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Posted

I know there is a very diverse population of people that read these forums but for the most part it is fishermen who like to catch fish and spend time on the ice or open water. But, this site is also visited by the casual family angler who wants to experience the adventure of a few days in a sleeper so I wanted to share this story.

A close co-worker who I know quite well was recently up on URL and had a horrible experience. She and her husband and kids went to URL for the first time last year and had a great time, they were excited to do it again this year. I'm not 100 percent sure of the place they went to last year otherwise I would mention them in a positive way.

This year that place was booked and they had to find a new place. I won't mention the name and only say they originate out of Rodgers. The house they had was extremely misrepresented in what it claimed to offer and the overall condition of the place. Things that were supposed to be there and were not (such as chairs and bed sheets) was simply explained by the owner as "well things disappear, they are here at the start of the year, I can't help if people steal them."

The bunks were so close to the ceiling they were unusable and they had to cram 3 adolescent kids into 1 double bed on the bottom because they couldn't roll over on the top bunks without hitting the ceiling.

The generator killed out on a regular basis as well as the heater.

The indoor "bathroom" was simply a curtain with a 5 gallon bucket behind it and the outdoor "bathroom" was at least 100 yards away with a drifted over trail leading to it. They were not complete newbies and brought their own portable and heater for the biffy, otherwise they said they would have went home right away. I'm sure the female readers can understand why.

They ended up finding the dirty sheets rolled up under the bed along with a couple of cases of empties. sick

The best part was the owner on the couple times he stopped by to check could't make it through the visit without dropping multiple F bombs and sexual references in front of the kids. Mom had to kindly ask to clean up his language.

Icing on the cake was not being able to go home because the roads were drifted over and the owners plow truck(s) were broke down. Finally on the last day they decided to just blow through the drifts with their truck, because they couldn't stay there any longer and owners could not give them a time the road would be opened up.

This shouldn't be cast upon as a negative towards the outfitters on URL, however I know one family that will never be back to URL because of one bad joint so indirectly it does affect other places. They totally understand you cannot control Mother Nature and didn't even care that only caught a few fish the 4 days they were there.

They wanted a fun family experience and they got anything but...

Posted

Sorry to hear they had such a bad experience.

The language and bedding in the shack are things that should be addressed.

When a shack has an indoor toilet, what did they expect?? A porcelain throne?

As for the rest of the stuff...... being put out in an off-the-grid wood box 5 miles out on a sheet of frozen ice has it's inconveniences grin

Stuff breaks, snow drifts, and the fish quit biting.........

In January, them big blue blobs on the Minnesota map ain't Disneyland blush

Posted

I hear ya B- but what is good enough for you and me might not be up to par for a family wanting to spend a few fun days on the ice.

The point of the post is that if you are looking for some creature comforts than you should do a little research before assuming the pics and descriptions you see on some sites are accurate. Hopefully you can appreciate why a gal wouldn't want to walk a 100 yrds through snow drifts to take a leak with some privacy.

Some places have it and some don't.

Nothing wrong with either.

Caveat Emptor

Posted

Sorry to hear they had such a bad experience.

The language and bedding in the shack are things that should be addressed.

When a shack has an indoor toilet, what did they expect?? A porcelain throne?

As for the rest of the stuff...... being put out in an off-the-grid wood box 5 miles out on a sheet of frozen ice has it's inconveniences grin

Stuff breaks, snow drifts, and the fish quit biting.........

In January, them big blue blobs on the Minnesota map ain't Disneyland blush

I couldn't agree less. When you rent fish houses, you have certain obligations to your paying customers. When stuff breaks, you fix it (and you have backups...just because customers are depending on you). When snow drifts, you plow it...at least as soon as you can. I didn't hear any mention of complaints of the fish not biting. And cursing and being obnoxious in front of a family you're renting too is in bad taste, and just stupid, bad business. BTW...an indoor toilet is normally a chemical toilet...not a 5 gallon bucket.

