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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 131: Unplugged On Purpose
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The moment your phone loses signal and the shoreline comes into focus, something shifts. We dig into why that feeling matters—and how an outdoor lodge can design for it—by drawing a hard line on connectivity in the cottages while keeping smart tech where it helps. The main lodge becomes a social hub for quick check‑ins, photo sharing, and serendipitous conversations. Cabins stay quiet on purpose, nudging families toward board games, dock time, and long talks that outlast any push alert.
Behind the scenes, we share the systems that make a stay smoother without breaking the spell: reliable booking and accounting tools, a wired dock portal for licences and purchases, and a dining‑room photo display that turns guest catches into breakfast stories. On the water, we get practical about safety and confidence. GPS and sonar reduce the stress of navigating complex channels, and we pair them with old‑school navigation habits so guests feel prepared if screens fail.
We also tackle forward‑facing sonar with nuance. It’s powerful, but not a magic wand. The best results come when decades of instincts meet live views, turning slow periods into lessons on structure, fish behaviour, and conservation‑minded handling. Beyond boats, small additions—weather tracking, trail cameras, a simple telescope under a dark sky—deepen nature immersion without flooding the trip with noise. The rule of thumb: adopt tech that enhances attention, limit tech that steals it.
If you’ve been craving fewer notifications and deeper connections, this conversation offers a clear blueprint: keep Wi‑Fi at the hub, keep cottages calm, and use the right tools to protect people and place. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reset, and tell us: would you choose an unplugged cabin with smart support over full‑time connectivity?
That is one of the most important kind of trips, I think, that you can do for yourself, for your family, or for the friends that that you want to to spend time with. And and maybe just maybe um remember or in some cases realize how important and how gratifying and how good it feels to go somewhere with somebody and not have that poking, prodding piece of equipment in your pocket that is constantly competing for your attention. Right? So that that kind of that kind of thing is is I I totally feel um that it it it helps and it's it's a business concept and something that that that can be and should be um embraced and marketed. This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North? On today's show, we're digging into a question I've been asking myself and others for years. Are folks really craving a digital detox? And should that idea be part of a successful outdoor business plan? On this show we ask, does creating space for guests to unplug and slow down help sell trips? And how much technology should business owners use behind the scenes to make their stay smoother, better, and more comfortable than ever? So settle in because today we're exploring that fine line between disconnecting from the noise and using just enough good tech to help everyone reconnect with what really matters: the water, the woods, and each other. Welcome, folks, to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And today's topic is something that I have had friendly debate with number a number of people over the years. And uh that topic, as you heard off the top, is technology. And um there's two types of technology as far as I'm concerned. Um, there's the type of technology that a business or lodge owner uses behind the scenes um and uh and sometimes in front of the scenes, um to make and provide a better experience for guests. And then there's the side of things that I've always kind of argued, where you provide technology to guests, and technology to guests, what I'm talking about more specifically, is the internet. Um, because I've had this debate, especially with my buddy, our good buddy uh Matt O'Brien, who uh is um one of the uh finest uh muskie guides uh on the planet and and definitely um one of the best, if not the best, on the Upper French River in Lake Nipissing. Um, who also is a tech guy. His uh his business was um and still is um digital signage, um, technology, internet, accessibility, all of that stuff. And um he always suggested to me that I should be providing internet to the cottages. I always had internet at the main lodge. And in the in the early days, it was tough to get internet there, so it was even limited for the guests at the at the main lodge. But I quickly upgraded um uh that service when available, which wasn't long after I bought the lodge, and made um Wi-Fi accessible at the main lodge for all guests. And that was something that was included. Um behind the scenes, I also provided internet for the staff because that was really important um when you've got a a group of younger people isolated on an island in the middle of the French River, having internet to be able to watch TV, stream, communicate, all of that stuff um was uh was very important and and helped to um prevent issues um with uh with um uh staff unrest. And and uh that that really is something when you cut off communication um with the outside world, uh that that really is difficult on a