Episode 128: Your Lodge’s Past Is The Blueprint For Its Future

What if your lodge’s past was the strongest marketing you have? We sit down with Willie “the Oilman” to unpack how a northern lodge thrives today by selling a lifestyle, telling its origin story with pride, and using trade shows as a stage—not a hard sell.

We start where many operators wonder: do trade shows still pull their weight? Willie explains the shift from booth-first selling to a blended strategy where a clean, portable display supports the real engine—TV segments, YouTube reels, and podcast appearances that drive measurable spikes in website traffic and bookings. He walks through smart show prep, from pull-up banners and looping promos to skipping pricey power with a battery and inverter, then makes the bigger point: shows matter when they reinforce a brand people already trust.

The heart of the episode is pure lodge lore. A single Facebook post sharing vintage maps, logos, and photos draws in the Kozak family—descendants of a former owner living across Estonia, Alberta, and the Philippines—who reveal the lodge’s hidden smoking room, original landing, and the legendary “weatherman” guide who checked an AM radio at dawn. These stories turn cabins into chapters and meals into museum tours. We connect that heritage to guest experience design: capping capacity so every guest has their own room and bath, staging fuel and supplies in winter, switching to salted shiners to cut bait waste, and recruiting an elite staff including a Keg head chef and celebrity guides. It’s a playbook that keeps calendars full years out while protecting the magic that keeps guests returning.

By the end, you’ll hear a simple truth: a lodge is not a hotel. It’s a promise you make at first contact—and keep on the dock, at dinner, and around a wall hung with real history. If you care about outdoor hospitality, backcountry logistics, or how story-driven marketing wins loyal guests, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a lodge owner who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us the one story that would make you book a trip today.

Transcript

Selling A Lifestyle, Not A Room

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Unless you're a lodge owner, it really you don't know until you do it. It's something that everyone, I think, should try and experience something like that. A career where your your passion is is your whole business is you. Yeah. Your passion. Also, that's the difference. Again, it's a lifestyle. It's not a hotel. It's not a casual place. It's a life, it's an experience you're selling. From the time that you meet these people, whether it's at a show, on the phone, via email, you're telling them that you're gonna sell them an experience or give them or show them an experience that they're gonna try and remember for the rest of their life.

SPEAKER_05 0:45

This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. We welcome Willie the Oil Man back to the show and are picking up the conversation right where I left off last week and getting Willie's perspective on the big question.

SPEAKER_06 1:04

Do trade shows still hold their weight in today's lodge business world?

SPEAKER_05 1:10

On this show, we're going one layer deeper by exploring how understanding the history of your lodge can add real depth to those conversations you foster on the trade show floor and ultimately the experiences you build for your guests. So settle in and join us as we weave together some insights about your lodge's roots and how those stories can guide your future success. Here's my conversation with Willie the Oilman.

SPEAKER_06 1:47

Welcome, folks, to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North, and a familiar voice is joining us again today, which I'm very excited about. Welcome, Willie the Oilman.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Hello, folks. Good to be back. Stevie, great to uh great to hear your beautiful voice this morning.

SPEAKER_06 2:07

Oh, thank you. Uh it's a little bit more, it's a little bit on the perky side this morning because uh I uh I managed to stay up last night until uh uh 1245 to watch the Maple Leafs uh beat the Colorado Avalanche in overtime. The first their their first loss at home.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

That uh I I fell asleep listening to Bowen, but I woke up right before the overtime.

SPEAKER_08 2:38

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

So uh so which was which was awesome. I got to hear the uh the the remainder and uh yeah, what a game it sounded like, right? Like, and you're right, amazing to be that yeah, that Colorado team is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_06 2:50

Oh my god. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

They've been on a they've been on a route, man. They're they climbed back into uh a playoff position. I think they're only like four or five points behind Montreal now to get back into the into the top three in the division.

SPEAKER_06 3:03

Yeah, well, that's good. Hey, listen, wildcard, whatever. As long as they make the playoffs, that's all I care.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Correct.

unknown 3:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

If they make the playoffs, they can make a run.

Do Trade Shows Still Matter

SPEAKER_06 3:11

Yeah, absolutely. Goal leaf, goal. Um and on that note, um the last episode I did. I uh I asked myself a question uh and uh and spoke to it. And and I'm interested in um in asking you the same thing because I'm pretty sure that the perspective that you have will be a little bit different than mine just simply because of location, you being in the northwest and uh and uh me being in the south. Um and that question is uh what is the relevance of trade shows for you? Like how important are trade shows for you and your really just the networking part, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

I think um as I've mentioned before, it's more of a it's it's more a chance to uh so so before it was to meet people in my industry and grow in my industry and and and learn, you know, learn from from those guys like those Wayne Clarks and the and the Steve Nitzwickies, right? Like um I think that was important on that networking side, but now it's changed to uh uh I flex a bit, you know, like I'm like, yeah, we're here and we're here fast and we're here to stay. And uh I I want to make sure we we pronounce that way, right? So so the col so the clients understand that that uh we are again an elite top facility, you know, um which T2 was before it was two rivers. Um so that would be the significance to me. You know, I think um I think it changes with what you need to do and with what your goals are at the time. And I think in the future it'll change. Like that I we actually don't do never did really any shows. I did uh yeah, uh they did a couple um to kind of just to get our name out there in the first half season when I built Nordic, but the rest of the other two years we just did the sportsman show, which you know, and that was a lot of bear content and marketing. That was it. The bear hunting was good. Um, I did sell good trips there, and don't get me wrong, like you sell trips like, and if anyone sells trips, it's me. Like I can I'll walk right out in the in the alley and you know, grab somebody, you know, not grab them, but start talking to them about a topic and and and can draw them in, right? But but at the same time, you know, I don't like bugging people. You know, I want to make sure that they're they're enjoying the show. Um I I can read people like that. You you it's a sales thing, right, Stevie? You know that, right?

