ANGLER'S KINGDOM

[kgeary]

Hi everyone out there in OFC community.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.

Here is a copy of a letter I sent Tennesseeguy.

He is a fine gentleman and someone who’s opinion I value greatly.

 

 

Hi Connie

How are things with you?

Had a hectic start but everything is back on track and finally getting some time to correspond

 

Several people were kind enough to email me regarding the board.

 

I appreciate their support and kind comments considering the tone of the report.

Others I’ve come to expect.

This being the fourth time I’ve been crucified on the board I can take some solace in the fact that this is the first time that I actually deserve SOME of it.

 

A few pics of a 48 inch pike or 30 inch walleye would have made it much more cheerful.

 

I hope to have the time to post the report from the TV film crew that was up the week before and some of the more than 40 pike they caught over 40 inches, including a 49 incher caught on camera. I’m glad that the have chosen to return 3 years in a row to film. Considering they have they’re choice of literally thousands of camps to visit it is quite a feather in my cap that they have returned 3 years in a row. One year they brought 24 visitors with them. They’ve also sent many of their viewers on successful visits.

I’ll also try to include pics of Mike Coonrod’s 30-inch walleye and 45 inch Pike he caught on May 28, his second day ever fishing Canada. Mike was fishing walleye and pike for his first time ever.

 

I knew when I woke up May 19 and saw 4 inches of snow on the ground I would have some unhappy guests that week. Everyone knows what a cold front does to the fishing in the spring. Unfortunately regardless of what I do or don’t do as a camp operator inevitably everything in my operation comes under ridicule when the fish don’t bite.

 

I am please to report that 4 of 6 groups in camp that week discussed rebooking for next year. One of the groups booked with his family for August. They are a group from Sault St. Marie. Jim made a point of mentioning how impressed he was with how well the unfortunate events were handled.

 

Dan is absolutely right about one thing; my staff did an excellent job given the circumstances.

 

We definitely had some problems to overcome.

 

I mentioned some of them to Dan before he arrived.

Dan’s post doesn’t mention how the problems came about and how well they were handled.

 

We were tested on a lot of fronts at one time.

Obviously I don’t have so many problems at one time on a regular basis or I wouldn’t want to be in the business.

 

I had an unusual amount of problems with staff this spring.

What threw me off was one long time employee really let me down. He simply didn’t get anything done and lead the new guys astray.

I had to fire him and 3 other staff 3 days before opening and a 5th on opening day.

Bottom line they were not getting the jobs done.

Two who were given 2 weeks readying the boats did pretty much nothing.

If I had kept them the boats still would not have been ready.

 

I managed to find two new guys and got them in opening day.

(I’ve since found 3 more)

Donovan is excellent and got boats ready as quickly as possible

Considering it was snowing and freezing while he had to work in the water, he did an excellent job.

He got the boats ready but made a few mistakes.

 

The bottom line is that I have 9 staff for an average of 24 guests.

My guests are well taken care of.

 

The next big problem was the snowstorm.

You know how that works.

The water lines all froze including the heating system.

Remember it was 85 degrees not too many days prior.

 

We spent half the day trying to thaw the water lines before giving up.

This took away time from getting boats etc ready.

Everything took a lot longer, including transporting groups to camp.

You remember what it’s like when the ice doesn’t go out.

All the extra work it causes.

Like many camps we have a holding tank and gravity feed the water system.

We had to use the fire pump instead of the regular electric water pump.

This required staff to go start the pump every time the holding tank ran out.

Of course the leaks emptied the tank quicker than normal.

 

Instead of having to de ice the wings of the floatplanes we had to deal with an ice-coated boardwalk.

Instead of the plane not being able to fly we had to haul the gear by hand after the bike ended up in the river.

I imagine that a lot of people going to fly-in camps were severally inconvenienced.

 

All in all my staff did an excellent job handling the situation.

 

 

The bottom line is that the boats were ready when the guests were set to fish. Or very soon after.

My new staff should be commended for that accomplishment.

 

 

Then when we fired up the central wood stove we ran in to another huge problem.

The tanks had been drained when Ron was thawing the lines.

After I started the fire in the boiler I realized the water jacket was empty.

I put the water hose in to fill it.

With all the things happening I got pulled away to do something else.

When I returned the water line had fallen out of the filling spout and now the furnace was red hot. All the gauges and wires had melted. The central furnace would not be operational for some time. We quickly set up propane heaters in each cabin.

Luckily I had the foresight to have them on hand for such a contingency.

Again my staff did an excellent job coping after a very long strenuous day.

 

 

Here are some more direct responses to Dan’s comments.

 

I make a point of asking each group to ask my staff for anything they need or any problems they have. If it is not taken care of please talk with me about it.

