By GARRETT NEESE

gneese@mininggazette.com

L’ANSE — Indian Country Sports’ ethos is summed up in five words: Hunt, fish, camp, paddle, play.

Owners Tammy and Kevin Engelhardt have run the L’Anse outdoors store for almost eight years. Their daughter Ashley Engelhardt works as manager.

“We are very customer service-oriented, and we treat our customers more like family,” Tammy said.

People routinely tell them Indian Country has the largest selection of fishing supply gear in the region, including Mepps products, Swedish Pimples and Moonshine lures and tackle.

“They drive from as far as Copper Harbor to come here because we have the largest selection,” Tammy said. “They’ll come from Escanaba and Marquette and Munising. They’ll make the drive because we do have the fishing equipment and supplies that are needed, the lures that are needed, for fishing in the U.P.”

The store boasts a comprehensive inventory of fishing gear and lures, geared towards salmon, lake trout, brook trout, panfish or more. Ashley gets out and does her own fishing, giving her first-hand experience with the product.

“For the guys trolling, I always make sure I’ve got combos set up for them — lead core toppers, dipsys and downriggers — so they can just come in and they’re ready to go, they can put that combo right on their boat,” she said.

They’ve got live bait, including minnows for ice fishing in the winter.

For tourists looking to enjoy the Keweenaw Bay, Indian Country also offers kayak rentals, either for a half-day or full day. For archers, there’s a tech who comes in to do bow repair.

During bear hunting season, Indian Country serves as a registration station where people can get their bears tagged for the DNR. There’s also a weigh-in station with a winch for hunters to get the weight of their bears and deer.

Indian Country’s always on the lookout for new product, especially from local companies.

“We carry a lot of stuff from the Munising area, and Hancock and Houghton as well,” Ashley said.

It’s also one of the few U.P. dealers to carry Benelli guns, which draw customers to the store.

“I get people even from Wisconsin and downstate coming to us directly because we carry Benelli guns,” Ashley said.

The Engelhardts had lived downstate and decided to retire in the U.P. They stumbled upon the store when they were looking at properties, and liked it so much they decided to buy it.

Unlike most outdoors stores, it came with a working 50-foot lighthouse, built by the previous owner in 1995.

Ashley had been living in Port Huron, but decided the city wasn’t for her. When her parents bought the store, she put in her two weeks’ notice and moved up.

Ashley will take over the store when Tammy and Kevin fully retire, Tammy said.

They say the best part of the business is working with the customers. In the summer, they get people from all over — Indiana, Ohio, even Tennessee. And there’s also dedicated customers who live in the area.

“It’s always a nice treat, to have the locals come in and tell us what’s going on around the area and give us their fishing reports,” Ashley said.