Captain Jimmy Doering of Cast N Catch Charters in Sturgeon Bay had never gone open-water bass fishing in December and January like he did this winter, but he is ready to set his tip up on the ice. The streak of cold temperatures has helped the Great Lakes get ice-covered. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is 4.8 percent, with Lake Michigan at 3.95 percent.  It has meant a slow start to the ice fishing season, which Potawatomi State Park Superintendent Erin Brown-Stender blamed for last year’s slight drop in attendance. Doering says he has had to start canceling and postponing ice fishing charters this winter. However, he admits he never counts on the season getting going until the final week of January and early February. Still, he says they need a big assist from Mother Nature to help generate safe enough ice for them to fish on in the coming weeks.

Doering’s biggest worry is next week when high temperatures are expected to be above freezing for much of the week including a chance of rain showers. Ice fishing is a part of the over $2.3 billion fishing in Wisconsin according to the DNR.