Major League Fishing Pro Dave Lefebre had a holiday season for the record books! The Erie, Pennsylvania native says the Christmas snowstorm of 2017 dumped the most snow he’s ever seen.

According to the National Weather Service, the snow started falling on Christmas Eve and it kept coming down for days. On December 27th, the NWS measured a total of 65.1 inches of snow at the Erie International Airport. That’s more than 5 feet of snow!

“There are drifts over 6 feet all over, and 100s of cars buried, you can’t even see them,” Lefebre explained, “They even declared a snow emergency.”

Lefebre says he and his family are doing well, and they enjoyed seeing Erie on all the national newscasts during the storm. However, he says getting around his hometown was tough.

“They were restricting all vehicles on the roads unless you had snow tires or chains. My Dick Cepeks [tires] passed thankfully, but you can’t really go anywhere during these blizzards anyway,” said Lefebre.

Lefebre says he spent a lot of time indoors, editing his own television show. He says the second season of his local show, Erie Extreme, premiered over the weekend. In addition to catching bass, like you see on MLF, Erie Extreme features Lefebre and other anglers catching steelhead, walleye, perch, crappie, and bowfin in extreme weather conditions.

“I’ve also been rigging up new 13 Fishing rods and reels and getting my ice fishing gear ready to hit the ice,” Lefebre said. “Most people probably don’t realize that ice fishing is big business in the north. I’ve got 11 hard-water sponsors, who I basically work for during our tournament offseason. It keeps me busy in the winter, and what I love most about it is that new ice technology never stops coming. There are always new gadgets and products to test and show off, it keeps it fresh and exciting… And some of my bass tournament sponsors actually crossover too… like TH-Marine, Lowrance, Sufix, and Rapala. Does anyone know TH Marine makes a portable ice unit? Sounds crazy, but it works!”

Many of the MLF Pros spent their holiday season hunting with friends and family. Lefebre says ice fishing is his hunting.

“The last couple years were too warm,” he explained, “I’m really excited to have about a month to get out on the ice this year, promote some cool new products, and of course, stock up the freezer,” said Lefebre.

Lefere says he and his wife, Anne, are enjoying the snow, even though it’s putting them to work.

“Anne and I have been snow blowing and shoveling our arms off now for over a week! We love it up here!” he said.