last winter.