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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 142: A Lodge Owner’s Playbook For Weather And Growth
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Spring at a Northern Ontario fishing lodge can feel like two different worlds at once. We’re watching flood water threaten roads and docks around the French River and Lake Nipissing, while up near Kenora the ice is still hanging on and every plan depends on wind, rain, and when the system finally opens up. That push and pull sets the tone for a candid lodge-owner conversation about preparation, risk, and the messy reality behind a smooth guest experience.
Willie “The Oilman” joins me fresh off an 11-day Louisiana fishing adventure, and the stories are as useful as they are wild. We get into bull redfish in brackish bayou water, why the slip bobber and live shrimp bite is so violent, and how the Everglades-style maze of reeds changes everything from casting to boat control. Then we zoom out to what really matters to operators: how a place like Captain Allen’s Native Adventures runs hospitality, pricing, cabins, meals, and service in a way that makes people want to return.
From there, we talk fishing lodge marketing and power networking the kind that actually moves the needle. Cross-promotions, partnerships, and helping “competitors” when they’re short on staff or supplies can protect the whole region and keep standards high. We finish on team building, cross-training, and the leadership challenge of matching the right staff personalities to the right guests, plus a few hard-earned kitchen and dining room lessons.
If you like fishing stories with real business insight, hit subscribe, share this with a lodge buddy, and leave a review so more anglers can find the show.
They do the American plants thing where they cook for you. So you can do both. You can cook for yourselves or or or they'll take care of you. So we kind of did both. We cooked for him one night and then uh to treat him, and then the other two nights he cooked. Well, man, he showed me a real way to do a boil. It was incredible. Like they had 150 pounds of blue crab that they just caught, 75 pounds of shrimp, 75 pounds of products. And that whole tabletop was two inches full of high two inches high of food. Chunks of corn. There was alligator sausage. There was regular beef sausage cut up. There was vegetables of all kinds. It was it was like a stew but a boil. It was amazing.
SPEAKER_04This week on the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Networks, Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the North. I'm joined today by the one and only Willie the Oil Man, owner of Two Rivers Lodge in Kenora. And he's fresh off a Louisiana fishing adventure, where he explored how others run their lodges, bringing new insights back to the north. On this show, we talk about the flood waters in my stomping grounds, the French River, Lake Nipissing, and Central Ontario, and what that means for the season ahead. From weather challenges to preparation, it's all part of our northern reality. So if you're interested in how we adapt, grow, and swap ideas from Kenora, Louisiana, and the French River, stick around. Willie and I have plenty of business ideas and tales from all shores. Here's our conversation with Willie the Oilman. Welcome, folks, to another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner Stories of the North. And uh we have a great friend of the show on, a favorite to all, a great buddy of mine, Willie the Oil Man.
SPEAKER_01Stevie, good morning, buddy.
SPEAKER_04How you doing?
SPEAKER_01Buddy, I'm I'm awesome. I uh I couldn't be better, to be honest with you, right now.
SPEAKER_04Well, we haven't had a lot of time to catch up uh in the last little while, and there's a bunch of stuff that's gone on. So uh why don't we uh why don't we start talking about it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_04How's the lodge, first of all?
SPEAKER_01The lodge is stressful right now because you like you guys are under uh flood warnings everywhere, pretty much from from like Nippagon south. I've seen on the weather.
SPEAKER_04It's not good, especially in um in um West Nipissing, which is my township. Um the uh the north of uh Lake Nipissing has uh had serious floods. I know I was uh talking to uh Scotty Hamp yesterday, and uh Scotty and Jill run uh Craig Purcell's Lodge, uh Lake Obavaca Lodge. Yeah, and um the uh the road, I think it's 507 that goes in there. Uh it's it's flooded, and uh the the one of the main bridges is washed right out. So yeah, they have no idea when they're gonna get in.
SPEAKER_01Wow. So yeah, we've been watching that setup, that that what's going on there, and it's horrible. We're in the exact opposite end of the spectrum. So it's like as soon as you hit Thunder Bay and and go head northwest or north, we have had a very cold spring. Like I could right now out my window, um, like I'm looking at a bay of ice still everywhere.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So my so my lake where my home is is on Black Sturgeon Lake, which is like a tributary off of Lake of the Woods and the Winnipeg River, like kind of spills into it. But we have a really warm body of water, lots of vegetation. That's why we get large mouths. I'm one of the only lakes with largemouths up here, and that's why we get them. But along with that comes an early spring, usually always my bay is one of the first to go out, and there's current all around us, and we haven't said nothing. There's probably still eight inches of ice. So we actually went up to the lodge last week, and we crossed the ice. No, no, no, no. We it's we wanted to see because they open up the dams, right? Because we're we're the lake is pinched between two points. When they open, we should be one of the first ones to ever get to a camp because it's flowing in there pretty good, right? Yeah. So there's open water, the dams are moving in the rivers, but the lake portion right in front of my lodge where it dumps in was still froze. So it's supposed to be today's 12, tomorrow's 14, the next day's 18. They're supposed to get 30 mils of rain in the next two days. So that helps.
