Written By: David Hall
On Date: 25/1/2010
Ice FishingEven at the depth of the global recession, sales of ice fishing gear were growing for many independent tackle retailers in North America. "For the last two or three years, we have seen the ice fishing business grow 15 to 20 per cent," said Jay Groth of Joe’s Sporting Goods in St Paul, Minnesota.
He estimated that between 50,000 and 75,000 visitors attended the 17th Annual Fishing & Winter Sports Show in December, and Joe’s Sporting Goods sales at the event were the best ever. Ice anglers bought everything from terminal tackle to expensive power augers and shelters.
Jeff Kodzinski, vice president of marketing for manufacturer Frabill, said his dealers sold out of big-ticket merchandise at the show in the St Paul RiverCentre. He called the event: ìThe consumer version of ICAST or EFTTEX for the ice fishing world.î
In Delafield, Wisconsin, Becky Smith, of Dick Smith’s Live Bait & Tackle, agreed that ice fishing sales have been strong. ìWe have been selling augers and electronics,î she said in mid-December.
Frigid weather arrived early in the upper Midwestern states and the southern portions of Canada’s central provinces in 2007 and 2008. ìFor the last two years, we have had safe ice by the end of November,î Jay Groth explained.
"Fishing for panfish usually continues through February and sometimes into early March," said Becky.
The weather outlook for this winter was mixed.
"El Nino in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean is expected to heavily influence the winter weather in the US," according to the 2009 Winter Outlook by the federal government’s Climate Prediction Center.
"We expect El Nino to strengthen and persist through the winter months, providing clues as to what the weather will be like during this period," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service. ìWarmer ocean water in the equatorial Pacific shifts the patterns of tropical rainfall that in turn change the strength and position of the jetstream and storms over the Pacific Ocean and the US."
His office predicted warmer than average temperatures across much of the western and central US, especially in the north-central states, from Montana to Wisconsin – ice fishing country.
That was the bad news.
The good news for fishing-tackle dealers in the northern states is that ìperiodic outbreaks of cold air are still possible".
"Pre-season sales of ice fishing gear were strong at the end of autumn and they strengthened even more the week before Christmas," said Jay Groth.
"That was the week when small, shallow ponds in the upper Midwest had safe ice, but larger lakes were still liquid," added Becky.
At roughly the same latitude, officials in New Hampshire were warning fishermen to stay off the still thin ice.
New Hampshire is the site of the Great Rotary Ice Fishing Derby that attracts more than 5,000 ice anglers to Lake Winnipesaukee in the town of Meredith. Fishing derby organisers said the event generates $1.5 million annually to businesses in the community.
The granddad of American ice fishing tournaments, however, is the Brainerd Jaycee’s Annual $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza. Billed as the world’s largest ice fishing contest, the event raises over $200,000 a year for charities in Minnesota. Last year, the tournament attracted 10,000 to Gull Lake’s Hole in the Day Bay in Brainerd.
Many independent dealers in northern states sponsor their own ice fishing tournaments. Last year’s Ice Fishing Jamboree, organised by Dick Smith’s Live Bait & Tackle, attracted 300 anglers, and another 150 to 200 had to be turned away.
This winter, Becky Smith said she could accommodate about 350 contestants.
"Sales of ice fishing tackle usually remain strong through the winter," she said, ìbut there is a noticeable spike in January when large discount chains, such as Walmart, remove winter goods as they remerchandise their stores for spring. Independent retailers in the northern states continue ordering ice fishing merchandise from wholesalers through January and into February as they need to restock.î
The growth of ice fishing has been a boon to American manufacturers who had the foresight – and the fiscal wherewithal – to broaden their reach during the depths of the recession.
Frabill, Inc, one of the largest ice fishing manufacturers in the country, last year acquired Snosuit, ìthe ice fishing industry’s foremost designer of performance winterwear,î according to Jeff Kolodzinski. He oversees marketing for Frabill, a 71-year-old company in Jackson, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee.
"The ice fishing outerwear category is substantial and growing," Jeff said. "Frabill needed to be in that space. But to parallel the level of product quality our customers are accustomed to, we had to enter at the top. Snosuit gave us that opportunity."
"Previously headquartered in Cross Lake, Minnesota, Snosuit pioneered the high-end of the now well-established ice fishing outerwear category," Jeff said.
"Frabill and Snosuit share an ideology of excellence,î said Snosuit’s founder Chris Leonard. ìSnosuit is built from the ground up. Every feature is developed organically, from scratch. We design and engineer garments based on input from anglers in the field."
Leonard will stay on to guide Snosuit’s bedrock research and development process.
"The ice fishing outerwear category is substantial and growing," Jeff said.
New, innovative products – created with input from anglers – are the keys to success, he believes.
He is optimistic about the future of the American ice fishing business, as long as winter weather cooperates.
ìI think there are going to be continuing developments in clothing and electronics that are going to be exciting,î he said, "and when I look out on the horizon – barring any wild catastrophes in the economy – I see the growth trend going for another three or four years.
"Independent retailers – like Joe’s and many others – are leading their ice fishing offerings with innovation and technology, and they are generating excitement. They are driving the growth."
Ice fishing is hot right now