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River Bend Resort


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River Bend houses stay on fish pretty well. They have a good crew on the ice and they stay pretty busy. I think they have 28 houses out there so they have options for depth and such and usually can provide a good bite.

Good Luck

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We fished out of River Bend on the 10-12. Houses are nice and they had us on fish. Like mentioned they seemed to have their houses scattered around pretty good, and on our last day of fishing I seen the guys busy moving houses out deeper so they do a good job at staying on fish.

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Had to scrub my trip this week with my wife. An ambulance ride and 6 hours in ER kind of put the screws to this one. Hope to re book it in the furture. Hope the fish keep cooperating for thos of you able to wet a line, I'll be watchin here for your reports. Good luck.

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Just got back from River Bend, the fishing was not to bad not real fast but steady through out the day. Several slot fish and some nice keeper walleye and sauger. Really disappointed in the service, first day no guide to lead us out to the house so waited for about an hour. Second day same thing we were in the cafe for breakfast at 6:30 so we could be done eating by 7:30 and ready to go, no guide. He finally showed up at 8:30 and we headed to the house he stops drops a fish bucket and bait in the house and jumps in the pick-up and leaves, we carry our gear in the house and the holes aren't even drilled out so we have to call the resort to get him to come back and drill the holes, another half hour lost. Got fishing at 9:30. I'm sure all the resorts have bad days but I thought going in the middle of the week would not be to busy which it wasn't so I can't imagine what happens there on the weekends. The cabins were nice but I think we will be trying another resort in the future.

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I had the same problem last weekend. A major lack of communication. Guys on the lake not knowing where they were suppose put people. Guys in the lodge not knowing where guys on the ice were putting people. Sitting and waiting for a RiverBend employee to get us into a house because someone was already in the house we were suppose to be in. I had another trip planned for the first weekend in March. Not anymore. Will be fishing with the Wigwam fisherman!

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Of all my trips to LOTW, I will say Riverbend was the best resort. They always put us on fish, were very good with any requests we made, and overall had good experiences. I will say that i would never recommend wheelers point though... made the mistake last year to book too late, river bend was full. Decided to go through wheelers... we took the minivan because they said we would be bombered out, we left the 4x4's at home. When we got there they said we needed to drive, bombers broken, and trailers not hooked up or anything. We set out to follow the plow in the 40+ mph winds. couldnt see 5 feet in front of the van... after an hour of blindly driving we arrived. we had 2 houses about 200 yards apart, but unable to get back and forth because of blowing snow. the guide said that he would be back to plow, never happened. After talking to the staff, they said they would put us in trailers the next day. When asking about the trailers the next day, they said that they were all gone, it would be a couple hours before they could get us out in them. but they offered us to drive out, without a guide, they made a makeshift map on a napkin and guessed which houses we were to go in. once we got there and got setup, the guide came and told us we were in the wrong place... the napkin map was slightly wrong i guess... Point being i will not book with any other resort on LOTW but River Bend

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When I have been out of Ballard's they always make a list the night before of what people are in which house and what bomber they are riding in and when they are leaving. Takes all the confusion out of it. You check with the front desk the night before and know what time to be out in the yard. You know which house you will be in. If you do well, you can get the first crack at the same house the next day. If you want a different house they will do their best to accommodate you but sometimes that depends on how full they are.

Fished out of a couple resorts that don't do a list and sometimes it worries me as there is no schedule. I have heard of guys getting left out there. Sometimes not a bad thing but usually late in the day it is time for the saloon.

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ballards runs a top notch operation that way, as I've been thru them the past 2 years.. Something told me to try a different place this yr though so I am going thru Cyrus resort instead.. i can only hope to see 1/2 the fish Ballards had me on!!

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I just got back from River Bend, stayed in a sleeper for 4 days. The fishing was pretty good, the service was bad. They seem to be way under staffed, one of the guides told us that the place had just changed hands, maybe that has something to do with it maybe not? The guide that checked on us most of the time was pretty much mad at the world all the time and I guess I can't really blame him with the way the guy at the office talked to us when we called up there asking them to bring something with them.

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I am heading up to Riverbend for a Saturday Sunday trip. After all these posts I can honestly say I am not nearly as excited. Luckily, everyone has said the fishing has been decent. Hopefully I will hit them on a high note.

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who are the new owners? Happened pretty quick. I just heard rumor only a month ago that Charlie was selling it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You would have a tough time getting in anywhere else. I think things have settled down a little at RB the negtive reports are 2 weeks old. The new future new owner is there and wanting things to run smoothly. Maybe you should call him. His name is Paul

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I went through them last weekend, and was equally as worried. Everyone was very friendly. Maybe a bit unorganized but they all had smiles on their faces, houses were clean and comfortable, and most importantly the houses were on the fish!! You will have a great time! Any other questions let me know.

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Paul Johnson has much experiance running resorts for a guy as young as he is. He ran a Lake of the Woods resort for a couple of years and that ended in the fall of 2011 in another ownership change. (I wont try to say which resort as I am not correct lately in things I think I remember). His family owned a resort in the Perham area so I think he knows what he is doing.

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I was up there on the 30th and 31st and had a great time....It is in a transition period..we experienced some of the things previously mentioned, but it wasn't a problem...Things weren't perfect, but the fishing was great!!...and so was the food....It appears they are short staffed at the moment, but the new owner is putting in the hours and working hard..On Monday night he tended bar until closing....After closing the bar, he worked all night until 6 and then waited on us, cooked our breakfast along with several others...and did it with a smile....He said he had been up for 20 hours...further he said he was short staffed that morning, but help was coming at 10 or so for the dinner run, and he could sleep after that...He appologized to us for being short staffed, but it wasn't really a problem...I believe things will come together for him, especially with the hard work he is willing to do....I few of the people I was with drove their own vehicles out there, and the guide picked up Adrians day road passes for them and lead them out....I look for this to be resort to be running like swiss watch by spring..I agree with Curt, don't cancel...be patient, and catch lots of fish...13 of us all brought back full limits plus we had a fish fry and ate fish until we were sick....Good fishing and good food makes up for a lot...

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I can't wait till March, there is no doubt in my mind that Paul and Brandi will get things whipped into shape in no time. They ran the resort next to me in Perham and I was at the resort they managed on LOW too and was completely satisfied. Probably a couple small growing pains in the transition but anybody with two young kids that can pull an a 20 hour plus all night shift obviously is dedicated to keeping his customers happy. Congrats and Good Luck!

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Thanks for the plug's everyone. We will be taking over in March. We will be making a few changes to make it run more smoothly. The transition will be a good one. If you have reservations for the that time, please do not hesitate to come and visit us. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. We look forward and welcome all the guests of River Bend Resort. Past and present. We also look forward to meeting everyone. Good luck fishing everybody, and be safe!!

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Paul we've been clients of Riverbend for the past 11 years dating back to Glenn and Pam. We wish you the best in your new venture.

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Paul at this time nothing on the schedule to come back, but that is always subject to change. Several things going on in late Feb and into March. Hope something works, just not sure yet...

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