SPEAKER_04Need to add a little bit of wind in there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, and wind, and wind. Yeah. So I think our plan should be Adam's probably gonna go in with one of the boys, one of the crew on on Friday. Try and they'll just push the rest of the road with the plow, and we'll take a little G3 and try and get into camp. And and they should be able to make it. They might have to bust some ice on the shore just to pull up, but they should be okay.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, for for me, um, we've got the island up there on the upper French. And uh a buddy of mine, Mark Plant, sent me pictures last week when uh I was on a golfing trip, actually, and he's got a buddy on the lower French, and the water on the lower French is as high as it's ever been. Like, I mean, it was right up to his the steps of his cottage, which is crazy high. And I was like, oh my god, if it's bad down there, it's gotta be bad on Nipissing. So I got on the phone with uh Bud from the marina, and Bud said it wasn't terrible, and then Terry from the Tilted Toque, who's got uh a lodge right across from the ice.
SPEAKER_01What a wicked name, the Tilted Toque.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Used to be Casablanca Lodge, but Terry rebranded it and he he did a good job. Uh he's got a live camera on the end of uh his dock, and it looks as though the ice is pretty much gone and the water is level with his dock, which is about, you know, probably a foot and a half, two feet high, uh, which isn't bad. But the real concern is there's still a shit ton of snowpack in the bush north of Nipissing. All of this flooding that's happening is north of Nipissing, and all of that water has got to go into Lake Nipissing at some point. It's it's getting there slowly but surely. But what that means is the peak of this flood probably isn't gonna happen for another month. And um, I'm looking to head up there this weekend and take some more barrels to to stack on top of the barrels I've got on the dock, yeah. Right? To to try and and and hold everything together.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. For sure. So yeah, we're we're on I it's kind of a risky thing right now, our situation, because we we don't uh physically in Kenora, we didn't have a heavy snow year. I would say we had an average snow year.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But just north of us, so from where my old lodge was all the way to Red Lake, where Andrew is, they they got it's five and a half feet still on the ground all day. All day. So and that's all gonna dump into Sewell, which comes to me, right? So we're actually hoping for when Adam was there, the water looked a little a little low, but only the one dam was open right now. They didn't have the Winnipeg portion up yet, which I'm assuming is gonna come once the runoff from Lake of the Woods comes. So I think we might be in a situation where we might be like low to average, and then all of a sudden within two weeks, we can, you know, we could come up 10 feet, right? So we're preparing for that, and we hope so because at the same time, our barge will be in a better situation, yeah. Um, yeah, so we're just kind of preparing for that. We're actually we're staging some barrels, some fuel this week. Um, my guides are chomping at the bit. Everyone's you know how it is right now. Everyone's calling. Oh, yeah. When are we going? When are we going? When are we going?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, want to get fishing and get guests in the boat, so which is super cool. Um, we got a really awesome team, which I've talked about before on here. Um, so I'm glad to see them all come together. We've just put in the last couple pieces together for that, for them to show up. And you know, everything's kind of we're kind of on standby this week, I guess. I I picked up my new boat. We picked up, we ordered um the rest of our fleet is though are those G3s with the 60 Yummies. And then we picked up one uh based on your experience and knowledge. I've heard you talk about them forever, those Lend Alaskans. So I picked up one of them too, uh, with a 70. Johnny, Cowboy Johnny's gonna run that one. Nice. And we're gonna see uh is it a tiller or is it a single console? Tiller. Tiller, nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's pretty much it, man. We're just getting ready.
SPEAKER_04I know. I the the thing that worries me about where I'm at on nipissing. Well, we're the upper French, but it's basically part of nippusing. If you can imagine a bathtub, right? And then you've got, say, an inflow into that bathtub that's about the size uh, oh, it'd be maybe six inches wide, because it's it's there's not a whole lot of inflow. Yep. And then you've got the same size coming out of that bathtub on the other end that's about six inches wide. There's two huge bottlenecks, and that's what's happening right now. Yeah so all of that water to the north is bottlenecking, and then on nippusing down into the lower fringe, they're already way past max capacity. So the dam going out will not open. And uh, because you know, when you when if you can imagine an inch on the top of a bathtub, when you put all of that water through a little six-inch hole, the the the the one inch equals one foot down on the bottom.
SPEAKER_01The weight of the water alone, the force would be incredible at that port at that spot, right?
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah. Well, they've got the dams, right? There's one free-flowing channel, Scotty and I were talking about it the other day. It'll be pissing out there like coming out the end of a hose when you put your thumb on the bottom of it. Oh, it'll be tearing trees out down that down that chute. Like it'll be loading banks.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_04Oh, it'll be crazy. Yeah, so it's gonna be an interesting spring, no doubt.
SPEAKER_01Well, hopefully, uh hopefully Craig's camp and Scotty and them over there. Hopefully, everything's okay for them. Hope they get in there.
SPEAKER_04Well, that that that that it's twofold for for Craig, right? He's got a place on the on the lower French, so he's got uh huge high water down there to deal with. He's got the road washed out at Obabaca, and he's got uh Chaudier, which um which again is going to be affected. Like I say, I would uh in my experience, I think that uh we've got another month before it peaks. And it could, like, I mean, we had a 50-year flood about five years ago, and uh that was uh I I poked the my my Alaskan right into our dockhouse where where you know where we where the store used to be when Craig owned it. We've got big double doors, and I I drove, I drove the boat right into the shop, you know. So it could be it could be um a very trying spring. And that year, the way that Craig dealt with it, which I thought was brilliant, um, he bought about 10 of those picnic tables that you put together, wooden picnic tables, yep. And put them all on the dock. And that was the deck. So he was pulling boats up to the dock up beside a picnic table, and people were jumping out and walking across the tops of the picnic tables to get to the shore to get to the shore.
