DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – It was early April when fishing gear started flying off the shelves at Mak’s Bait Shack in Dubuque.

“It was night and day,” said owner Matt “Mak” McFadden, speaking about the sudden increase in demand for fishing supplies. “Anything outdoors became way more popular, (and) fishing was included in that.”

As COVID-19 struck down group activities and indoor pursuits, the great outdoors beckoned, and many citizens took the bait – literally.

The number of general fishing licenses purchased in Dubuque County in the first half of 2020 increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2019, according to Iowa Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Biologist Dan Kirby.

And many of those anglers flocked to stores like Mak’s Bait Shack, where McFadden has found himself unable to keep basic fishing gear in stock.

Not only has demand skyrocketed, but domestic manufacturing shutdowns combined with overseas shipping delays have led to a supply chain backlog.

“All these companies could still ship (products), because shipping was deemed essential, but nobody could manufacture on the back end,” McFadden told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. “When the customer demand is high, but … nothing is getting manufactured, it comes to a grinding halt real fast. You can’t buy it if nobody’s making it.”

Randy Stark, the owner of Stark’s Sport Shop in Prairie du Chien, Wis., also has had “tremendous difficulty” keeping up with the demand for hooks, rods, reels and sinkers.

“The shortages of inventory and product from every industry that we deal with here at Stark’s is just off the charts,” he said. “It’s something we’ve never dealt with before. I would look for eight different reels, and there’s absolutely none available. None. Zero. It’s crazy.”

Although most manufacturers have resumed operations, the distributors still are playing catch-up, McFadden said.

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