(La Porte, IN) - No ice on the lakes is putting a freeze on sales at a La Porte bait shop.

 

Eddie Hueston at Pine Lake Bait and Taxidermy said his only customers right now are buying crickets and other forms of live bait to feed their lizards and other reptiles they keep as pets at home.

 

He estimated sales are down 90-percent at the shop he operates at 1714 A Street.

 

“The impact here as far as our business here is down big time.  Real big,” he said.

 

Hueston said ice fishermen coming in to visit are frustrated by the open water on the lakes which were frozen when winter came in like a lion around Christmas time.

 

He said the ice then was thick enough to walk on and fish.

 

“After it started getting warmer around here, it just took a dive,” Hueston said.

 

There is hope for the bait shop and the ice fishermen it serves. Right now, the long range forecast is calling for temperatures to be just slightly above and below freezing during the day and into the teens at night until at least the end of the month starting on Friday.