If you're taking money from folks to put them in an "off the grid, wood box" you owe them basic safety and cleanliness. Dtro...I wish you'd publish the name of the outfitter. It's only fair...by not "outing" them, you're actually putting all the outfitters out of Rodgers in doubt, and that's not fair to the ones doing it right.

Posted

My wife thought I rented a Salem Ice Cabin when I had only rented a deluxe house. It was the rest of the families’ first overnight ice fishing trip. As soon as the guy dropped us off, she said it was a bait and switch. Thank God I had a Wi-Fi hot spot with me and I could show her we got just what I told her we were getting.

IF the weather had been above -15 at any point in the trip I think she would have had a better time. In the two days we were up there, she read the thickest book I have ever seen anyone read in a weekend. She got out of bed four times to catch fish. The two kids and I got 66 fish between us.

The gas ran out in the bathroom on the last morning when it was -31 so the timing was almost perfect. The wife will probably not be going back but I think both kids will be. I wanted the family to neither love the trip nor hate it and I think I got the perfect medium that the kids will go again and maybe, just maybe the wife will go again. I do not really want them to go on all my trips. grin

I researched all the outfitters on the lake before I made a reservation. I read the good and the bad and made a decision.

Like you said - DTro - caveat emptor. I got what was advertised (but the oven did not work). I emailed the group and they gave me back a good amount of money since the oven was broken. I will use them again next year. Your friends outfitter was not very accommodating.

Posted

Yes, that would be fair, Traveler. I just wanted to narrow it down a bit.

Since its second hand knowledge and some facts might not be 100% accurate its probably best not to mention who it was. If it helps at all I know the place they had a great experience with last year was also out of Rodgers. smile

Mostly I wanted let folks know that not all places are created equal.

Posted

I wanted the family to neither love the trip nor hate it and I think I got the perfect medium that the kids will go again and maybe, just maybe the wife will go again. I do not really want them to go on all my trips. grin

grin

Posted

I hear ya B- but what is good enough for you and me might not be up to par for a family wanting to spend a few fun days on the ice.

The point of the post is that if you are looking for some creature comforts than you should do a little research before assuming the pics and descriptions you see on some sites are accurate. Hopefully you can appreciate why a gal wouldn't want to walk a 100 yrds through snow drifts to take a leak with some privacy.

Some places have it and some don't.

Nothing wrong with either.

Caveat Emptor

10-4 Dtro, I know what yer saying.

One of my first fishing trips on LOW was at a "High End Resort" (and still is very nice, and expensive). I had an absolute blast!!! We were brought out to the day shacks by the resort every day, and driven back to spend every night in a huge brand new cabin.

Yet some of the girls complained about the "Death Wagons" that we were pulled out in behind the bombers/zukis grin

Posted

Too bad that your buddy had such a bad experience with the family up there. I rented a house on the east side last year and brought the family up. We had a great time. Sometimes if us , as guys, have a bad experience we will just try another spot. When you bring the family and have a bad experience they will probably not want to go again. I hope that the good experience they had the year before will offset the bad one and they will go again. There are a lot of good outfitters up there, but there are a couple that are a little shady. I think you should out the bad apples. I would.

Posted

I also won't name any names, but had a very similar experience with a couple of outfitters out of Rogers. 2 years ago had a great experience everything as advertised and the outfitter went out of his way to make sure we were on fish. Last year we couldn't get the same outfitter and went with another out of Rogers and it was a terrible experience. The house that we "reserved" and paid for was not available, so we were stuck in another house that was disgustingly dirty and did not have any of the features of the house we thought we reserved. No indoor toilet even if it was just a 5 gallon bucket, no chairs, no tv, no oven all of which were features of the house they told us we reserved. The outhouse was not heated and located quite a ways away and worst it was not tended to at all. We were sharing it with 3-4 other houses and it didn't have any TP nor any bags for the last day and 1/2. It was a guys trip for us, so we toughed it out, but the other houses had several ladies and I really felt bad for them. When we pointed out the fact that the house was not what was advertised we got a sorry but....and no discount in the price. Needless to say they will not be getting our business again.