SPEAKER_01That's deadly. That's awesome. Oh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I I certainly hope that's not the case this year, but you gotta improvise, right?
SPEAKER_01That's how she goes.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's just the way, right? And at least that they've got dual purpose, right? So he's got a bunch of brand new picnic tables in the uh in the um picnic area where they do the the shore lunches. So yeah, no, it's uh it's gonna be a crazy spring, unfortunately.
Deciding To Run South
SPEAKER_01So we uh so in the midst of now, we had some downtime. We're ready to rock. But two weeks ago, I've had this these guests that are bugging me for years to come now, in a good way bugging me. You know, they got uh they got places down, one has a place in the bayou, one's got one in Texas on this great bass lake, couple buddies down in Florida that so me and Adam just decided let's screw it. Like we got nothing else on the goal, let's jump in the in the truck and let's go.
SPEAKER_04When was this?
SPEAKER_01So we left uh let me check the date. I think it was like I think we left the fifth, fourth, the fourth, and I was back on the 15th. So I was gone for 11 days.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_01So what we did was we drove, so we left Kenora, and instead of going through International Falls, Minnesota, we wanted to like hit the Bible belt going down, right? Like Mississippi and and and uh and um um Lincoln, Nebraska, uh, Oklahoma. I wanted to hit those places because I'm a redneck, right? So I wanted to see that shit. Yeah, I could care less about going to New York City and Vegas and LA. I give a shit about that. So we came through North Dakota. Well, as soon as we crossed into the States, man, there was like a massive snowstorm. Like, so I had studs on my tires, on my big uh truck tires, and I was like, I was concerned that I was gonna get down there and getting shit for it, right? Like pulling into New Orleans with studs on your tires, right? But what am I gonna do? Because I need them here still, right? Like we're rice, we're running the ice still, right? So I kept them on. Well, thank goodness I did because we hit the border and that snow, there was plows upside down. By the time I hit South Dakota, there were plows upside down in the ditch. There were four vehicles behind me, and that was the only convoy that I saw going. I think the highway was closed, and we were just stupid Canadians and didn't stop. So we just powered right through, right? We got uh it was like 14 hours driving the snow, then it stopped. So we made another couple hours and we stopped at Lincoln, Nebraska. Um, I wanted to stop there because that's that was that's an important place to me. That's where Rex introduced me to those. Rex Burkhead introduced me to those uh people with Team Jack. Oh, yeah, um, with the little boy that has brain cancer. And so we actually got to stop and see them, and we've never met them before, and that made that was well worth my whole trip alone. Awesome just to do that. Um, yeah, so we spent the night in Laken, Nebraska. Pretty crazy place, like uh it's real redneck. I'm no, I don't mean crazy like that. I mean like it's like stepping back in time.
SPEAKER_05Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_01In the United States, for sure. It would be one of those places. Beautiful. So we uh we got up the next day, continued on, went through Oklahoma, uh northwestern Mississippi, Arkansas. You know, we stopped and saw, you know, the where the Razorbacks play, and all just different things we wanted to see, the home of Toby Keith, right? That kind of stuff. And then we hit uh so just between Dallas and Houston, there's a place called Lake Conroe. I guess it's closer to Houston. But Lake Conroe has uh a couple guests of mine, uh Mike Mattenberg uh and Rory. Uh they they live right there on the lake. And they've been bugging us for years to come down bass fishing. Well, they got bass, they got stripers, blue cats, alligator gar. So uh we went out with them and we caught some bass, got some stripers, a couple blue cats, nothing big, no big bass. Like the night before a guy caught an 11-pounder, right? Like right in the same area, too, which was kind of crazy. But um, our biggest bass was like three and a half pounds or something. They weren't big.
SPEAKER_05That's okay.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it was a blast, right? It was 90 degrees and sunny, right? So uh we continued on, you know, and did some dinners and whatnot. And then uh our friend Rory, so he used to be um he was a lobbyist, and he actually was with um Bill Clinton when he was in this presidency. And at one point, he was a U.S. city senator. So this guy is really he's really into the United States. He is a big American, he is really into like Americans are in the military. This guy is like next level.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So he takes us to this place and it's a breakfast cafe. And it's you know, you would never know it's a restaurant. It looks like a museum, right? It's called uh Dubby's Cafe or something like that. So we walk in and like there's like a full armored tank in this restaurant. Like, stop that. So uh the movie Lone Survivor. Do you remember that movie where those four those four um Navy SEALs hike up that mountain in Afghanistan, and the young kid comes up with the goats and they they find them, and the Taliban's down below, right? And they so they released them because they don't want to hurt the innocent people, but they run back to the Taliban and then they all died, but one. Well, that guy in that movie lives in this town. No way, and he's at the place. Really? Yes, yes, it was insane. Like, so we got chatting with him, we got chatting with these other people, and I was in there for two and a half hours. Like, it was wild. There was a guy coming, he had like a patch, like Captain Black on his eye, he was a Navy SEAL, and this guy was like like you want to think Rex was ripped when I saw Rex take his shirt off at my lodge and go for a run, or not even close. These guys, they are like they're like bronze steel, man. Like broad steel, it's crazy. Like so, anyways, it was one of the coolest things I've done. I I took a bunch of pictures, I'll have to send you some. Super, super cool atmosphere. Um, so yeah, so we we were done with Rory and Mike, and I guess the highlight of our trip was supposed to be going to, and it was, but um, going over to the bayou in Louisiana and going fishing for giant red bulls.
