Resort Prices!!

[ANYFISH2]

What in the .... has happened with the resorts on Lake of the Woods!

 

I know I am getting older, but what happened to renting a fish house for a day?

Used be 150-200 a house. less (per person split)the bigger (more people)the house got.  It included minnows(and refills) transportation, jig sticks, jigs and check in's and operators willing to help in any way!

 

Now a days, If i want to bring my wife, 12 yr old, 14 yr old and myself I have to spend $300 a person for 2 days! Drive yourself out, bring your own rods(I would anyway) run and get your own minnows after you run out. Rare is the service you got 15 yrs ago.

 

Maybe some of these(pretty much all of them) resorts should re-evaluate their business model.  And they could capture more business from the wheelhouse crowd if they didnt price them out.  

 

I loved the service, I used to receive at LOTWs.

 I will not pay $1200 for 2 days of fishing with the family.  I would rather rent at Red or wheelhouse it.

 

Really frustrated, pricing places to enjoy with the family, the one weekend we have of from hockey over winter.

[ZachD]

Supply and demand

[Wanderer]

@ANYFISH2

 

Maybe a good time to check other places like Devils Lake?  Or, yeah, wheelhouse it.  I don’t remember if you have one but if not, you could probably rent one big enough for the family for less.

 

Could hire a guide and stay around Vermilion too for less, I would think.

[Mike89]

I think Little Falls rents them.. not sure but I thought I heard that.. Hilmerson I'm thinking of..

[ANYFISH2]

I have access to a wheelhouse for the the weekend if needed.

 

I just wanted to rant a little.  $300 a person for lodging and fishhouse for 2 days is ridiculous IMO. As a younger person, I enjoyed a bomber ride and that experience, want the kids to have it as well.  We will figure out how to go within a reasonable budget.  Whining a little thats all.

[PRO-V]

Which resort is charging this much?

[Wanderer]

24 minutes ago, ANYFISH2 said:

I have access to a wheelhouse for the the weekend if needed.

 

I just wanted to rant a little.  $300 a person for lodging and fishhouse for 2 days is ridiculous IMO. As a younger person, I enjoyed a bomber ride and that experience, want the kids to have it as well.  We will figure out how to go within a reasonable budget.  Whining a little thats all.

 

Sticker shock sucks.  Plus, there’s another hurdle to get over to keep the family fun times going and the younger generation interested in the outdoors.

[ANYFISH2]

2 hours ago, PRO-V said:

Which resort is charging this much?

Just checked a few, Wigwam, Cyrus, Zipple.  For 2 day rentals and lodging.  Day use is like 30+ dollars per hole. plus lodging.

I get the costs and work involved with running a resort.  It sure seems that it is getting more difficult make family trips for most things now a days.

[Mike89]

How about Cookies on upper Red Lake??  

[ANYFISH2]

Oh Red is a consideration for sure!

LOTW is just the first choice, mostly for all day action.  Average size will certainly be better on Red.

Other lakes are a possibility as well, especially if we pull the wheelhouse.  Kids like Leech as well.

LOTW has been my favorite over the years.  

[PRO-V]

Morris Point Resort is $250 a head for 2 days and 2 nights lodging and fish house.

[ANYFISH2]

57 minutes ago, PRO-V said:

Morris Point Resort is $250 a head for 2 days and 2 nights lodging and fish house.

$1000 for the family. Doesn't that seem like a lot?

 

Heck, I get a cabin and boat for 7 days, for less than $600 every summer for the family! 

[CANOPY SAM]

Supply and demand, my mushy butt!

 

It's the same defining force driving our entire country.....GREED!

 

They'll keep charging higher and higher prices as long as people keep paying them.

[ZachD]

3 hours ago, CANOPY SAM said:

They'll keep charging higher and higher prices as long as people keep paying them. 

That would be the demand part

[ANYFISH2]

6 hours ago, ZachD said:

That would be the demand part

I get that, doesn't make it the right thing to do.