SPEAKER_06 6:02

I've never I've never sold a trip out of Treasury.

Marketing Shifts And Media Spikes

SPEAKER_01 6:05

I I know that, but you but you're a but you've been to a million shows because I've sat there with you and you've you know when you talk to your your your fans and your people um and your friends, you know, you you feel them out and you understand how to roll the conversations, right? So absolutely. Yeah, so this year we're we're doing a couple down, like I say, we're we're actually even um next Monday going to Chicago.

SPEAKER_07 6:31

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Yeah, yeah, it's good, it's good. Um I'm I don't I only have six dates left. I just did a blast yesterday morning. I have six four-day spots left until September. That's all. Really? Yeah, I don't have nothing. So like I'm going down there again. This is more of a networking and to and I'm that guy. I like to flex a bit and be like, you know, we're we're here and you're gonna have to compete with us, so step your game up and and um Wow, you're already booked. Yeah, yeah, we booked over our 400 client the other day.

SPEAKER_06 7:06

Are you uh booking into uh 2027?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yep, yeah. I got uh not many, I think I got three groups booked. Yeah, like it's not but but these people again, half of the guests that are coming have been with me for yeah, for years. And I've been and or I've been you know selling to them or guided with them, right? Or majority of them I have a relationship, right? We have got a couple actually that have come in from other lodges. Uh some lodges changed hands. People people want to try something different, or the or the service has changed. And uh we've we've stepped in and taken some of those calls, and then we've got a lot of cold calls too off my off my videos and blasts and my working with you. Like we get a lot of attraction just through the the biggest attraction I get is through the TV and video portions and the and the and the podcast, right? Like the more the majority of people who go to my website um through the analytics, and I see that uh I have a guy hired from down in Georgia who does it for me, and uh and he watches that stuff and he can show me exactly where I'm getting a lot of this from, right? And it it it rolls with if I had a graph of when um you or Jamie Bruce or whatever was dropping dropping links and episodes and and and whatever, or the in the Fish and Canada show, right? If I would have had that with Nordic, I could put it right over top and and I could show you exactly how the how the format works.

SPEAKER_06 8:44

That stuff is is um is what made my business everything. Uh whether it be um YouTube, uh back when I was at Show Dier, YouTube was kind of new, but you know, I took advantage of all of that stuff. And you can see the spikes. You can see when people call. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah. Actually, you know what? I'd love to do that. I I'm gonna do that this year now that we talked about it, going into next year. So next year, quote me on this and ask me for it. Because I would love to, it would make sense now that I'd have a year and a half at that point of data from this new place um with my marketing to relate it to my sales and see see how how uh uh accurate I am. But I'm yeah, I know by my bookings, but um, but it would be good to see that on a number.

SPEAKER_06 9:33

Yeah, no, that's great. Yeah. So what's new in Willyland? Um yeah, I'm not much.

Prepping A Booth On A Budget

SPEAKER_01 9:40

I was kind of fighting a little bit of a back injury this week, a little sore. I've been kind of uh taking getting prepared for that show. Like I said, you know, there's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_06 9:51

What do you do to get prepared for the show? I know what I used to do, but what do you do to get to get prepared for the show?

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Um so this year I went with a different setup. I actually had Jerry Kruzak, uh, our buddy there from Up at the Sanity and from from uh Winnipeg there, uh from Fish Futures. He um he made he does all my stuff, all my printing, all my everything, uh all my designs, all my signage, all my boat wraps, everything. Um so he made me like pull-ups, like uh just those quick, yeah, those quick little drops, right? We yeah, the pop-ups. We had him at your booth there that one year when we were there. Um yeah, I made three of those. I made two that were three feet wide and one that was four four foot wide. So the four foot wide goes in the center, the two threes on the outside, uh, and then I have a beautiful TV stand I just bought off Amazon. Uh it's black, it's on rollers, light, aluminum, but it looks kind of cool and it has a post that slides up vertical. So I have a 32-inch TV on that with the wire going down the back hidden, and my promotional video will play on loop um in the background on the side of my on the side of my booth. Um so I've had to get all that ready. I set it up here in my living room, you know, take pictures of it, make sure it's good. I stretch it out, make sure it's like got just make sure everything's good. I play the video. Um yeah, we have a uh we'll have a little rubber-made table, you know, an eight-foot table, just like everyone else, and um a cloth. We're we're actually gonna have a uh tablecloth made with pictures from the lodge embedded, like like printed on it. Yeah, so that'll just sit on the table. You know, it'll have the lodge logo, yeah, and then everything around it. Uh a couple chairs, and then we pull we actually bring a battery. It's a completely$250 a day at this show in Chicago per power. And I'm like, man, what the heck? What kind of shit is this? Right. Yeah, no, Doug. I am not paying a thousand dollars for four hours for power. Like, wow. So we brought a uh Adam, my partner, at the lodge there. He's got a um big giant 12 volt lithium. I don't, I think it's like 500 amp hours, it's crazy. Yeah, um, but yeah, so I'm just gonna bring it, right?

SPEAKER_06 12:14

Sure, and put it on a on an inverter and inverter and bring it in.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_06 12:19

Yeah, 100%.