Posted

Maybe Rodger's should take a look at who's affecting their reputation...

Posted

I guess I don't get your reluctance to name any names?

Isn't that kind of the idea here? To help each other avoid bad experiences and hold outfitters accountable for poor service? Whats the point of recounting your experience otherwise...again, in this case, it just casts all the operators out of Rodgers in a poor light, and I'm sure that's not the case.

If we're going to brag up the good outfits (and name names, obviously) then I expect it should work both ways.

I also won't name any names, but had a very similar experience with a couple of outfitters out of Rogers. 2 years ago had a great experience everything as advertised and the outfitter went out of his way to make sure we were on fish. Last year we couldn't get the same outfitter and went with another out of Rogers and it was a terrible experience. The house that we "reserved" and paid for was not available, so we were stuck in another house that was disgustingly dirty and did not have any of the features of the house we thought we reserved. No indoor toilet even if it was just a 5 gallon bucket, no chairs, no tv, no oven all of which were features of the house they told us we reserved. The outhouse was not heated and located quite a ways away and worst it was not tended to at all. We were sharing it with 3-4 other houses and it didn't have any TP nor any bags for the last day and 1/2. It was a guys trip for us, so we toughed it out, but the other houses had several ladies and I really felt bad for them. When we pointed out the fact that the house was not what was advertised we got a sorry but....and no discount in the price. Needless to say they will not be getting our business again.
Posted

i agree. no different than giving a bad rap to Walmart or Sears. i agree Rogers should not get a bad name for the wrong doing of others. i think Jerry and Joani runs a good show for himself at Rogers

Posted

You have an obligation to name the sleeze renter. It puts you in a bad light by protecting/not shining light on something most would not rent.

Posted

After reading this I will look elsewhere than someone who runs out of Rodgers since I do not want to take the chance.

IMO Rodgers better be keeping tabs of who is running out of their place better because they have a lot to lose here.

Posted

You have an obligation to name the sleeze renter. It puts you in a bad light by protecting/not shining light on something most would not rent.

and as soon as the outfit is named, the thread gets deleted....

but if you search "upper red lake premier outfitter" you might be warm

Posted

Thanks Dtro, and I apologize for the semi-hijacking of this thread...I understand this wasn't exactly the intent of your original posting.

But since we're here...for clarification;

is it your understanding of forum rules that it's cool to give a thumbs up (by name) to an outfitter who gives good service, but that you cannot (by name) give an accurate, factual report of bad service?

Again, I ask for clarity, not to "stir the pot"...it just seems a little unfair if that's the case.

Posted

If negatives were allowed it would just be the outfitters making up stories flinging mud at each other all day.

Posted

but if you search "upper red lake premier outfitter" you might be warm

That confirmed my suspicions. Had a bad experience with them as well. The house you described in your post sounds like what i encountered as well.

Posted

I think that people when booking a fish house need to ask a few more questions when booking a rental house. Yes every thing always looks a little better on a computer screen. I don't know if people are expecting hotel quality service. I book serval times a year with justin from up north fish house rentals. I have yet to run into any problems like what your describing. Justin or JD are always a phone call away if I need anything.

Posted

Information is pretty murky around here. It's hard to find actual fishing topics in this thread these days. Seems there is an awful lot of outfitter pumping in this forum. You don't really see that in any other threads.

Maybe someone should start a single "I love my outfitter" thread and consolidate the posts there?

But hey, free country. Pump away.

Posted

If I am reading this right. This is the same one we went to last year, with the same results. I posted about our terrible service but it got deleted because I named names. The bad part about it is, is that I am the one who talked the boys into trying Red Lake for something different. I read the reports here every day. Now I can't get them to even think about coming back even after I tell them how good it can be up there if you go through the right resort.