2007 it cost 6 of us $800 for 3 nights 2 days of fishing, 2 houses.  On Christmas day.  GREAT SERVICE too.

[MJ1657]

This is an easy problem to solve.

 

Start your own fish house business and charge half what everyone else is charging. You will have so much business you won't know how to spend all the cash.

 

Seems like a no brainer.....

[ozzie]

I completely understand your venting and your rant as I agree with you and often wonder how others are able to do things like this as I can't seem to justify the cost to rent a fish house for a weekend.  But this is the reason so many resorts are not around anymore because they didn't charge the amount it would cost to keep the doors open, and stay profitable, and instead was smarter and easier to sell out once the budget strain became too much!  I have often wondered how LOW resorts get away charging what they do and then leave their customers stranded on the lake with little supplies, usually no toilet, and the most uncomfortable/basic fish houses around!  The last time I went out of the Sportsmen on a company outing they dropped us off at the house that had 2 wood benches to sit on and no cushioning for the whole day!!  On top of that outside around the house was puke and poo all over!!!  and they charged the company that paid for this trip a lot of money!!!  I have not been back to LOW since and know that I would be hard pressed to go back on a trip like that!  But obviously they still have a lot of people to sucker in before people wise up and decide they won't pay for that kind of experience.

[Getanet]

You might want to try looking for people that rent their wheelhouses. I know some of you own them, but I can see how towing one a few hundred miles to Red or LOW could pile up the gas prices quickly. I almost rented one for a trip I was planning around Brainerd this winter, but ultimately decided to book through a resort on Leech instead. But thanks to some tips from guys on this site I found people renting wheel houses that sleep 4-6 people fairly reasonable.  RVshare dot com, Outdoorsy dot com and Clist where the best places to look. Of course, you'll still need to tow it a little ways to the lake, and then you'll have to hope there are roads plowed to where you want to fish.

[DRAGFOOT]

If you're willing to try something that's not quite full service and are willing to drive out to your house and bring your own bait and gear, I'm reasonably sure you could find something around $100-125 per person. I think Bayview lodge is around $110 per person per day, but they have no food or drink, just cabins and fish house rental.

[iiccee63]

Part of the reason of the high prices is the slot limits on lakes, especially Mill Lacs. It's basically a sport fishing lake of catch and release. So many people I know don't even go there anymore because you can't keep anything basically. The fish size you can keep are rarely caught. The place was once super busy and so many businesses have dried up and went bankrupt which is sad. It wasn't that long ago the limit was 6. Those days are long gone... Resorts got to charge what they charge.

 

My 2 cents

[Parmer]

I am glad I purchased a wheel house.  Just gas and bait.  There is still a ton of people on mill lacs in the winter. I could not belive how many house were out there last year.   I am planning lake of the woods trip around New years.  Wigwam was 450 a person when me and my wife went 5 years ago. And that was 4 nights. 3 days of fishing. Bait and ride out Included. 

[walros]

A lot of it is the debt load these resorts have.  Have you seen what they pay for a resort up there lately? I can understand the costs if looked at from the owners perspective, just wish my wages kept up to the ways it used to be.

[Sculpin]

I want to go fish where ANYFISH goes, with a cabin and a boat for less than $600.00 a week.?  That's a tremendous deal, and even if it's on a small lake, it's probably near some good lakes.  Finding anything that's even decent for 2 people, for less than $800 any longer is almost impossible. VRBO, Resorts, arbnb, its a challenge.  Please share this spot......if you dare.  

[ANYFISH2]

34 minutes ago, Sculpin said:

I want to go fish where ANYFISH goes, with a cabin and a boat for less than $600.00 a week.?  That's a tremendous deal, and even if it's on a small lake, it's probably near some good lakes.  Finding anything that's even decent for 2 people, for less than $800 any longer is almost impossible. VRBO, Resorts, arbnb, its a challenge.  Please share this spot......if you dare.  