The Realities Of The Lodge Lifestyle

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah, so that's we kind of just get we get it all ready like that, you know, make sure my brochures are ready. Um they're in the in transit right now from Winnipeg. Um yeah, but you know, make sure the cards are ready. Yeah, make sure my my kids, you know, I when I go away, right? It's not it this life, it's a lifestyle, it's not a job. So like as as as everyone starts to hear over the couple of years you've been doing this podcast, Steve, right? Like my life shuts down at home when me and Krista have to leave, right? So the kids, you know, we have to find people to take them to their sporting events until they're able to drive. And and and uh we got pets and and fish and and you know, all of these things that gotta continue to go. So that's all got to be logistically set up. That's where my wife comes in. She is uh, you know, she's like Melissa, she's like a kick-ass, you know, legisticizer. Yeah, exactly. It's not just me and you would just be a mess about, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:19

Wow, that's good. It's nice that uh Krista can go with you.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, it's awesome. It's awesome. She's she's deadly at the show. Like she's all in, like, not just not it has nothing to do with her being pretty. It hasn't, she's just she she attracts people because of her kindness, right? So it's yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:38

Yeah, no, that was uh that was always something that I didn't have the luxury of. I was always on my own. Which was uh good sometimes and not so good other times, you know. But uh it's a bonding experience.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

They only get to travel together, right?

SPEAKER_06 13:53

Which is fun to Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you get to hang out with a bunch of different people that you don't see all the time and cool people, and yeah, it's a it's a great experience, especially when you've got somebody there to share it with. Absolutely. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Yeah, it may it definitely makes it it makes the lifestyle better when you're better to I say better, it's easier to handle being away from home and being on the road and doing all these different things when your partner's there more than not. Yeah. So 100%. That's a huge benefit I have, yes.

SPEAKER_06 14:28

Yeah, because when you're doing it by yourself, leaving your partner at home, your partner usually gets gets pissed off. It's hard, it's a lot harder on everybody, right? Absolutely for sure.

SPEAKER_05 14:46

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SPEAKER_04 15:32

Now, you might know us as the hosts of Canada's favorite fishing show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, Ang and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Hmm. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know there's gonna be a lot of fishing.

SPEAKER_10 15:50

I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to cut.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors. From athletes.

SPEAKER_10 16:01

All the other guys would go golfing. Me and Garden Turks, and all the Russians would go fishing. The scientists. But now that we're looking foresting and it's the perfect transmission environment for line with these chefs, if any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for you will taste it.

SPEAKER_04 16:21

And whoever else will pick up the phone. Wherever you are, Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Kozak Family Reconnection

SPEAKER_01 16:35

I got something really cool. So buy it on me. I put up if if uh if anybody here wants to go on Facebook, uh Two Rivers Lodge, and add us, that would be lovely. But when you add us, you will be able to see uh my recent post was I came across some old, old documents from like like a map and the old original original logo from the T2 Lodge back in the 70s. Um I'm thinking, sorry, I'm thinking at the time. Um a picture of the the guy who I thought built the camp, his family from the start. Um we knew before it was it was some kind of aboriginal fish camp for a few years, but but I don't really know all of the history past past um you know the the uh late 80s, early 90s when when um when the last owner, Ed Henn, owned it, right? So so I put anyways I put these pictures up. Bill Kozak was this guy's name. He's in this picture, he's holding a bunch of walleyes. Really cool pictures of like how the old lodge layout was and and the grounds and whatever. So I put this post up and I just asked, you know, if hey, if anybody out there has any has any pictures or any you know memories, you know, share them with us. We want to hear those stories, you know. We're new here, so we want to know, you know, even though I've been around there for years and guided there, Steve. It's I'm still new there as an owner, right? So I don't know Jack really about nothing compared to the guys that have owned this place for 20 years at a time. Um so I put this little, you know, send me stuff out there. Sure enough, my MMS messenger on Facebook starts blowing up with this lady, and she's overseas uh in Estonia. Oh, really? Yes, and I'm like so. She says she posts this picture on my Facebook. You can go and look at it, and it's this little girl in a red dress rolling around the grass with her brother, and he she's probably three and he's probably like five, six. And I can see it's right in front of my main, it's right where you would walk between the main store or or old office to where the main kitchen was there. It's right there, and I'm like, ma'am. She goes, That's me as a baby. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. And she's like, No, that's my dad was Bill Kozak. And I'm like, oh, this is awesome. So then another someone else chimes in. Nice, it's the brother, the older brother. So then someone else chimes in. It's Bill Kozak's ex wife. She's she's a widow now, remarried. Yeah. The whole family reaches out to me, Steve, and they are just over the top in tears. They're so they the actual statement was well, I thought this light part. of our life was gone. You know, we never thought so you, you know, they never thought they'd go back there. The last owners before me, as you know, I have a I have a very I don't like them. You know, they were very rude to our area. You know, they were they were um they were not good owners. And that's just how people are, right? Um take it for what it is. But um we will make sure that we go back to how Bill Kozak had that camp and we have.

SPEAKER_06 20:27

And uh and was he the original?