Bull Redfish And Bayou Tactics
SPEAKER_04Oh, nice. And so explain to the listeners what are giant red bulls.
SPEAKER_01So a redfish, when they get over 27 inches, they call they're classified as a bull. From 17 to 27's a slot. So over that 27 inches. They're no, they're like um, they're like a small, they they feel and look kind of like a smolly, but they're a little paler. And they would have a body of kind of like a tarpon, I guess you could say. Same style. But pound for pound, they're known to be like a small mouth like that, like like someone of the hardest fighting fish in the world.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I tell you, dude, I've never felt like I've caught I've caught an eight-foot surgeon, you know, I've caught 200-pound Marlin and tuna. It wasn't even close. Like this thing. So, so here's the setup. So when you're fishing for these things, you you sometimes you go deep, majority of the time you don't. Over by like Florida and stuff, the water's clear, so you can sight fish them. That's where you see those guys with the big poles. Yeah, yeah. And they're like bone fish. Kind of thing, kind of thing. Yes. What we were doing was different. So it's really, really murky and muddy water over in the bayou. Because the so we were right where the Mississippi dumps in. Like I I crossed the Mississippi River in a John boat 50 times and back and forth through the Everglades. So what you do is they they cruise the Everglades and they're look for bait. And when they find bait, they step back and then they put on a it's like a slip bobber. Okay. Yeah. With like a two foot lead on it and and a jig head. They call it a j hook down there, but it's a jig head. And you grab a shrimp, like a real shrimp in a bucket, grab it by the back, and you put the the jig head through the back towards the tail, and up just like you're hooked in the middle, but you hook the shrimp in the back.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So he he's got a trolling motor. So these boats are like they're like oversized John boats. Like there's there's skeeters, there's rangers, they're super nice. But they're a flat bottom boat. And so he's like, he's like with the trolling motor, he'll just creep up to this, like I guess you could say it would be like a reed patch in the middle of a bay, but it's really you're in the Everglades and there's reeds everywhere. Like I had no idea where I was with a GPS, you'd be screwed. It would be like driving in the rocks up here on Lake Nuts. So what you do is he's he'll just watch and watch and watch, and then he'll still be like, okay, boys, right there. Just like us with a live scope, right? Right there. And he and you'll pitch into the weeds, right? So you want to be like, you gotta be good at casting. And it takes you, if you're not a good caster, you gotta get good fast because the bobber slapping the water will spook them. So you throw it right by the reeds. Like I'm talking like six inches to an inch away from the from the weeds, and it'll kind of hit the weeds and roll down, or that'll stop the the slap on the water a bit being that close to them. And that's where they kind of hover and hide. They kind of are hide. Sorry, they kind of sit in the shade in these pockets. So you pitch in there and then kind of like a jerk bait. And I've never seen this with a bobber, but you slap it, boom. So you don't pull it back to you, you just slap it on the water. So the top of the bobber has like a piece of brass on the top, and when it hits the water, it goes ping, ping, ping. So like I'm slapping it, boom, boom, boom. Just like just like you're working a big muskie bait, and then a wave comes in the water, and it's like right now. And I it's not like a muskie where like a muskie will like follow. No, it's like when they see that shrimp and they hear that sound, it's 90 miles an hour on your line, and it's like and I'm like, so like the first one I caught was like 23 inches, it was small, man. Like, and it took me like 20 minutes to get this thing in the bowl. No way, but and it's and it's shallow, like everywhere we fished, we were running 60 miles an hour in a foot and a half of water. No, every yes, buddy. Everywhere I went was foot and a half to three feet max, max. So it's kind of crazy, right? Like you're whipping around these corners with the Everglades are like like these, they're 10 feet high, these weeds, and you can't seed shit.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So your butthole puckers up a bit, right? When you come flying around a corner at 60 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, hoping somebody else isn't coming the other way.
unknownRight?
SPEAKER_01Oh man. So that's what a redfish is. We we we caught some reds.
SPEAKER_04Um did you get any big ones?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yep. We got uh we got a 27, a 28 and a half. Adam got the biggest. Adam got Adam got one when it was like 36. It was fuck, it was huge. It was huge. A 40 is like a 50-inch muskie here. That would be the same kind of class. Comparison, right? Correct. We're gonna throw a 30-inch walleye, right? So we got some bulls. Uh Adam did I'm getting the biggest one. It was deadly. We caught some cool stuff that we caught stingrays, we caught, we caught so because the water is brackish, and for people that don't know what that means, brackish water is where the salt water, the fresh water and the salt water mix right there. So, so largemouth being like you can put a largemouth in a in in three feet of mud and it'll still live for two days. You know what I mean? They don't take a lot of oxygen like a walleye would or a muskie would. Um so there's you know, there's down there, it's similar. So the back, large mouth, there's largemouth everywhere down there. It was crazy. Um, the tides are no, they're small. Okay. I would say like a foot, yeah, max. It wasn't very, very much. It wasn't. I was explaining to them the fundy where you go. Yeah, and I was telling them about those trip trips for the stripers out east, and and they were amazed. They were like, I can't believe it goes that high. And I'm like, Yeah, like and I showed them videos, ones you'd sent me.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, super cool. But yeah, so um we caught some stingrays, like I said. We caught some some we a little bit a little bit of everything. Croaker, um, there's another drum. The drum down there are huge, like, and people eat them.