Surprisingly nobody in Dans group mentioned any problems except the heat and water, which everyone knew about and were resolved as best as could be expected. At least to everyone else’s satisfaction.

I spoke to several of his group most days at breakfast.

I don’t think one gentleman even fished the first two days.

“I’m not foolish enough to fish in that” was his comment.

Everyone seemed in good spirits considering the weather.

 

I make every effort to greet every group when they arrive.

On this day I made a point of greeting every single group and explain the situation in detail.

Even with the limited time I had available I took the usual amount of time to sit with each group and go over the map, fishing spots, rocks, navigation etc. I make a point to ask guest to mention problems to me.

 

One group left early due to a death in the family.

They had to be pretty much pried out by their wives.

Another group left Friday evening to get a jump on things.

 

I’m not sure about the duct tape but I did not and have not seen any trolling motors with duct tape. We have several spares and if there was a problem they could have been changed.

 

The cabin has just been built and there are a few items that were not entirely complete.

If the switch plate covers were worth taking a picture of surely it would have been worth mentioning to me. Regardless they were put on early the next week when it was brought to my attention.

 

Everyone knows they guys were late picking them up because of the snow.

Ron almost killed himself trying to use the bike to go over the boardwalk.

He shouldn’t have tried with the snow and ice.

Net result – he was upside down in the river with the bike on top of him.

They got the bike out but couldn’t get the fluids drained and get it running.

 

 

The reason they paid in advance was to receive a discount.

I offered it to many of my other guests.

 

I’m not sure about the two old timers at the restaurant.

Connie you know how Red Lake and in fact most small towns are.

There is always someone who has a grudge against you real or imagined.

Maybe my grandfather stole his girl in high school.

Maybe their looks were imagined.

 

Everyone was aware of the heat and water situation.

Most were impressed with the effort, ingenuity and forethought put into resolving them.

 

The dealer calls the boats 18 foot Lund Outfitters.

I’ve never actually measured them.

 

The tank did not leak. The hose leaked and it was replaced.

 

The staff tried to fix the transducer as quickly as possible.

Given that it was freezing they did admirably.

 

The boat that got stuck in reverse had a problem that can happen to any motor anywhere

When I heard about it I personally was on the way within 10 minutes.

Given all that we were dealing with it seemed acceptable.

The guests we met seemed very happy with the response.

They are returning.

 

We couldn’t set up our electric water pump, as it would freeze overnight.

Everyone was aware of this.

 

Putting a lower unit on with the boat backed up to the shore is the quickest way to do it.

If it weren’t the right approach I would tell them.

Regardless if it’s been seen before or not.

I’m not quite sure why that is an issue.

I don’t see how it affects any of my guests.

 

We serve prime rib, roast pork, rib eye steak, turkey, chicken.

Everyone raves about the meals.

However Dan recommends you should bring your own food.

If so the cabins with kitchens are well equipped.

 

The staff had plenty of direction from me.

In most cases I was talking with them every 30 – 60 minutes

If I had not I’m sure things wouldn’t have resolved themselves.

 

Poaching??

Last year I got blasted on the board for not protecting poachers from the CO’s?????

 

Shore lunch kit??

We have many options.

If a mistake was made it wasn’t brought to my attention.

I know for a fact that it can be resolved quickly.

 

It is true

With the new cabin we have too many boats for the dock at one end.

The staff moved the extra boats to the other dock as required.

I’m not sure why this was frustrating.

My staff didn’t complain.

It’s a full 120 yards from one dock to the other.

Given all that was happening building a dock didn’t seem like the best use of resources.

Of course perhaps I’m not the best judge of that

(The guys started building the addition to the dock this week.)

 

I haven’t read all the comments but I’m not quite sure why my fishing knowledge is being questioned.

 

The most important thing that went unmentioned is that I apologized profusely for the problems and my staff fixed them as quickly as possible.

 

When Comments degrade to this stage I tend to get a bit sarcastic, my apologies.

 

I am agreeing that we had some problems. In reality my staff and myself did an excellent job of coping with a very unfortunate series of events. The majority of guests commended us for our efforts. With most people I’m confident any issues could have been dealt with satisfactorily in a less public forum. For those so quick to attack please remember that this is how my staff and myself earn their living and support their families.

 

I thank all of you who had kind comments here on the board and those who emailed me direct. Anthony - you are correct, one series of unfortunate events doesn’t make or break a business, mine included. For those reading that are coming up for a visit be assured that Angler’s Kingdom is still a first class operation. The cold front didn’t last forever and the fish are alive and well in Nungesser lake. I have forgotten a lot about fishing but I’m still able to muster enough to land a few.

 

See you on the lake.

kg

[AzuluSpookd]

Keep up the good work Kev!