Hidden Rooms, Original Landings, Legends

SPEAKER_01 20:30

He okay so hold on let me get into it here. So I just wanted to make sure these people understood that too right and and and that's where where we're standing with this. So there was a lot of emotion for all these people and for me because they the the previous owners never reached out to them they never had them there they never they never contacted them right whenever they would reach it it was negative right so it would that part of their life was was over with they actually told me that they went there the year that it got taken over into bankruptcy so it would be six years ago they went there and pulled up on the rock at the front of the point and they spread their dad's ashes so his the guy's ashes are on my property and in the water nice right it's awesome because they should be there he built that place right I I didn't build it he did so so I'm thinking so this is amazing so we set up a conversation because he's in Estonia the brother is in Grand Prairie and the mother is in the Philippines with her husband so these people are all over the world so little one by one over the last three days I've had phone calls with with each of the family members so here's the actual history of the camp so camp uh I bought the camp or I got the camp with the with the bankruptcy with the John Williams deal um the previous owners were Ed Henn and Kathy Henn. You know they divorced and it ran down to the ground and then they lost it before COVID before that so they bought it in nineteen ninety eight wow okay so the hence bought it in a ninety eight they bought it from Bill Kozak Bill Kozak had it he bought it in nineteen seventy eight so Bill so hold on so Bill Kozak when he bought it it was vacant it was vacant for seven years prior to that it was owned by an old old um English guy that came over from World War I and he started he had some money from the government and he put where cabin one sits right now it was cabin one his one cabin he had a one cabin building with a with a bedroom and outhouse on the back of it where he lived and he would cook for them in his little cabin and take care of them and they would fish one group at a time he built it to two to three to four and and this guy this son has pictures from the past of all of this he has he has pictures of the places from the 50s so anyway so that was 1942 originally the gentleman's name I don't know it yet it's being it's being looked they're gonna find it for me they do have it so I will get to know it um so yeah so there was an owner before Bill name unknown old man from the war so he built cabin one through four and then he built the fort so there was no American plan up here so I'm finding out now that this is one of the original camps in northwestern Ontario right so that's old being that you know like the 40s is a long time ago so he built the fort that big massive building infrastructure you saw there when you went there and the main lodge was downstairs the staff would sleep on the main floor and the kitchen was in the back left upstairs was all it was like a hotel motel up the stairs so there were bedrooms upstairs that you could stay or a cabin but that's where everybody would eat drink smoke play poker two cigars right super cool history right um I found out where the old okay so the landings you know where my landing is it's a long way it's like 27 kilometers from my lodge so I've been working with the local um native community at Wobama to to use their northern road to come in so I can have a landing that's like 2.6 kilometers from my lodge. Yeah that's you know oh man it's a that's a$50,000 a year overhead saver right yeah going to get guests and sending staff and it's a long way 26 kilometers every every time but there and back you know it's it's$55 last year was$55 every time we had to send someone to the landing. Yeah I don't doubt it. Yeah um so I'm working with them and I'm hopefully going to be able to have access to this so don't I find out Steven that the origin the place that I'm trying to get my landing at now with with the local community is where my original landing was nice right like how cool to me that information is crazy. Like he told me that in the back of the fort in the back of that big thing there's a hidden room so behind a dresser and the second bedroom upstairs on the right you move it and you there's a door a door there and you open it and it goes it was it's a 10 foot wide storage area that's huge that's that used to be a giant smoking cigar room really and it's behind I'm like no like I worked there man for a long time and I had no idea it was there. I've never heard anybody say it. Have you checked that out uh no no once we get back in there 100%. Yeah well for sure you never know what's going to end up there we found um he told me some a story this is like a really good story so one of their guides so their guides used to live in guide shacks across the beach so you know where my beach in the is so on the other side um they used to have the guide shack over there one of the guide shacks used to be on that tiny little island up about 60 yards from my point of my lodge is is a little island. I don't know if you remember that but that little island had a little cabin on it it was just a little like a ice giant ice shack and that's where this this this guide lived and they called him the weatherman so every day he would get up at 515 530 get in his canoe and he would paddle over to the lodge come up meet the boys for breakfast see the guests tell every all the guests what the weather was going to be like and go out so the guest he was like a he was like a god up there right because every day he was pretty close with the weather and people couldn't figure it out well one day somebody goes over there to go visit them in the morning they bring a boat over there well they go to the guy's cabin and the guy has an AM radio in his cabin so every day he was listening to the weather before he came over so funny man I know well the history of these places is is um is uh is is is very important in uh in the business like I mean a hundred percent like this guy built that beautiful you talked about should air and your beautiful mantle you had and you'd smell the food coming from the kitchen out into the lodge this the one the one that I have that's similar to yours it's not as big um this gentleman built it yeah he bit he built that main the main lodge part that's was sagging on the outsides that we started to lift and that we have to continue to lift he built this kid built that he the these these this brother and and sister and and mother remember everything like they told me yeah they said the so the barge was there from the original owner the barge was brought in so from this gentleman I don't know his name yet he brought the barge in back in the 50s in a high water year and just so everyone knows like this barge you guys have heard me talk about a few times but it's like it's gotta be 15 tons it's gotta be like it's a ridiculous size barge and he brought it in to main to bring all those massive logs down the Winnipeg River.

Chaudière’s Lineage And Heirlooms

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Guiding, Celebrity Guides, And Capacity