lot of people. So behind the scenes, that was very important. But the thing that I always maintained right through until my last year was I was not going to provide internet to the cottages, not because I couldn't or um couldn't afford it or whatever, um, but because I believed that part of the experience that people were going to get and and in a lot of cases didn't know that they wanted until they got there was that ability to become unplugged. Because and and Chaudi Air was in a unique kind of spot because there's no cell service or very, very little cell service, and it just so happened that the only place that you could get cell service was at the main lodge and right out front of the main lodge on the on the rock that overlooked the river. And um uh so what inevitably happened that I saw my uh uh in the early days was you know, people wanted to be connected and needed to talk to people, had to make phone calls, you know, do whatever. So inevitably everybody had to come to the main lodge. And when that happened, people came to the main lodge, they were on the phone, they were doing their their emails, uh business, um, calling them their wives or husbands or however that worked, but it became a meeting place, and that meeting place um is a wonderful, wonderful thing for um for my business, for that business. Because the more people that interact with each other and the more people that start to build relationships with each other while at the lodge, the better it is for business. There's just no doubt about it. And um for that reason, that's one of the reasons, I I didn't extend internet to the cottages. I I wanted people, if they needed to use the technology, uh, the internet, um, their computers, their their, you know, I wanted them to be able to come to the main lodge. The other thing that started happening, um, just because of the situation that I was put in, there's no cell service. Um, and the only place in the beginning that I could that I that it was that I was able to have internet was at the main lodge, people would would start saying things like, wow, I I haven't played a board game with our kids in years. And um again, like the cottages, we we had board games in the main lodge, and if people wanted to use the board games or whatever, they were there. But the point of of this idea was, you know, as time progressed from 2009 when I bought it, um, that was really right at the beginning of of um phones being accessible to kids. And um and I think that when I was young, Gur, I guess, and and and we started with our kids um earlier in that decade, um the phones we tried to limit, limit them uh as much as we could. And basically, um none of our kids got cell phones until they were in um high school. Um actually, I shouldn't say that. Um I'm pretty sure with Rayburn and Mike Um it was high school, and then Maddie and Violet was grade eight because Melissa and I had a conversation, and um uh because they were allowed to leave the school we felt, I guess I should say, um, that um the the girls should have a phone so that uh we knew where they were if they needed something or whatever. Um there's another conversation there. I I like um I like giving kids a little bit of free reign, but in today's world it's uh it's something that um that's hard to do, you know. I was um an 80s kid, um, and um we had free reign to do a lot of different things that really couldn't happen today. But that's beside the point. The point is when families were coming with younger kids, the fact that the kids could not be on the phone and all of a sudden got really bored and um had to fill their time with different things, not only did it bring those families closer together um because they had to interact in a different way, i.e., play a board game, or go to the dock and fish, or go in a boat and fish, or get a guide, or you know, all of these things started stacking up. And um the simple fact that there were a lot of people expressing to me that not having access to the internet in the cottage was a was a benefit to them. And and morally for me thinking about it, being able to provide a situation where families were spending um more time uh doing family things that really don't happen as much as it should, um, that felt good to me. The the fact that we were providing a um, I'll call it a tech-free zone, um, as far as phones and and things that are in people's pockets that are so violently addictive and um uh require uh or or vie for your attention constantly, um, it really made me feel good. And I feel that it was a good business decision to not provide internet to the cottages. We did have um televisions and um uh DVD players and movies that we would rent in case somebody wanted to have a movie night or whatever and had a TV because we didn't we don't have TVs or didn't at the time. I don't think Craig has TVs there either, but there were no TVs in the cottages. Um it's uh it's a um an outdoor experience, if you will. And um being able to do that was part of my business plan. Now, there's always two sides to this story, and I did have people come up to me and say, you know, I would come here more often if I had internet access in the cottage because I could come up, I could work, I could do this, I could do that, then I could go fishing, you know, it would be great to be able to have um internet in the cottage. And um as luck would have it, there was one cottage