KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Brenner's Sporting Goods welcomes the cold, embraces the bitter winds that blow in customers looking to capitalize on them.
After a stretch of warm winters, a chilly start to the year has led to favorable conditions for ice fishing in West Michigan, as well as favorable business for the Plainfield Township bait shop.
"I am so glad to be able to sell some stuff," said Dawn Brenner, who worked the cash register at Brenner's Sporting Goods on Saturday. "For the last two years, we were not able to sell much."
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All week, Brenner had been taking calls from fishermen looking to drop a line on a local lake. While small, shallow bodies of water — Big Pine Island, Cranberry and Dean Lakes — were safe for ice fishing, she said larger ones like Murray and Reeds Lake still needed time to more fully freeze.
"I try to save [fishermen] from themselves, sometimes," she said.
On a nearby residential lake in Plainfield Township, conditions were fit for an afternoon on the ice.
"Always fun getting out on the ice, dragging a sled, drilling holes," said Mario Miloro, who caught a pike when FOX 17's cameras were rolling on Saturday. "Definitely something to do in the winter and not be cooped up on the couch."