SPEAKER_06 29:39

So that was his workhorse super cool yeah figure super cool well it it it's um it's like at uh at Chaudiere you know when I bought it I found all of the a bunch of pictures throughout time and uh the owners over the years did a very good job at um at taking pictures so I had pictures that dated right back into the 20s for sure but like I mean um show the air was first built by um in uh in 1909. Wow and it started out as um uh yeah the it was uh a fellow by the name of Merle Anderson Dr. Merle Anderson and um uh it i i it started out with um tent tent platforms and um and he uh basically it was him and his brother-in-law and a bunch of different guys that went and uh um threw a couple of letters um that um uh I got this information from um where Merle was uh wanting to go back to Chaudier and when he had it it was a family compound it didn't turn into a lodge until um until uh he sold it after the first world war and um his brother in law and a lot of the the the gu the guys that were members and it and it started as the um as the Pennsylvania club I remember you saying that yep yeah a lot of the a lot of the guys uh and family members uh didn't make it through the first world war so he ended up uh selling uh selling to uh another gentleman and um and then it started uh uh the name uh rather than Pennsylvania club it became the uh Mohawk Lodge and then in the 30s that name again with a um change of ownership was um changed to Chaudiere but um the the stories that you you get from from um from there and the lineage right there was um there was seven owners and uh in the 40s there was a a gentleman um um the De Jardin family who had bought uh Chaudiere and funny enough with the story that you're telling right now um I think I might have been in about my fourth or fifth year I got a phone call from a girl and uh she said hey um uh my name's uh Sherry Desjardins and uh my dad um um my dad's family used to own Chaudiere and uh we'd like to bring dad back and um and that's what happened uh uh I uh I ended up um finding out that well like I mean this fellow's name was Gene Desjardin and he was just living over in North Bay um so as soon as I caught wind that uh that there was like firsthand information uh that I could get I said to uh I said to to to Sherry uh I said hey listen um I want you guys to come and and um former owners don't pay you know you're you're gonna come and you're gonna you're gonna come on me um bring them over and they ended up coming there was three of them two daughters and Gene Gene and his two daughters and uh they come um they come two years in a row and I'm not sure if Gene's still kicking but um at that time so that would be probably 10 years ago um he would have been in his early 90s and um he was uh he was in really good shape man he'd he'd uh he he was he could walk uh uh around just like the guy looked like he was he was in his uh mid-70s and he was 90. and every night he'd drink three fingers of scotch you know yeah an Englishman and um um the stories that he told me about the about the lodge the second year actually he came he brought me um uh he says Steve I got a present for you and I said oh okay well the first year he was there I put him in the um in the in the Blue Jay cottage which was the uh one right to the left as you walk out the front door nice and close so he didn't have to walk far uh he came up just before on the day that he was leaving he said Steve he said you know that little that little uh table you've got uh in the bathroom in the Blue Jay cottage there I said yeah he said would you mind if I had that I said no sure you can take it it was just an old wooden table he said well the reason that I'd like to I'd like to have that table is uh my brother Hank back in the 50s he made that table and I was like no shit well yeah so I said absolutely and I guess um his brother Hank uh died uh when he was young in his 30s in um uh industrial accident in a in a factory in North Bay so Dean wanted that table so I said yeah yeah no problem you take that table buddy anything that's it's not mine it's it's yours your brother made it so so let me ask you something here about the emotion of this because so again as you said funny to you funny to me because that's the end of my story is these this beautiful family the Kozaks are coming to Kenora I had no idea but they're coming this summer the oldest son as I spoke of Jeff he's getting married and he wanted to get married back here nice so they already had a wedding coming here I'm like this is ridiculous I can't believe this so they're I said you guys have to come to the lodge they're uh so they're all gonna come out uh go for a fish you know a memories of their dad and spend a night with me and and have a nice meal with us and and uh do some breakfast and then get them on their way the next day but they're gonna uh they're gonna come up for one day in one night which is so beautiful I can't wait to hear the stories and to see the passion on their face because they they were honestly that you know the boy was the most emotional that like you know I was born there and I lived there till I was 23 years old you know um yeah crazy yeah yeah oh wow and he never thought he would be back he's like I never thought I would you know be able allowed back on that property or be back on that property I never thought anyone would even reach out to us. Yeah so super beautiful no it is emotional um you know and and sit down with them and put your phone and a recorder down to get the uh to get these stories like I mean I sat with Gene good idea um and uh and he told me uh a couple of stories about uh about when he was there and um uh the the second year that he came back he brought me a present and one of the stories was uh about this present and it was a pair of snowshoes and um um like traditional um uh native made uh snowshoes and uh he said Steve I've had these snowshoes in my garage for for years for years and he said I I was looking at them and um I uh I knew who who I needed to give these to and that's you and I said well thank you very much I I didn't know why and and he proceeded to tell me he said listen these are the only this is the only thing that my dad ever gave me and he said dad gave me these snowshoes in 1953 and that year he gave me these snowshoes he gave Hank a pair too and that was the year that Hank and I stayed on the island all winter and we brought in the hydro and um he said that they uh they stayed uh all winter in uh the uh Happy Gang cottage which was uh a a three bedroom at the time like uh now but I don't I didn't even know yours were insulated it it's not really yeah like I mean it it's uh it it might be a little bit but no it it it's not it's not insulated the only one that that's insulated there is the uh Oriole which was built uh later on in the 70s but um they stayed in the uh in the Happy Gang cottage over the winter of 1953 and um uh so he has the the these uh snowshoes and I said Hank or um uh Gene you gotta sign them for me just sign them uh put the the date and what they were for so he signed uh Jean Dejard Hydro Line 1953 and those uh snowshoes hang on the wall in the uh dining room at uh at the um in in the lodge wow so so cool yeah and then he he he told me a a story about um one of the uh wow like uh at the time uh he had already passed um um leonard doe Keith and uh Leonard was um uh one of the the um patriarchs of the Doe Keys First Nation he was the chief for years he was uh um uh like he was he was the man and um Gene uh told me this story He says, gee, says, Steve, I remember one year it was late November, and it was a dirty, dirty night. He said, it was, it was so, it was cold and raining and storming and wind. And he said, it was, it was a ridiculous night. And uh Hank and I were sitting in the in the main lodge, and we hear, we heard a bang, bang, bang on the door. And we thought, who could be out here? Like on an island in the middle of the French River at night in November in the middle of a storm. Well, it ended up, it was Leonard and another fella from the the reserve. But this was like, I mean, this was back in the in the late 40s, early 50s. So Leonard was really a kid, right? And um uh I the the the guys bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. We need help. We need help. We don't uh we've got to get across the lake to the hospital. Leonard's Leonard's hurt himself. So I guess Leonard and I forget who was with him, um, but um um they were at the little Chaudiere Dam putting um, they had to pull the let the water out. So back then it was just you had to um pull boards out of the dam. And I don't know what they were doing, but he had a shotgun with him, and um something happened, and Leonard shot his foot with shotgun. Yeah. So Leonard Leonard's got like they got they got a belt around his leg so he doesn't bleed out. Bleed out, yeah. But they've got to get across Lake Nipissing to the hospital over in Sturgeon Falls. And and like I mean, that it's a a 30-mile drive from Chaudiere. And not only that, like 20 20 miles of it is across open water on Lake Nipissing in November in a nor'easter. Like this is like uh, you know, it's a ridiculous um uh storm. So um Hank and uh Gene uh they loaded them up, they had a big barge, and uh Hank said, or Gene said, uh he says, I don't even know how we made it. He said the it was it was it was as rough as I've ever seen nippusing. And I've seen nippusing rough. Like nippusing gets really, really dirty, especially right at the mouth of the fringe, because there's not a whole lot to break up the lead. Um there's the there's no, you know, there's a couple of groups of islands here and there, but other than that, it is wide open.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