that was close to the main lodge, the Oriel, and it did catch the Wi-Fi connection that we had. Um, but that was the only one. And a lot of those people were singles um on solo kind of um ventures or or couples, but never families. And um uh which is which is fine, but when I in my mind weighed out the um extra cost of of um uh powering or or lighting up the uh the 18 acres um in in internet, the fact that um that then everybody would have uh constant contact on the island uh and the negatives that I felt it brought, which are not having that that forced space without the device, um parents and kids uh always it was always a struggle, right? And um I wanted this to be, we'll call it a safe place, a safe place for parents to bring their kids, and there's there's no excuse, right? I'm sorry, uh guys, there's no internet here, so we're gonna have to play a board game or we're gonna have to go fishing, or you know what I mean? And um to me, that uh was uh was more important. But again, uh Matt and I would talk about all of the the people that that need it, and there's families out there that believe that they want it for their kids as well. Um but I think that when you come and you experience not having it as a family, it's um it's something that is very important. And if if there's the there's people out there listening in the diaries, family who have not um experienced a trip with your family, especially if you've got kids, without access to the internet, that is definitely something that you need to try. You need to you need to do. And a a northern setting um is perfect for for that, you know. And again, the whole area other than the main lodge uh at Chaudiere was I'm not gonna call it a tech-free zone, but an internet free zone, and for the most part, a self-service free zone, right? And just again, ladies and gentlemen out there, this might sound um um not so good, but um a lot of times I saw when we had corporate groups or we had um girl or guy groups, relationships today. Um, and and I'm one of those people that that know what it's like to not have to be in constant contact with your girlfriend, spouse, or parents or whatever, um, and kind of know what it's like to have to be like that now. Um, and what I mean by that is when I was young, I'd leave for a fishing trip for a week. There was no cell phones, or at least we didn't have any. Um, we would I would leave the phone number of the lodge with my parents and um um Melissa at the time, or before that when I was younger, just my my parents. And um basically for a week we were unplugged. Like I mean, and even if my parents wanted to get a hold of me, it was, you know, they would call could be a day lag, could be depending on where we were. So to experience total um being totally unplugged from the world gives you an experience where your total undivided attention is spread between half a dozen people or whoever you're with, um, another couple or two or three buddies or whatever that might be. Your undivided attention is spread between those people and those people only, and the quality of relationship that you can build with that person and those people, and the importance of having a um um having no worries in your mind about the stupid stuff that we see on our phone on a daily basis and not having not having any distraction from from your spouse or your girl or boyfriend or whatever on a sometimes I feel like uh there's people that are uh that that distraction is on an hourly basis, you know, and then you've got phones that track your your movements and and all of that stuff. It's it's a it's a very um it's a it's a it's a crazy world right now. And I think that has a lot to do with potentially, you know, mental issues and and the fact that um you just don't have any time to to number one decompress by yourself in your own thoughts, number two, have uh a space where you can you can genuinely give another human being your undivided attention. Um, how many times have you folks been out to dinner and you watch um and and hey, listen, I've been guilty of this too. Um your phone buzzes in your pocket, you're in the middle of a conversation with an old friend that you haven't seen in a long time, and that stupid phone goes off. And even if you can resist picking it up, even if you resist and leave that phone in your pocket, ringer's not on, it buzzed, your attention has been drawn away from the person that you should be paying attention to and to that phone. And I'll tell you what, 90%, and this is just a shot in the dark, but 90% of people can't resist it. They can't resist it. You walk into a uh uh uh restaurant and look around the room and just make note of how many phones are out in people's hands or on the table. So providing I I and and I think you can you feel my you feel my tone here. Um I do believe that that um having a place where you can unplug will help sell trips. I I just I believe that that's there. Now you always have to have a place where people can come to to connect these days. What I'm talking about on those old fishing trips, that is something that is so rare, and and for so many people, um, have they've never experienced it. And for those who have, it is such a difficult thing to find again. Um that it's uh it's something that is uh uh uh is being lost to the past. Um but again, I would suggest that if you've never experienced it, you need to get out and experience