"We're kind of in the Golden Age of Great Lakes surfing right now and I couldn't be more stoked to be a part of it."
-Jake Bresette, owner of the Lake Effect Surf Shop in Shorewood, on the Wisconsin surfing scene.
When you plan to go to a local beach what’s your go-to activity? Well, for a steadily growing community their first thought is surfing.
That’s right, people surf Lake Michigan’s waves, and they’re actually plentiful if you know where to find them. From Racine to Milwaukee to Sheboygan, there’s a whole community of Midwest surfers who travel and surf nearly year round, and Jake Bresette helps them make sure they’re suited up for it.
Bresette owns the Lake Effect Surf Shop in Shorewood. He opened it in 2016 and has seen firsthand the growth of the local surfing community. He’s featured in this month’s Milwaukee Magazine Summer Guide, and reveals what led him to this point.
After graduating high school, Bresette developed a passion for surfing after getting a surfing DVD, and traveled to California to catch his first waves. After living out West and returning to Wisconsin, Bresette thought he'd only get to surf once or twice a year on vacations. But then, a friend told him about Great Lake surfing. "So, my first wave I actually caught was shortly after that, which was in 2009, [in] of course, like we all know, Sheboygan: The Malibu of the Midwest."
Bresette was living and working in Madison, Wis. as an insurance claim adjuster, but he would wake up early, drive to Milwaukee to surf, and then drive back for work. The dream of working in surfing kept him motivated and would eventually bring him to a city where he didn't know anyone to open the surf shop.
"When I first moved here to start the shop I was completely naive, nervous, had no idea what to expect. I look back and I remember thinking, 'Well if I can just do this for a few years it'll be worth it,'" he recalls.
Now, Bresette's passion and work has paid off as the shop continues to serve both avid and novice surfers in the community. He says his favorite part of running the surf shop is simply meeting new people, talking to them, and getting them excited about surfing. "It's really fun to just share that joy of surfing," says Bresette.
Despite the warmer seasons being better for beach days, Bresette notes the Fall season is actually the prime time for catching strong surfing waves. Fresh water is less buoyant than salt water and requires a strong wind to generate a rideable wave. While winter and early spring should also be mentioned, the span from Labor Day until New Year's are the prime moments for Great Lake surfing conditions.
Bresette is well at home in his shop here in Wisconsin. "I love Milwaukee. Milwaukee is my city. I could never see moving from here — even even if I wasn't doing what I'm doing right now. So, I'm really glad that surfing brought me here because it really is, like, an amazing place to live and and the community here is just is so awesome," he says.
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