It's a big bowl. It's like Pearl Falls, like we're there with but it but three times the size. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:52

So they they managed to get him across. They got him across. He got to the hospital. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was never a story Leonard told me, though. I don't know how many people uh Leonard uh told.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 43:06

Oh yeah, yeah. And then, you know, you talk about the emotion. When I first bought Shaudi Air, I um uh my real estate agent, Brian Dykstra, um, he um uh one of the things that he suggested to me was getting a hold of uh the uh owner uh um before the guy I bought it from. I bought it from a fella in Indiana, uh Jerry Noel. Uh but before Jerry, um um Tony and Betsy Stinson owned uh Shaudiere from 72 to 1996. And um um uh I got a hold of of uh of Tony and he come to uh he came to the first uh the first trade show I ever did to see me in Toronto. Yep. And I've I've told that story uh a few times uh on the podcast. If uh if uh folks, if you want to hear that, you can uh just go back. I might have actually told it on the last podcast, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

There you go.

SPEAKER_06 44:13

Um but um uh Tony and Betsy ended up coming to Show Deer when I owned it. And they and again, uh it was the same deal. I wanted them to come. I wasn't gonna charge them anything, but um for them, they came for the one day. Um they were they're from um the Niagara Greensby, I think. Uh anyway, yeah, it was too emo they were they weren't sure if they were gonna stay or if they if they if they um were just gonna come and visit uh because the um the when they sold it was very emotional for them. And uh when they came back, it was again um uh very emotional. Betsy um uh what and beautiful people, just wonderful people. And they looked in the old cottages and and uh Tony said, Hey, would you mind if I borrowed one of those cedar strips and head over to the Dokies Marina? At the time, Leonard was still uh was still alive. And uh Tony wanted to go and see the uh see the um all of the people that you build those relationships with um over the years, but then when you leave you you you you lose track of those people. But absolutely. Yep. Yeah, it was uh Yeah, life just grows on, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:33

And that's just how it goes.

SPEAKER_06 45:35

Yeah, it was a wonderful uh experience for me and it's a very gratifying feeling to be able to say to somebody, especially now that um now that I understand how much you you invest in that type of business. The blood, the sweat, the tears, the Steve Steve, you have no people, you know.

Operations: Staffing, Bait, And Logistics

SPEAKER_01 45:59

But people have, I mean, I know our fans that we love our fans on the show. It's crazy. Um the support you get. But you know, it Steve is right. Like you really, unless you're a lodge owner, you it really you don't know until you do it. And it's something that everyone, I think, should try and experience. Something like that. A career where your your passion is is your whole business is you and your passion, you know. So, you know, and I've seen it from both sides. I've seen it from good, the bad, and the ugly, right? And and uh it's taught me a lot. But I tell you, the whole that's the difference again. It's a lifestyle, it's not a hotel, it's not a casual place, it's a lot, it's an experience you're selling from the time that you meet these people, whether it's at a show, on the phone, via email. You're you're telling them that you're gonna sell them an experience or give them or show them an experience that they're gonna try and remember for the rest of their life. I don't know too many holiday ins I remember for the rest of my life. You know what I'm saying? That's just how it is. I mean, this is a and and it comes down to everything you just said, right? Like in these stories and these, and that's why I got so jacked up. I actually like I was super emotional. Ask you, you know, Krista was like, you know, she saw kind of a different side there because it was something I haven't had to deal with yet. So I am equally as excited to have these people come up and be part of of next summer, their vacation up here and see our their lodge and my lodge again. And uh thanks for the advice on that. It's gonna be emotional for me.

SPEAKER_06 47:37

So yeah, yeah. Get as much information as you can. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 47:43

At that time, I get to see you around that time too. You guys are you're gonna come film up there this year, I heard.

SPEAKER_06 47:49

And well, yeah. I uh I'm I'm hearing uh rumblings and rumors uh through the uh through the grapevine that uh that we may be uh we may be heading your your direction.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

It would be lovely if you didn't happen. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 48:05

Yeah, I'm uh I'm looking forward to uh I'm looking forward to that. Like I mean, I know your fishery is uh is uh is outstanding. I just haven't been able to experience it firsthand.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Well, that's why I can't wait for you to get up there. Like I say, you gotta get up there and even before even before that any kind of filming. You just come up and hang out and come do some guiding. Come hang out, come, you know, do your thing.

SPEAKER_06 48:29

Yeah, you know what? I might uh get to know the water up there a bit, right? Yeah, I might set aside a little bit of time for uh for guiding uh up there.

SPEAKER_01 48:37

I'm definitely uh it's while I will you a thing or two, you know everybody?

SPEAKER_06 48:41

Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'm gonna do a little bit of guiding down here in the French this uh this summer as well for anybody out there that uh might be interested in spending some time on the on the French. And and I've got the cottage there that I'm uh that I'm renting out as well.