that, because that is one of the most important kind of trips, I think that you can do for yourself, for your family, or for the friends that that you want to to spend time with. And and maybe just maybe um remember or in some cases realize how important and how gratifying and how good it feels to go somewhere with somebody and not have that poking, prodding piece of equipment in your pocket that is constantly competing for your attention. Right. So that that kind of that kind of thing is is I I totally feel um that it it it helps and it's it's a business concept and something that that that can be and should be um embraced and marketed. Um and I did, I marketed it that way. The only place you can get internet is at the main lodge, everywhere else you're you're out of touch. And and back to my original point, um seeing the number of people come to the lodge and once they realized that there was no cell service and there was the internet, but um they could then tell their their significant others, boyfriends, girlfriends, whatever, that there's no cell service. Sorry, sorry guys. Um I'll uh uh this. Is the lodge number? Um, call me if there's an emergency. Otherwise, I'll see you on next week. I'll see you in three days. And the liberating feeling that I I watched people enjoy by not having to worry about constantly being in contact with other people was amazing. Really was. And uh stay connected with their friends. And, you know, a lot of times now it's connection with people through the phone and and a lot of people share their experiences for whatever reasons. Um, you know, we used to do that back in the day with cameras. Um, and actually cameras that you had to um take the film and have it developed, and then sit down and talk about your experiences with the friends that you have. And and in a in a a place where you can focus on one another, you know, it it's uh it's a it's not it wasn't a digital world and it is, but you need to have those those tech-free zones.
SPEAKER_04:Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola. And I'm Pete Bowman. 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, Angie 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_08:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors.
SPEAKER_07:From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing. Me and Garchomp Turk, and all the Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_09:The scientists. But now that we're reforesting and letting things, it's the perfect transmission environment to line.
SPEAKER_02:To chefs. If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for you will taste it.
SPEAKER_04: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.
SPEAKER_00: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 Oulette, 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.
SPEAKER_01:Now, on the other side of the coin as an operator, I was constantly looking for technical ways to improve the business. Um, and and you can look at um things like uh accounting software, you know, or booking software. Or I had Matt and and um a bunch of his buddies uh before I had um um internet throughout uh from the dock. I couldn't get internet down at the dock, but I wanted to have a uh portal down there that um we could um uh a commerce portal where you could issue fishing licenses and take payment for um uh anything in the sh in the shop store and and people could you know buy things and it would all go to the same system. So I had him install an intranet system, which is just basically a wired system, right? Um, so that's that that all of these technological advances that uh help to make the business smooth are totally like I was totally in in um favor of those. Um and again, uh it it it was things that helped the guest experience. A television in the um in the dining room. I had it on the front wall in the dining room, but not for tell not for for television shows. What we did um with digital pictures, and we could uh we could gather those pictures, we would have people um send them through their phone, um, again, which on in a lot of areas um on the river and uh on the island, it tr it truly was a camera and not a phone because they were out of cell service. But you take the picture, you come to the lodge where there's um where there's Wi-Fi, and then you can send those pictures to um to uh um actually Matt looked after it. He had uh yes, we sent them to Matt, and then Matt uploaded them onto the um uh television in the main lodge. So all of these photographs from the last couple of weeks of people that were there, right up to, you know, um, you send your pictures in today. There you can look at your pictures tomorrow on uh at breakfast. That technology was awesome. That brought people together. People were like, oh my God, that guy over there at that table, look at the fish he caught yesterday. You know, so that that was unbelievable technology. Um technology on the uh uh so you've got all that business side tech, um the uh the the web page, that is all things that that every good business owner needs to manage and constantly improve. Um, and then uh we were we we can talk about the the technology that was provided in the boats, in the guideboats, in the rental boats. All of the rental boats, um, well, when I first bought it in the cedar strips, there was no there were no um uh fish finders even. Um I think that there was at one