Sculpin, go check out My reports from the Bemidji area.  I may have said where  we stay.  Otherwise, I will share.  The owners deserve to have a full resort. Not fancy in the slightest, old fashioned resort.  Actually feels like a vacation there.  Resort is usually booked by same clients each year.  They have almost become family.  Kids now have friends in Arizona they talk with even away from the resort. Fishing is pretty good too.

 

Just a little background, our first stay was last minute, they just happened to have 1 cabin open for those days.  First night we were there, less than 2 hrs after arrival, my wife totalled our van out hitting a deer going to get groceries.  Within minutes the owners were there to help us in any way possible. Even offering us the use of thier personal vehicals to get my daughter to and from her soccer tournament and any other errands we needed.  Didnt need the offer, as we had a vehical on its way with family.  They are some great hosts.

 

Have been going back yearly ever since.

[gim]

My wife, 2 dogs, and I spent 6 days/5 nights at a cabin on a small lake just west of Mille Lacs this past July for $600 through Airbnb.  Granted, this was in the peak of summer and we brought our own boat.  I was slightly frustrated by the costs of staying at a "resort" and the lack of places that were not pet-friendly so this worked out quite nicely.

[CANOPY SAM]

Just an analogy to consider.

 

Payless shoe stores recently did a social experiment and opened a store for high-end shoes and boots in a glamorous shopping area.  They called this store Palessi.  They wanted to see how much people would pay for the same $20 shoes they sold in their budget stores, only set in a much glitzier setting.

 

They sold $3000+ worth of footwear in the first few hours of business, with the highest price paid of $640 for one pair of boots.  People raved about the amazing quality and elegance of their selection.  Again, the same shoes sold in a normal Payless outlet.  Of course, when all was said and done these customers were told about the experiment and completely refunded for their purchases.

 

Why am I sharing this?  Because it clearly shows there really is a sucker born every minute!  People will pay the cost that's in front of them without even thinking about it.

 

Some of the nicest Hotels in the country go for markedly less than $300 per night / per person.

 

Supply and demand?  Yeah, right. 

 

[creepworm]

The part that irks me about the resorts, is the per person pricing. All of the resorts costs are fixed costs, ( heating fish house, moving fish house, heating cabin, etc) whether there is 6 people in a 6 person fish house or 2 people in that house the cost is the same for the resort. Many places have a minimum amount of people per house. Say the minimum is 4 people in a 6 person house at $150 per person. So the minimum that resort needs to turn a profit is $600. If you have 6 people in that house the resort is basically price gouging and making much more profit without any extra cost. I really wish they would just set a price per cabin per day or a price per fish house per day.

[ANYFISH2]

1 hour ago, creepworm said:

The part that irks me about the resorts, is the per person pricing. All of the resorts costs are fixed costs, ( heating fish house, moving fish house, heating cabin, etc) whether there is 6 people in a 6 person fish house or 2 people in that house the cost is the same for the resort. Many places have a minimum amount of people per house. Say the minimum is 4 people in a 6 person house at $150 per person. So the minimum that resort needs to turn a profit is $600. If you have 6 people in that house the resort is basically price gouging and making much more profit without any extra cost. I really wish they would just set a price per cabin per day or a price per fish house per day.

Completely agree.

[DRAGFOOT]

I agree, Ice fishing is crazy, that's why I don't do it much. However, they arnt there to make friends, they want to make money. Like was said above, as long as people pay it they will charge it. Heck, if I could, I would!  You priced out a new pickup lately? How about a snowmobile that barely gets used? How about a visit to the Dr's office? We could go on and on.

[AlwaysFishing23]

If you were a resort why not charge that much? Ice fishing has become so popular the last few years and those resorts know they can charge more and people will still come. Those prices aren’t that high for these days. Especially a busy area like LOTW.