WLB
01-13-2006, 05:47 AM
PORT CLINTON -- Lake Erie ice guides gearing up for another season of winter fishing had to give their customers a disappointing message this month: Don't bother coming to Port Clinton and Put-in-Bay yet. There is no ice.
Put-in-Bay ice guide Bud Gehring moved hundreds of fishing reservations to February. And if there is no ice season, he said he could lose thousands of dollars.
Fellow Put-in-Bay guide Pat Chrysler also postponed reservations and returned anglers' deposit checks. Catawba Island guide Rick Dunlap hasn't received any requests for ice-fishing trips this year.
"When there's no ice, there's no business," Dunlap said.
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures during the past few weeks -- in the 40s this week and 50 degrees expected today -- Gehring, Chrysler and others are optimistic Mother Nature will send a cold blast complete with a thick layer of ice. Ice season usually begins in early January and can last into March.
"Don't put your snow shovel away," Chrysler said. "Last year, we didn't get out until the third week of January, and we were on the ice until March 20."
Guides aren't the only ones losing income. Stores, hotels and restaurants usually get business from fishermen during the slow winter months, said Larry Fletcher, Ottawa County Visitors Bureau director.
Although they're feeling the crunch of a winter with few sportsmen, most businesses don't depend on ice season, Aust and the guides said.
"I think relying on Mother Nature for an income is like playing roulette," said Gehring, who is retired.
He, Chrysler and Dunlap run charter-fishing boats in the spring and summer and duck-hunting trips in the fall.
"I would say the ice fishing is what we call gravy," Dunlap said. "The lion's share is made in the summer and fall."
Chrysler declined to discuss the amount of deposit checks for ice trips he returned. While they cross their fingers for cold weather, Chrysler and the other guides are cleaning their shanties and repairing equipment.
The guides haven't turned to running winter fishing charters on the open water. That type of fishing this time of year can be dangerous because of high winds, very cold water and loose chunks of ice that can damage or capsize boats, Dunlap said.
Originally published January 12, 2006
Put-in-Bay ice guide Bud Gehring moved hundreds of fishing reservations to February. And if there is no ice season, he said he could lose thousands of dollars.
Fellow Put-in-Bay guide Pat Chrysler also postponed reservations and returned anglers' deposit checks. Catawba Island guide Rick Dunlap hasn't received any requests for ice-fishing trips this year.
"When there's no ice, there's no business," Dunlap said.
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures during the past few weeks -- in the 40s this week and 50 degrees expected today -- Gehring, Chrysler and others are optimistic Mother Nature will send a cold blast complete with a thick layer of ice. Ice season usually begins in early January and can last into March.
"Don't put your snow shovel away," Chrysler said. "Last year, we didn't get out until the third week of January, and we were on the ice until March 20."
Guides aren't the only ones losing income. Stores, hotels and restaurants usually get business from fishermen during the slow winter months, said Larry Fletcher, Ottawa County Visitors Bureau director.
Although they're feeling the crunch of a winter with few sportsmen, most businesses don't depend on ice season, Aust and the guides said.
"I think relying on Mother Nature for an income is like playing roulette," said Gehring, who is retired.
He, Chrysler and Dunlap run charter-fishing boats in the spring and summer and duck-hunting trips in the fall.
"I would say the ice fishing is what we call gravy," Dunlap said. "The lion's share is made in the summer and fall."
Chrysler declined to discuss the amount of deposit checks for ice trips he returned. While they cross their fingers for cold weather, Chrysler and the other guides are cleaning their shanties and repairing equipment.
The guides haven't turned to running winter fishing charters on the open water. That type of fishing this time of year can be dangerous because of high winds, very cold water and loose chunks of ice that can damage or capsize boats, Dunlap said.
Originally published January 12, 2006