SPEAKER_04Are they like the drum here?
Lodge Lessons From Captain Allen
SPEAKER_01Uh, I think you can. I I don't know if I would, but yeah. Just mentally, because I'm a weirdo like that. Oh, I've eaten drum. I don't know if I can. Oh, I think I heard the drum story on here. Oh yeah. Yeah. So yeah, we um but the I guess the most unique part though was like the setup. So Captain Allen is the is the place that's called Native Adventures, is the place I went to. You got actually you gotta get him on here for a show. He is a beauty, like this guy. He's been he's been guiding redfish down there for 40 years. And he's got 16 cabins. They kind of look like they kind of look like a barn lofted. Uh, two bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs, one bathroom upstairs, one downstairs. Great little setup. Uh, really nice. They do the American plant thing where they cook for you. So you can do both. You can cook for yourselves or or or they'll take care of you. So we kind of did both. We cooked for him one night and then uh to treat him, and then the other two nights he cooked. Well, man, like he showed me a real way to do a boil. Like, like I'm talking, like the girl bringing him the catfish and the stuff had no teeth, and she had suspended, she had overalls on with a bra. I was like, yeah, that's a fucking redneck right there. That is awesome. So, so me and Adam sat there and they showed us how to do this boil, and we actually helped them. It was incredible. Like, they had 150 pounds of blue crab that they just caught, 75 pounds of shrimp, 75 pounds of um crawdats. Really?
SPEAKER_04Oh, you sent me the pictures.
SPEAKER_01Correct. It was it's like that thing was my my dining room table seats 10 people. It's probably three-quarters the size of yours now. And that whole tabletop was two inches full of high two inches high of food, chunks of corn, there was alligator sausage, there was regular beef sausage cut up, there was vegetables of all kinds. It was it was like a stew, but a boil. It was amazing. Um, there was 20 of us. Nice. Yeah, and he's so he's got a big pressure cooker, too, right? And he and and he just puts this under pressure, makes this boil, adds everything here and there. You know, the steps were pretty crazy to to do. Um, but it was unique to see. Then the second meal he did was they took all the kinds of fish from down there, whether they're cats or or reds or or tuna, everything. And they made every fish that they that they target in a different way. So they did black and tuna, they did white tuna, they did breaded tuna, they did snapper, they did everything that you're gonna eat. And that was super unique too. So it's like a giant, it's just like a giant smortgage board of fish for the fish. Super cool, man. The alligator, so like I've never seen an alligator before, it's not in the zoo. Yeah, I just haven't, right? Like so we get there, and he has a river that connects to the Mississippi. It's like a creek channel, I guess. And that's where his like shore lunch area would be, and this eating area. Well, they also have the fish cleaning area because everyone likes to see these guys clean all these fish when they come in from the ocean, right? So they clean the fish, and then after that, while the girls are preparing and the dinner and so on and so forth, they feed the gators. So there's like eight-foot gators coming up and grabbing, like, like they're holding the fish like this, and they'll come right out of the water and grab that piece of meat and wrestle it out of the guy's hands.
SPEAKER_04No way. I would worry about my hands.
SPEAKER_01It was I was I was like, Why are you doing that? Don't be stupid. And he's like, You're calling me stupid. He's like, You run around in the woods with wolves, bears, cougars, lynx, a moose that can everything that can kill you, and you're calling me crazy. I was like, I never really thought about it like that, right? Because it's just something we do in Canada, right? So but yeah, I know it was crazy. We there was one time, Steve, like I was casting a throwing a whopper plopper, and I'm like ripping this bone whopper plopper across the top, and this gator comes out from nowhere to grab the bait. So I'm like stinging it back into the bait caster, and it was like picking up speed. It was the gator looked like it was running on water to catch my bait. Thank God it didn't. I'm like, what the frig am I gonna do if this thing bites this bait? You're gonna lose it. Goodness. Yeah, it was uh it was super cool. Native Adventures is the guy's name, Captain Allen. We gotta get him on your show. He uh he is a beauty.
SPEAKER_04Do you have any idea how much it would cost somebody to do that?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So so it was 1800 bucks American, and that was four nights and three days of fishing. So we went out fishing at like we would get up at five, you gotta be on the water by quarter to six, six the latest, because you gotta once it hits two o'clock there, like you can't, it's too hot, right? Like you just you can't even stand in the boat, your freaking flip-flops melt to the bottom of the boat, kind of stuff, right? So the fish don't want to, they're not feeding in that weather, right? And you can tell, like, once it hits that certain water temperature, everything dies. The birds they hunker down in the weed, like they go in the Everglades and they'll just hide in the shade. The only thing that comes out is the gators, the sun. That's it. Um, yeah, native adventures.com. Um, I'm actually have my people rebuilding his website right now because it sucked. And uh his business was one of the best I've ever seen. He the way he runs it is uh it's super elite. He is a family place. It reminded me of you at Chaudiere. You know what I mean? The way that I I envisioned that with you there. Very much the same, a very much a family-oriented place that I've always wanted. Same kind of thing that we tried to do at Nordic, and that we will uh are doing here at Two Rivers. Um and that means something to him, right? He's been there a long time, and he'll tell you when you get him on the show here that you know none of that, none of that, none of that other shit matters except for the guests, and that they want to come back at the end of the day. And if they don't, I I would be ha you know, he'd be hurt because it's a personal attack for him, yeah. Personal business. And yeah, and um, and that's how much drive he has and passion. This guy, you gotta, he's a beauty. He's a beauty. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And he's a guest of yours.