We'll see you next year!

[Big Cliff]

A very well thought out and well written response. I owned my own business for many years and know how important good customer service is but I also realize that crap happens and you can't please everyone all the time.

 

By the same token, I can understand how someone who has saved all year to get away for a week could be frustrated or disheartened when the week doesn't go quite the way they had hoped regardless of who's fault it is.

 

Guess it just proves that there are usually two sides to every story.

[Tomcat]

KG

 

My view is influenced by over 30 years at outfitter facilities. Based only what has been reported on this site, your clients enjoyed less than what was contracted for through no fault of their own. While it is indeed unfortunate that you and your enterprise endured a plethora of problems at start up, your clients shouldn't be expected to pony up full fare. Many times, a business has got to spend money to make money. This is one of those times. While your apology was most likely appreciated, it doesn't adequately address doing the right thing.

[TangerineDream]

Interesting....

 

I myself have guided at lodges in Manitoba. 5 star and others. I was guiding one season when a front came in and took power lines down, as well as trees and everything else. This is mother nature. It was a cross between a hurricane/wind shear/tornado. All in one.

 

We made the best of it and everyone was understanding.

 

We had alot of rookie guides. They needed help and those with experience stepped up. The ones that didn't weren't good enough to call themselves true guides.

 

We had a guide use gas while it was raining to start the fire for lunch and he had lit the other guides rainsuit on fire up his legs. He went for a quick swin in the lake.

 

We had a guest fall onto the grill at shore lunch and burn his arms as the potatoes were being taken off. He was taking pictures and forgot to caution the guests to stand back. He was burned severely. The guide then quickly dragged the older gentleman into the still ice covered lake to cool the burns. After bandaging and returning to the lodge to take the next plane out he spoke with the guide. He told him he was a 70+ year old retired doctor and that the guide had done the right thing. He gave the guide his tackle box before he got on the plane and asked him to catch some fish for him with his gear. And to keep it all as a tip.

 

 

 

The main thing here is that you were willing to address problems and make decisions.

 

Guests should be aware that they are coming at their own risk. As lond as you're willing to accomodate there is nothing left to be said. Sure you can please some and not others although the destination itself will bring them back if they decide to return. Everyone is different. What's beauty for one is ugly for another.

 

Remember they come for the fishing as well as the food. The 2 main reasons at the lodges I've been in.

 

As far as the guide shortage is concerned, there is often a rapid turnover. As well as the rookies who have to have their hands held. They need to be trained appropriately and to guide appropriately or they are not worth sharing time and effort with. It is a dying profession. There are so many rookies.

 

They are dealing with peoples lives. People can be killed on the water. I was battling across 10 miles of open water and told the guests not to move in the boat because of the wind and the 10 foot waves. The idiot in the front decides half way across to stand up and spit over the side. We filled half the boat with water and I gained control. I asked them not to move again if they wanted to make it back safely. It was very ugly weather conditions.

 

I've seen rookie guides hit boulders while full out with guests in the boat and lose the bottom end as well as control of the boat with a guest and his 6 year old daughter in the boat. The screams lasted for days. Especially since the guide was a hunting guide for the fall and wasn't a fishing guide. He was having a hard time locating fish let alone catching lunch. I caught lunch for them and did my best to help him by letting him follow my guests who incidentally were his roomates and personal friends who were catching big fish with me.

 

A day later I accomodated him to make his outing somewhat more pleasurable. Some things have to change sometimes.

 

**** Happens!

 

 

We had alot of incidents at the lodges I've been to and I'm not going to name names. If you aren't happy, don't come back. It is an individuals choice. Most returnees are people who have formed a relationship with the lodge from prior experiences. We all know that returns are important and so are new clientele. They have to come and base their own opinions. This will make the choice of a return trip for them.

 

Based on their experience. And not others. You're always going to have incidents and tough times although you have to respect someone who is honest and trying to do the best they can to make things as comfortable as possible.

 

My hat is off to you for the effort.

 

I know how difficult it is to be guiding away from family, friends while guiding 7 days a week with no days off. Bringing big fish for the guests, reading the water, weather as well as the fish locations and movements/transitions. Including the box preps and shore lunch preps.

 

It's tough work and not for everyone. I'm of the opinion that most young people today don't have the same work ethics and don't like to work. Too many distractions and guiding doesn't have enough distractions.

 

Don't let anybodys opinions change the way you do your business. If it wasn't working for you it wouldn't exist.

 

A++ for the effort and for keeping the dreams of others alive.

 

I could go on and on but.....

 

Manitoba Rob

 

[Spiel]

....Well some wanted a reply from Kevin and there you have it. Read it and draw your own conclusions. No need to respond as I've locked it down.