SPEAKER_01 48:56

So that's great. Dude, that's a great idea. And that's you know, it's something up here. I I've never talked about it on the podcast, but um the the the major big fishing guns up here, they do the same thing. They guide all the time. Like, like Jeff, actually, Jeff and Jeff Gustafson and Jamie Bruce are gonna come guide for me this summer at the lodge of several celebrity guides. I've already got it lined up with them. And uh it's fantastic, right? And it's people can learn so much from a guy like you, Steve. Like, not just about fishing, you know, that you know, I'm guessing you've forgotten more than Ann just taught you and Pete has taught you on that show than anything. But what you can just teach people about fishing being not the fishing part, the emotional part, the safety part, the the other parts that that aren't as predominant on a fishing show. You know what I mean all the time? You can teach them that, right? It would be awesome. I know myself, if I had a chance to go fishing with Steve Nitswicky, I would. I don't even get to fish with you, and I'm your I'm your friend.

SPEAKER_06 49:55

No, I think the last time we fished together was at um vanity.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

We fished together at Vanity for the 100K, and then before that we fished together for one morning, me, you and Dino when we when we filmed.

SPEAKER_07 50:09

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 50:11

Yeah, yeah, that was that Nordic. That was the that was the pretty that was a fun shoot. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was a fun shoot. No, that's that's great. Well, you know what, buddy? Um anything else on the docket?

SPEAKER_01 50:25

No, I'm uh I'm hitting lake trout today. Yeah, I'm gonna fry myself up some breakfast here once I'm done with you and uh get the wife ready and then go on the ice road here in Kenora and spin some holes and try and catch a trout.

SPEAKER_06 50:40

Nice. So uh what's the ice doing up there? You got lots?

Ice, Trout Boils, And Pike Takes

SPEAKER_01 50:44

Yeah, it's like it was really good early because it was super cold. And then and then we got a dump, just like you guys, we got a buttload of snow. So everything went to slush. So like there's a good a good 14 inches, you know? Yeah, but like we want like up here it's a big like we need like 15 to 18 plus to drive. Like guys are out there with bobcats, they want to do heavy machinery, they gotta because they gotta move so much equipment in the wintertime and they're drilling dock piles and right. So a lot majority of the construction gets done in the wintertime on all these remote areas. So um it's it's right, it's good, but it's but at the same time, it's not the best year, I would say. Yeah, gotcha.

SPEAKER_06 51:31

Yeah, gotcha. And the fishing?

SPEAKER_01 51:34

Always good. Right on Northwestern Ontario, right? It's crazy. Like Lake of the Woods is dynamite, you know. You know, all of them are dynamite, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 51:46

And then the Lakers. I'm not I'm not big on eating Lakers other than if they're smoked. I find they're very um lardy, like fatty. Uh yeah. How do you like the lake trunk?

SPEAKER_01 51:59

So I boil them. I boil them. So I do like what I do is I boil, I'll take like uh half bag of potatoes, cut them up, throw them in, two cans of corn, can of a can of peas, a bag of baby carrots, chop up an onion or two. I boil all that like a like a stew, and then I dump the water when it's boiled, I dump the water and I take lake throat chunks. So like I make like two inch by two inch chunks of the meat, and I just drop it in and then I cover it and steam it.

SPEAKER_06 52:31

So it like the fish steams inside of the your your your yeah, your stew. So do you use like um, is it um uh you boil it in like a uh stalk, like a beef stalk or a chicken stock, or just water?

SPEAKER_01 52:46

Just no, just the water. You just use the the just use the vegetables and the water you get rid of, like I say. And it just comes in. Yeah, and you just uh yeah, no, it's really good. We you know, you throw a little bit of you know, you throw so salt and pepper on there, obviously, like heavy salt and pepper, and maybe some uh maybe some Lowry's, you know, whatever you're seasoning, whatever you want. You want to throw lemon pepper in, yeah, whatever. But it's more of a it's a good way to cook the the oily taste out of the lake trout and it more tastes like pike.

SPEAKER_07 53:18

You know, nice.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

I'll do a pike boil too. Sometimes people I think northern pike is if you get a cold pike, it's just good as a walleye or a crappie. Oh, for sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_06 53:28

I I agree. I I think northern pike is uh is it's a very underrated fish if not better. Just got to get the bones out. Once you know how to fillet it uh boneless, you're you're good. You're good.

SPEAKER_01 53:39

And you don't want to catch little hammer handles that are you don't want to catch a nice 30, you know, 28 inch, 26 inch, you know, yeah. You don't want to catch a little 18 or 20. You don't get much. You have no heat off it, right?

SPEAKER_06 53:52

You need a 24.

SPEAKER_01 53:54

Correct, at a minimum. That's yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 53:57

Yeah, 100%. And then and then smoked uh lake trout, I love. I love smoked lake trout too, I do, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

I just don't end up having the time I wish. Like I to be honest, this is finally my summer at the lodge where I could do that. So I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna, I'm gonna have smokers going. I'm gonna I'm gonna fish a lot this summer. It's something I haven't done in in five, six years. You know, and uh but this summer I'm gonna fish a lot. I'm gonna I got the um I got the right plate pieces in the right place, buddy.

SPEAKER_06 54:28

Well, that's good. Uh once you get a good staff, then uh then you can uh you can uh you can fish a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01 54:34

But I've always had good staff, but this year I have this year I have an elite staff. I do. I have uh an out of this world staff.

SPEAKER_06 54:42

Well, that's great. Are you finished staffing?

SPEAKER_01 54:45

Yep. Oh yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 54:47

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 54:48

Breakfast cook, breakfast dinner chef, well, breakfast cook, she's from Ottawa. She's a w widow lady. Her husband was uh a uh nuclear chemist. Oh, really? He worked down in the yeah, in the power plant, but he passed and she just she just wants to do her thing. She's a cook and she wants to experience the world. So she's been doing this for about 10 years now, and she works, she spends two or three years at a place and then goes on to the next place. So it's time for her to move on, and we were fortunate enough to steal her, and then I got uh the head chef out of the keg Durham down in uh Oshawa Bowmanville.