SPEAKER_01He is, he is. He's uh he comes up with Richard Hoffman and those guys, buddies of mine from Chicago that'd been fishing with me from years. Yeah, he comes up with them. So we're gonna go, we're gonna go back down next year, but we're gonna do a start, we're gonna do a little bit different. We're gonna go to Florida, see some friends in Naples and so on, over kind of where you were too, and then bang back across to Louisiana, and then we're gonna go over to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and then back up because Chris has never seen any of that, right? So yeah, it'll be kind of cool. Yeah, yeah. He's coming up to the lodge, he's bringing another uh one of the guides from down there, he's bringing up. He's coming up in August, which is super cool.
SPEAKER_04Awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's quite an adventure.
SPEAKER_01It was, buddy. It was uh it was one of those things like you know, everyone wants to see the mountains or Niagara Falls and all, you know, those things they see, but it's not something that I guess a lot of people that I've talked to have dreamed of, right? Going to the bayou, and I never really thought about it until I had the itch to go. And it was super cool, super unique. Super unique. Yeah, and then we uh yeah, then we we boogied home, like we just we just kind of wanted to get home then because now we're we're ready to get ready for the season. That was the end of the end of the off season, you know, and into the new season kickoff, right?
SPEAKER_04So well that's uh that's great. That's uh that's an amazing way to to you know end the season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was pretty epic. I was uh and Adam. So Adam's never left Kenora. Like he he's flown to the Dominican twice with his wife, I think, but he's never traveled, he's never been outside of Winnipeg, he's never been as far as Thunder Bay. Like, really, he's never left 300 square kilometers in his life. And here I am, dragging him all over the U.S. in these wild scenarios. We went down to Bourbon Street, obviously, where Mardi Gras is. You gotta go to Bourbon Street.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Bourbon Street, I went to the oldest bar in North America. It was in 1704, it was built. And it was built as a bar and a brothel.
SPEAKER_04And which it still is today.
SPEAKER_01Pretty much. Pretty much that, and there's an Italian place attached to it, but like it's a staple on Bourbon Street, this place. Super cool. Like 200 years old, man. Like, we're and you can tell, like when you're in there, you can tell it's 200 years old. Awesome. But they've kept it unique and it's super cool.
SPEAKER_04Very good. That's a that's a great trip for everybody. That I'm putting it on my bucket list, right?
SPEAKER_01Right? Well, you'll have to meet me down there. That's what we should do. That's what we should do.
SPEAKER_04Just pick me up on the way.
SPEAKER_01100%. Yeah. 100%.
SPEAKER_04Welcome to Two Rivers Lodge, where we know that our hard work and determination creates your best experiences. You'll arrive as a guest but leave as family. Surrounded by a multi-species fishing mecca, like no other. Our elite cabins and professional staff are ready to make your stay unforgettable. Experience the difference. Because the two rivers, every cast is a story, and every guest is a part of the family. 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.
SPEAKER_05That's right. Every Thursday, Ann and I will be right here in your ears, bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio.
SPEAKER_04Hmm. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week?
SPEAKER_05Well, you know there's gonna be a lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_09I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
SPEAKER_09We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors.
SPEAKER_00From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing. Me and Garchomp Turk, and all the Russians would go fishing.
SPEAKER_09The scientists. Now that we're reforesting or anything, it's the perfect transmission environment for lion.
SPEAKER_10Chefs. If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated for you, you will taste it.
SPEAKER_04And 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.
SPEAKER_05Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Golf Trip Then Power Networking
SPEAKER_01How's um how was your trip? You went to Florida, you said, eh?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I went golfing with uh 12 of my closest buddies, and uh it was great. Our uh our uh commissioner uh Jason Newmaster, newe, he he did a great job uh matching everybody up because we've got golfers that range from you know 120 right through one one of the fellas hit a 77 the one day.
SPEAKER_08What?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, oh yeah. We we've got uh PGA stuff, man. Well, we've got guys that uh at least four or five of the guys were hitting in the 80s and and um low 80s. 77 was the best round. I think that was the only one that broke uh that broke into the 70s, but then you've got me. I I was ranked 11th.
SPEAKER_01But the way he was I probably would have been both right behind you this way. Oh yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04The way he does it, um uh he pairs you up. We had a two-man scramble, and and it was just a great, great time. You know, uh we golf every day, and the weather was unbelievable. Not a cloud in the sky for the six days we were there, and it ranged from 25 to 32 degrees. It was uh it was unbelievable weather, and uh just a great time, really good time.
SPEAKER_01That that's a place. So, for the lodge owners or people that are thinking about getting into this industry, I I think you guys have all heard me talk about marketing and power marketing, and now power networking is a huge one, right? Like, so that was kind of another reason I went is because this okay, so I would say 80% of my business has been built off of me introducing people to people and introduce people introducing me to them on the networking end. Yeah, it really has been, and so I was there two days, you know. Captain Alan C is like this guy knows what he's talking about, and this guy, he's a beauty because he's he's thinking of that of me, and I'm thinking that of him, right? Um, he's a people's guy, he knows the business, he can talk the talk, right? He can he can make you feel without even going there, he can make you feel like you're already there. So he approached me and he wants to work together.