time, but uh they were never they were put on, never replaced, they were broken, they were this, they were that. So I I very quickly uh provided GPS fish finders because on the upper French River the water is very difficult to navigate. Um it is fairly easy to get lost. It is a huge body of water when you start incorporating Lake Nipissing into it. And um that techno those technological advances in fishing technology were extremely important. Um and and it it it really helped um the guest experience, right? The the fact that they that that we could show people how to use a sonar um efficiently and have a GPS and we could show them how to navigate safely through the water, it made their experience a lot better, just in in these couple of simple ways. Number one, I remember what it was like when I went fishing and there was no GPS, there was and lucky to have a fish finder. I constantly would every five minutes if I was driving, not even five minutes, every time I thought about it, I would look behind me to see what the landscape looked like from that perspective. Because we got lost a few times, and getting lost on the water is such a shitty feeling. Like, I mean, it's it's because you you know that you might and back in those days we would go to say Key River on Georgian Bay. It was a big spot. Like, I mean, you make the wrong turn. You're you you could you're following shoreline for miles, like run out of gas far wrong turn. And um it it it was very important after getting lost and lucky and found, and you know, I'd be constantly looking behind me as I'm driving away. Because for those of you who don't know, when you're out on the water, especially in an area where there's lots of islands, there's there's lots of channels, there's different um um um um areas, and and um when you drive out, when you look at these irregular shorelines and islands and different things, when you're driving out, the perspective when you're driving back is totally different, like a thousand percent different. It's not like going on a road where you see you past the red house on the left, and then you you pass the the the farm on the right, and then when you turn back, oh, there's that farm I saw, there's that red house. No, no, not not anything like that. You know, you can you can look and you can pick out sometimes these big landmarks, but even the big landmarks that, oh, there's that big rock right there, or there's that tree leaning out over the water. When you turn around and come back the other way, they don't look the same. They don't look the same at all. And especially if you get a day where it's overcast or or um uh the sun is covered and you're not a hundred percent sure where the sun is, or you're at noon and the sun is really high and you're not sure which direction it's going, um shit starts looking the same, or at night, like God forbid you get lost at night, you know, and um um having that GPS on there and alleviating that whole problem. I remember, like, I mean, there was there was a couple of times where where I got um we got turned around, my buddy Eric and I. And um the the feeling of not being found and it getting close to dark and um uh close to running out of gas, man, oh man, what a what a bad feeling, you know. Um, and that GPS takes all of that away. For the most part, there's a few situations where you could get yourself in trouble again. And I always urge people use that technique, turn around, look behind you when you're driving away, even with the GPS, because if the battery runs dead, you got no GPS. If uh the the GPS malfunctions, you got no GPS. So then you have to realize you have to rely on on old school, right? So always keep that in mind, but having a proper GPS on there and educating guests on how to use it alleviated a ton of anxiety for people. Um, fish finders helping people and educating people with with sonar and showing them how to catch fish, right? The guides having proper um um technology, and that's a whole different topic um uh of one piece I am going to broach. But you know, all of the technology over the years that um uh that um um were advanced and how that changed um how we fish and how we show other people how to fish um was was amazing tech. Um I had uh I've got no problem with that. Although that kind of leads me into um the the I guess it's still a a new hot button topic when it comes to tech, and that's live scope. That's um that well, that is it's not just live scope, it is forward-facing sonar. And um, so many people have opinions on it. Um, but um my opinion on that is I really, really um like it. I love I I really love it. It's um it's a uh it's a technology that um um once you start to learn the technology, you don't just learn, you don't just see the fish and and um and go and get them. Because at the end of the day, you can see fish, but they won't bite. Um, you can be in a place and you can miss fish, even with that technology. Um, and and it could lead you down a path sometimes that um that uh that doesn't help. And and that and that specific situation happened last summer on a shoot at Buck Lake. Uh Dean uh Taylor and myself uh and Peter went uh went out to Buck Lake. And um we went there because John Moffitt, the owner, had told Peter and Ange about these massive walleye, and they were in a couple of different spots, and he kind of had the pattern figured out and this and that. And we went there and