SPEAKER_06 55:29

I uh oh the head chef from the keg?

SPEAKER_01 55:32

From the keg in Oshawa and Bowmanville. He runs both stores or facilit restaurants. Um he uh he used to work up by Shaudiere on the French somewhere up there back a decade ago, and he just recently got divorced, so he wants to come and chef. And I was like, hey.

SPEAKER_06 55:50

Well, you know he know he can cook a steak.

Wrap Up And Network Plugs

SPEAKER_01 55:53

Right? So um, yeah, no, and I got uh we haven't we've always had elite guide staff, so um got a couple newfies from the East Coaster coming to do some house cleaning and serving, and uh, and then we always got a few locals to throw in the mix. So I got uh 12 staff this year.

SPEAKER_06 56:12

Perfect. That's about right.

SPEAKER_01 56:14

My contract. We have my contract staff, we always have another two or three kicking around, right?

SPEAKER_06 56:18

Is that uh 12 staff counting your guides or not counting your guides?

SPEAKER_01 56:22

That's 12 staff with my guides. With your guides, yeah. Yep, yeah. Remember, I have like at a flick of our switch here, right? We can have five contract guides here just yeah. So about 200 bucks a day, right? So it's nice.

SPEAKER_06 56:35

Yeah, yep, yep. No, that's great. And uh, what's your maximum capacity there again?

SPEAKER_01 56:40

Uh we've blocked it. We've blocked it at 25. Just because we want to we want to make sure everybody we stay in the realm of everybody gets their own bedroom, their own bathroom.

SPEAKER_07 56:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

Um, we don't want to be overly busy. It's it's again, it's my our number my numbers start to level out and or drop in profit margin when I get over that point because uh being on an island, I have to logistically think of getting everything there. So yeah. This winter, the plans to you know, have all the fuel there, have everything there for the spring. All we should be bringing in is food. I've already bought my bait. I bought six thousand dollars worth of minnows two days ago. Uh because we're not running live minnows, we're running salted chiners like we did last year.

SPEAKER_06 57:18

Oh no shit.

SPEAKER_01 57:19

I've already bought, yeah. We didn't I didn't buy a live minnow last year.

SPEAKER_06 57:23

Well, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 57:24

That's we fixed the plastics in China, so I already got that, you know, like leveled up. And do you know how easy it is for the guides? They don't have to mess with minnows. Like yeah, minnows are a minnows are a lot just a headache, right? And they're a big money loss. Yeah. So I I I took, I had really good tanks. I would lose like four to six minnows a day. Not that like that's it. I wouldn't lose nothing. And but it still was a headache, right? Because you gotta pay.

SPEAKER_06 57:50

Wow, and it's not only it's not really the minnows in the tank that you lose. It's when because you've got to keep the water in the tank cool and the minnows live nice, and then you put them in the uh minnow bucket and then you drop them into warm water and they're all died.

SPEAKER_01 58:03

Correct, and correct. And the cost is insane. Like, yeah, I was selling when I was at Nordic, when I owned Nordic, I would have sell minnows for$7.99 US a dozen.

SPEAKER_07 58:15

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 58:16

It was but I would pay, I was paying seven dollars Canadian.

SPEAKER_07 58:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:22

You know, like yeah, crazy. Where I can buy a tub of shiners and there's a tub of shiners that has close to 50, 48 to 50 shiners in it on average. Yeah, right. Um you know, they get once they get soft, they're a little harder to rig with. You got to keep them on icing your bait well. But the guys learn that, you know. Yeah, and to be honest, that's what my fish are feeding on. When they see the shiner, they they freak out. You know, that's perfect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 58:49

Cool. Yeah, buddy. Well, Willie, thank you once again. I really appreciate you uh, you know, coming out here and and being a regular on the show. Um, it's uh it's always nice to hear from uh from uh from you guys uh up uh up north. And and I want to thank all of you listeners out there, thank the Diaries family for getting to this point. I really appreciate it. Uh thank you to the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network and uh and the boys that make this all possible. Um our uh awesome producers Anthony Mancini and Dean Taylor. And uh oh yeah. Thanks, boys. Really appreciate it. And uh uh head on over to the fishingcanada.com and uh check things out there. We've got a whole whack of stuff going on, and uh the new season has begun. That's uh always an exciting time of year. You know, so head on over there and check out that new season. Uh every uh Saturday morning on Global at eight o'clock. You can check us out live as the as they drop. But those uh new episodes um they uh they get dropped on YouTube on Monday morning. So you only have to wait three days to to see it uh on YouTube. So if you don't uh if you don't like getting up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, check us out on Monday morning on YouTube. Um and uh, you know, Willie, this brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North.

SPEAKER_09 1:00:35

I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm. I'll be the only you ever saw been reeling in the hog since the day I was born. Bendin' my run. Spencer my mind. Some day a mine on a lodge and I'd be fine. I'll be making my way, the only way I know how.

SPEAKER_08 1:01:16

A bottle lodge and live my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:31

Back in 2016, Frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of musky angling education material anywhere in the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:39

Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:46

Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:53

Step into the world of angling adventures and embrace the thrill of the catch with the Ugly Pike Podcast. Join us on our quest to understand what makes us different as anglers and to uncover what it takes to go after the infamous Fish of 10,000 casts.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:07

The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about fishing, it's about creating a tight-knit community of passionate anglers who share the same love for the sport. Through laughter, through camaraderie, and an unwavering spirit of adventure, this podcast will bring people together. Subscribe now and never miss a moment of our angling adventures. Tight lines, everyone. Find UglyPike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:37

As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear. But they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Olette, and I was honored to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as Chaga, a tree conch, with centuries of medicinal use by indigenous peoples all over the globe. After nearly a decade of harvest, use, testimonials, and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession. And I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy Now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.