SPEAKER_04Oh, that's great.
SPEAKER_01And and I thought that was fantastic since he's been, you know, he's running like almost 2,000 guests through there a year. I'm gonna put 530 through this summer, which is incredible for our air little area. But like he dominates what I do. You know what I mean? Like he does it year-round. So we're going to, yeah, he's gonna uh put a couple pop-up banners, one in his office, one down in the in the eating area where they cook. I'm gonna do the same, put one in my main lodge, put one in my office, and just a hyperlink on our websites, but you know, and and I think that should do some attraction to both of us, you know. I have the same kind of clientele he wants, and uh vice versa. So anyone out there, like that's that's a major thing, right? When you when you're thinking and you meet people, you know, it's not a take advantage of the situation thing, it's a reality, right? And in in networking is business in a lot of cases, and and and and that man approaching me could take that to a next step. Florida is another one, Cabo St. Lucas is another one. Those are two other areas, Naples, Florida, and Cabo St. Lucas, where I'd love to have somebody down there repping us, whether it be a banner or a billboard just outside their place or something where, like, just imagine having a billboard for something in Canada down in the Cabo St. Lucas Marina.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Now, 95% of the people that look at it aren't even gonna look at it because they don't care. But the 5% that are fishermen, everybody is gonna look at that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? And when they see a 55-inch muskie hole in there with a 30-inch wall and some beautiful short hunch and some elite cabins, there's a good, good chance that they're gonna look at your website, yeah. Right? So that's kind of my next growth area is in that international realm that way. That's kind of where I've decided to go. We're already busy enough. We're gonna do the one show we did last year again just to continue, but but um, as we've said before, they were more for marketing. You know, you don't it's not like you go there and book a whole bunch of stuff just because the reality of it is.
SPEAKER_04And the thing is, too, what you said uh this year, like you're in you're in a a whole different category, especially for after your first year. You said, Yeah, we had um we had uh two more shows booked, uh, but we canceled them because I don't want to go to a show. And when somebody wants to book, I'm full. Uh when you're booking into the following year, that's a difficult, like I mean, it's a great problem, but it's a difficult thing to look at people and say, yeah, it's a wonderful place, but you can't come this year.
SPEAKER_01I can I can't do that, Steve. I'm like you, like that. I wanna when I'm there, I wanna I wanna, I'm not I say it should, it's it's called selling the people on it, but it's not. It's I want to to give them that experience right from the time I meet them.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and if I can't do that, it's not worth it to me because it's not worth it to them.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01If they're not getting the hundred percent away. The oilmen? Nada.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And and that's smart. And you're saving a shit ton of money, too. Let's be real.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. That's five grand a show all day. For sure. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04Your time, the cost of the space.
SPEAKER_01The brochures, the business card, all of that stuff is money. Everything is money, right? You gotta design a booth. And and and you can't keep going with the same booth. You gotta every couple years have a little bit of a change, right? Or some imaging change. Well, all that's money.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right. So um yeah, I think that's that's our next plan is is to evolve in those areas where where we'll let the we'll let that area do the work for us.
SPEAKER_04Well, for sure. And when you hook up with people like that, I've always said, even when I was at Chaudi Air, the competitors, uh, Lunge Lodge and and uh um the Toque and everything else, I was always of the opinion that you know all boats rise with the tide, and and working with each other is always better than than than shit talking each other and and stealing from each other, you know, whether that be, you know, guests or or whatever that might be. It's always better, right? Yeah, 100%. You get to you get yourself in a position where you you run out of chicken supreme and and you need another 10 while get on the phone and call me or and I'll give it to you, or I'll do the same, or your plumbing goes down. I got a great stock of of fittings and plumbing stuff rather than make a four-hour round trip to go and try and find the stuff. Just come and get it here and then replace it when you can.
SPEAKER_01We we work with the uh I don't think I've told you this before, but but Caribou Falls Lodge is up by the dam. It's more of a drive to do it yourself kind of thing. They have guides in American plan, but it's a different setup.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But uh Ed Priest is the guy's name. Ed Priest Sr. started it years ago and now the son had taken over, I think, over the last decade. Great guy. Um he's called us a few times last year to swap guides. You know, if we if if if he's got a couple guys on shore, he'll let me know from when I got a group in, and vice versa, right? And my guys know like when you go guide for him, you better not be going over there. And same thing. When they come for us, where there's no intention for them to come work with us because they're doing us a favor to help out. And and a lot of people don't look at it that scenario like that. You gotta be super comfortable with yourself and who you are in the business to allow stuff that happen for like that to happen. But it shows you correct, correct. But it shows that you have a team that you can trust. Yeah, it's important.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's that's one of the key pillars of a great business. You know, yeah.
Building A Team You Trust
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I'm jacked up for myself this year. I'm real excited. Real excited. I'm excited to have a so five years, this is my sixth season as an owner now, and going into, and I've always had elite contract staff. But I know but I always had contract staff. You know, I had Jared and and and and Johnny and those few guys um as my staff before, and they were elite, but I didn't have an extension of them because I had contractors. Now I have enough time in here, we got enough comfortability, and and I've been able to bring in hand pick my own team. And that's been really, I'm not gonna lie, like we had no trouble getting staffed.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Not at all. Um, we were staffed up before January.