Dean and I took that forward-facing sonar into these fairly small spots and didn't see anything on the forward-facing sonar, and that skewed the way that we fished. Um, and and uh Peter actually went in behind us when I when when we got frustrated and finally said after a couple of days of pounding this spot, hey Pete, why don't you go in there and um and see if we missed anything? And uh and the whole time we had uh our cameraman Dean and I with us, and Peter was out in uh one of the tinners um from the lodge with uh GoPros and and um uh just the just um manning his own cameras. Well, Peter stole the show. It is probably one of the best walleye shows that I've ever seen. And Peter is the reason he had forward-facing sonar, but because and he's probably one of the best in the world using it, really. He he's a very modest guy and would never admit it, but he is he is an outstanding um user of the technology. But also, he has lived 95% of his fishing career without it. And just because he didn't see fish didn't mean he didn't fish it, and he fished it properly, efficiently, and he put together one of the most impressive walleye shows you'll ever see, and it is out. Uh, it aired a couple of weeks ago. Um, I urge you all to go and have a look at it. Um, Dean and I, the episode that we were supposed to do, you know what? We made it, we made it. We were if you look real hard, we were at the shore lunch. But so that that that's a testament to the fact that the technology doesn't always work, and um um with that technology, I learn so much. I learn so much about how fish react. I learn so much about the patterns, I learn so much about ecosystems and how they work. And can you abuse the system? Well, yeah, in some people's uh opinion, you you can, you can. And and we're starting to see, you know, um bass tours and muskie tours uh and tournament uh tournaments starting to limit the use of forward-facing sonar. And that's fine. That's fine too, but it's it's technology, and as technology um progresses, and it will, and it always will, again, it is up to the discretion of the people using the technology, right? Um, it's like it's like um taking cars, for instance, and people saying, you know, well, the there's uh car accidents and people are getting hit by cars, so let's ban cars. Well, that's really not the way that things work. Um and this technology is no different. Um we're seeing that that um people are starting to respect the technology, um, limit the technology, use the technology in in positive ways. And um I I I know that this is the most powerful technology to to hit the the market. Um but not like I mean there have been technological advances that made this much difference before, and everything is still good. Um with this technology, uh, again, um, it is not going anywhere. We need to focus more on on using it uh properly and um enjoying it to the uh and and and and I totally do. It is one of the biggest and best uh technological advances that I have ever seen, and I will continue to use it um to learn about ecosystems, to learn about what actually goes on, and to to help make myself a better angler and and and give people the the experience that you can give when you're when you're you're using it. Um so that technology is technology that I think is um great to use on these outdoor experiences, right? You can and and this is the last analogy I'm going to I'm going to um pull on on this topic. But for guides, um and I and I've been there and I've and I've done it. Um the most important thing that you can do as a guide is ensure that your guests have a wonderful experience no matter what, because the fishing is fishing, and sometimes you don't catch fish like you want to catch fish. But when you have live scope, and that goes that uh or or forward-facing sonar, that goes for that that that still stands true. Even with forward-facing sonar, you have bad days. You you do, but the difference is you can once you run out of telling stories, and that's always a very important part, is telling stories and things that have happened and historical uh um uh sites and and all of that stuff. But you can use that forward facing sonar to teach somebody about the ecosystem below the water like never before. You know, when you have sonar on the boat, um the The old story with the guide is oh they're here, they're here, I know they're here, right? And with sonar, for the most part, uh you've been we've been able to see them for for quite a while, but that story doesn't hold water anymore when you know your guide says, no, no, we just gotta wait, they're here, this and that. Because with forward-facing sonar, you see them. There's no question. And once you explain how to read that, your guests are are enthralled with what's going on down there and the structure that you can see down there and how it all works. And and, you know, just to be able to teach somebody a little bit about the ecosystem and the way fish react and how technology has has advanced, and and um it it's it's really something that um is a great tool for conversation, storytelling, and ultimately catching more fish. Because when you when you use it, you catch more fish. That's the bottom line. And when you catch more fish, you teach people about proper handling methods, you you um it you it's about resource management. And um that resource management is uh is key and and um um very, very