A recent blast of cold weather is a welcome sign for outdoor enthusiasts, but one group is still primarily sitting on the shores, waiting for the winter weather to bring temperatures cold enough to freeze lakes.

John Burkhardt is the manager of Natural Sports - The Fishing Store in Kitchener, and he is ready to go ice fishing, but the unseasonably warm weather has left most area lakes unsuitable to fish on.

“An auger is the first thing you need, a sled to carry your stuff and some ice tackle to put a line down the hole to see if you have any luck,” he said.

Burkhardt said the warm temperatures have made conditions unsafe, delaying the start of the ice fishing season.

Ice fishing is currently closed at locations across the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), including Belwood Lake, Pinehurst, Guelph Lake and Shade’s Mills.

“Typically six inches of ice is safe to walk on but you need several nights of minus double digits, and our temperatures keep fluctuating positive negative and there’s been some snow and wind and the ice has been slow to build locally,” Burkhardt said.

The one cooling down Burkhardt has seen is in sales.

He said he is hoping for some colder weather next month to help him reel in some sales.

“There’s going to be a lot of people with leftover equipment in the retail business, but people are anxious, so when it kicks off, it will be hard and fast,” he said.

There is hope, however, for some ice fishing enthusiasts, as Little Lake in Cambridge has frozen enough for enthusiasts to cast a line through the ice.

The lake is not a GRCA property, but the group is urging the public to exercise extreme caution around all local waterways and stay off the ice.

Some ice fishers said they feel safe and have measured the ice to be sure.

“It’s been cold at night time like negative 12, but we kept checking the ice, and you know it’s 7 inches finally,” said Amanda Kilpiainen, a Cambridge resident

Others said they are just checking out the conditions for now.

“This winter is no fun,” Kitchener resident Shawn Lace said. “This is my first day checking the ice. I’m a little scared, but it was pretty cold the last couple of days, so I’m out here checking, and I’ll bring my kids out skating later.”