Posted

Same outfitter as well for us last year. We were brought to a shack. Then an hour later they came back and said that it was actually reserved for another group and they messed up. We were "allowed" to stay in that shack but were brought out to another outfitters house the next morning that they work with and it was a total dump.

Posted

The end of Dec my son and son in law had problems with the same outfitter.

Unreturned emails and phone calls

Bait and switch on the fishouse. Actually got a smaller house than they rented.

Roof leaked like crazy.

A generator was furnished, but they had to buy their own gas.

They were not checked on once the whole weekend.

I feel bad because I referred the kids to this outfitter after hearing good things about him on here.

Posted

if you followed Dtro's link you should have a pretty good idea of who this outfitter is. t he lack of service will eventually bite em in the arse. thats why i have continued to use a full time resident outfitter. they have a local stake in their business. i have never had a complaint in 4 years booking with Patsy and Kelly, and jonny, nor do i remember seeing anything negative about their operation.

Posted

Hey Bill! I see you have mostly migrated your trips to red this year too. I fully agree with fishing out of local resident guides houses but lets be honest. When the bite is really on, they book up first. As for Roger's access, there are a couple outfits that do a great job. I stayed with Shane running North Woods Fish Houses out of Roger's and had a great experience in December. I think some of the problem is that Red has been so good lately that there are some outfitters jumping in for the cash grab. I also stayed with an outfitter out of JR's. The houses were nice, same issues with the bathrooms as described above the toilette was literally full by the end of the weekend and the owner/guide was not a dedicated fisherman/guide. So when asked where we should try when the fish weren't biting under the house he replied with a shrug and "maybe center bar?" The houses had not been moved for quite a while judging by the 6" of melt under the house and layer of slime on top of the water. Worst part was that after 2 days of not catching fish I set up my hub 100 yards from the group of houses and caught my limit of walleye, 3 nice jumbos, a nice whitefish and a beautiful 12" red lake crappie in two hours. If there are outfitters reading this, specifically one that operates out of a local motel. Don't be lazy, put your new weekend groups on fresh ice even if you are only moving a couple hundred feet. Even if the fish aren't cooperating it at least shows you are trying. Sometimes having new houses isn't enough to keep your patrons coming back. Heading out of John's fish house rentals this weekend so we'll see how they stack up.

Posted

i hear ya Jeff customer service can go a long ways, even with negative fishing results. john does a good job, tough ear for him hough in regards to buying the resort. Mother Nature is not being helpful. our outfitter accesses out of beacon harbor. really nice folks hope they do well.

shoot a report when you get back. i'm not headed back until 2/13. we have a rookie flying in from Georgia it will be interesting to see his face when we hit the ice and start driving 3/4 miles. hope he don't puke in my yukon....... frown

Posted

There are a handful of outfitters I trust on URL. It starts with Kelly P and goes a little bit South of there before it stops.

The bad ones should be allowed to be outed on here, but the bashing rules don't allow. It's likely due to some false negative reports. I've been slapped on the wrist for telling an honest report about experiences before, so I stopped with the name / brand dropping.

All we can do is promote the good. If one scrubs the posts from history, they should be able to piece it together. If a prime time is booked with the good ones, figure out a different time. It's not worth going with a questionable operator. Eventually, if they are bad, they will be gone.

Posted

the sad thing is they don't disappear!! they keep taking people's hard earned cash and giving Red a bad name. this site does not like the bad press as one can never be sure it is accurate or just mud slinging. Search out the local outfitters and then ask about a certain place if you are on the fence. People can PM you with the good and bad...just know there are great hard working outfitters on the lake that will treat you with care!!

Posted

Googling what DTro indicated will lead you to the outfitter we had the bad experience with. I gave them the benefit of the doubt at the time, but it seems that others have had very similar experiences with them, so it may be how they run their business in which case it should be pointed out here and with Roger's.

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