important now more than ever. And uh, and uh I believe that um society as a whole has got very, very good at that resource management. Um so and and and you know that type of tech where you can implement it into your into your business plan um is huge. Um the other the other tech that uh that we always um look at is is you know um the technological advances in weather tracking and um in um um wildlife cameras, right? You can use that kind of stuff to help people integrate themselves into nature. Um it's always something that that um you should as an outdoor enthusiast, number one, and as a outdoor business, an operator, number two, be looking for for ways for people to integrate themselves into nature. Um and um any technology that can help do that. Like I mean, and I'm talking about something as simple as a telescope, right? Like having a telescope and um making that available when you're at these these places, these the these um uh northern resorts, um, you're typically in an area that's a dark zone, and um having the technology to to entertain people while they look at space is is a is a uh technological advancement that's amazing. Um so integrating those types of technological tools into uh a business are all perfectly, in my opinion, perfectly and um um important pieces of of um equipment that you can that you can um integrate into that business. The the technology that um that I believe needs to be limited uh is just the connectivity uh of uh of all of the of of the phones. Um that is the that is the one technology that I believe needs to be limited. And um and and there's a huge market for it. And I think it's a market, and a lot of people don't even know that they're yearning for it, don't even understand that they need it. So it's it's one of those things where um I always took a stand on that. Uh there was not gonna be internet past the main lodge. And um, I may have lost business, I may have gained business, but that was my stance. And um that's uh that's really the the way that I feel about uh that technology. So to to to circle back and and um answer the question that we posed off the top, um and that and and that question was um, are folks really craving a digital detox? And should that idea be part of a successful outdoor business plan? I believe that they are. I believe that people are craving that. And I and a lot of in a lot of cases, uh I think those people don't even know it, right? Um it's a it's it's an addiction. The phone in your pocket is an addiction, and it's something that that you don't have to break, but to be able to step away from it, whether it's it's forced by a parent taking you to a an outdoor place like um like Chaudiere, or whether it's something that somebody actively chooses to do because they know that it'll help their mental um their mental um status or their the the the the their mental health, just having that break, it is definitely um something that's real and something that most people should do is that digital detox. So I urge all of you folks out there um listening take the time this year to somehow, some way, somewhere with loved ones by yourself. Give yourself the space to digitally detox. Give yourself some space to focus on something without distraction of the devices that that we all have um and and really um consciously experience what that is like and let me know. Let me know. You guys all know how to get a hold of me. It's uh Steve.n at fishing canada.com and uh let's really see if if we um if if I'm on to something. Um uh let's see if it's something that uh you haven't thought about and uh never even considered trying, but you did, and what was the effect? Good, bad, and different, uh let me know. Anyway, folks, that brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner. Head on over to fishingcanada.com and get on the uh website, look around, see what you can see. There's so much information and great stuff, including all of the um the new episodes that have already aired this year. Uh check those out. And um you can also um uh buy a ton of stuff, you know. Uh there's no diary stuff there yet, but uh hey, if I uh if uh if people are looking, let me know. I've got uh I've got some uh some merch as well. And uh thank you, thank you, thank you for getting to this point in the show. I want to thank our uh our producers, as usual, Dean Taylor and Anthony Mancini. And now, thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North.
SPEAKER_03:I'm a good old boy. Never meaning no harm. I'll be the whole you ever saw. I've been reeling in the hog since the day I was born. Bendin my bra. Someday I might on the lodge and how to be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how working hard and sharing the north with all of my plows. But I'm a good old boy. About a large and live my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Back in 2016, Frank and I had a vision to amass the single largest database of muskie angling education material anywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_05:Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this amazing community and share it with passionate anglers just like you.
SPEAKER_06:Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly grew to become one of the top fishing podcasts in North America.
SPEAKER_05: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_06: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.