SPEAKER_04That's the way you want it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and and I want I just love the drive. Every one of them's on a group chat. They're talking, they're texting, they're sharing spots. They're, you know, I got a couple, I have one, I have two guides that are new this year. Um, one's a YouTuber from Alberta. He's my senior dock hand slash junior guide. He's gonna be training. His name's Caleb. And then I have um this young lady, Paige, from down between between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie area. And she's worked with the MR as a fish biologist for years. And she's coming on board now. And dude, like I'm just excited to have them all. I got a I got a professional fly fish guy from southern Ontario coming on, Scotty Smith. Um, some some couple guys that are I got one year who one guy who left the place um just for whatever reason, I'm not sure. But he approached me, he's got 19 years guiding in this area. Wow. You can't replace that. Like to be that's that's a lifetime of experience, and he just will fell into my lap. And and so I'm excited to have all these people come together, and Adam's this will be Adam's first year, too. Of he's always been a leader, that's Adam, and a manager at but this is the first year where he's gonna be like, okay, now I got 20 to 30 people to deal with every day, and 12 guys going and chaos here and chaos there. And I'm excited for that.
SPEAKER_04Wow, it's a different animal.
SPEAKER_01When shit's going south, or when when when you know it just as much as the smiling faces, when things, the stories you get out of the things that go wrong or you have to fix.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, I love that stuff. And I'm excited to see how Adam reacts to it because since he's never dealt with anything like that to this level.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04So Well, when I was at Chaudiere, there were days when um um I felt like Dr. Phil. Yep. You know, you're you're you've gotta you've gotta understand who your staff are. You need to understand um their personalities, you have to deal with situations sometimes differently with different people. Um, you've got to to to to really get the type of service that you want. Um, it's always better to have your staff, if you can plant seeds and then let your staff figure it out, and then it becomes their idea, all of a sudden, they want to do something that that they feel is their own and and procedures and and the way that you handle guests and the way that you deal with things, when you feel ownership over top of that, then you get that passion, you get that service, you get what it it's a it's a it's a um um um you're almost like a um um a conductor. You're your your what what do you call those guys on a on an orchestra?
SPEAKER_01That's that's him, he's the conductor, you're right.
SPEAKER_04You know, you're with uh I don't think it's a conductor, but maybe I'm wrong. But anyway, you got the wee stick up there, and you're you're you're bringing different people into different situations, and you need to understand your guests as well. Because there's there's there's so many um nuances with with the people that number one, you have guiding or your uh other staff, your your um housekeeper servers and and whatever, where you want to pair certain guests with certain personalities because you know that they're gonna fit better together.
SPEAKER_01100%. Yeah, yeah. Because if you don't, if you don't, you can have situations that you're just forcing people into you for no reason, right?
SPEAKER_04Well, and it it it it takes away from the experience. The experience should always be good, but your job as the conductor is to maximize everybody's experience.
SPEAKER_01That's correct.
SPEAKER_04The guest, the staff, everybody, right? And and the closer you are with your staff and the closer you are with your guests, the better, the easier it is to make those decisions.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, for sure. Right I 100% agree. I 100% agree. We we um that it was actually to the point in the spring we had to make some difficult decisions about like so. I still want to keep I have eight guides on staff now. Yeah, but I want to keep that gap because I don't want to be over, I don't want to be paying overhead all summer for what I don't need. So there's lots of times where I have 25 to 30 people in camp that I need my contractors, but I also want to keep them going, you know, the Bruces, the the um the the you know, the chains, all the guys that have helped me over the years, I want to continue to keep them rolling. Yeah, so it's uh I'm I think I have a really good mix right now of uh of where it's at. And I could know, you know, we could get there and it could all blow up, but um and continue on. But I don't think so. I think I have a good mix and I think we're gonna have a great season here.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, and you never really know until you're in the heart of it.
SPEAKER_01No, and I can't wait for this gosh darn ice to melt so we can get out there because uh every time I turn my head to the right and look at the ice, it saddens me right now.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I know the feeling.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I have a my garage is like if you open my door right now, it would be like a warehouse. Like my wife is choked. She's like, you gotta move this stuff now. It's like I got three hot water tanks and sinks and toilets and Tim Dawson there from Campus Cruise to send me like 15 boxes of swag, and I am like, there's I I have everything there motors, tables, and I got a big garage and it's full of shit. That's good. Yep, the boys as they the rule is is as the boys pick up their brand new guideboats, they're loading up up with stuff and put them in the water. Boom, boom, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you gotta do it because when when go time happens, like I I remember one year. Um typically on the upper French and and nippissing, um, the ice usually will go now, like the last couple of weeks of of April. But there are years like the one you're going through right now. I remember we had one year in particular, and uh it was the it was the year I just told a story where uh Scotty and I went up early uh with um with our little girls at the time. They would have been, I don't know, oh yeah, yeah. We had the ice cream got stuck in the ice and all that stuff, right? But the ice didn't go out until May 9th. And we were we were opening, it's it's just we were lucky that um because our opening day always hinges on the third Friday in May. So depending on where the first starts, it could be it there either later or earlier. Well, that year I think it was the 15th or 16th, which is a little bit later in May. Um, and uh we had about 10 days from from when our feet hit the island to when guests were coming to get everything open, up and running, water systems clean, all of the uh the the winterization, there's tarps that are on all of the buildings, uh the deep cleaning that you've got to do, um staff coming to the island and hitting the island three, four days early, five days early, and all of the staff training and all of the chaos, yep. Like it was it was chaos. We we we we did it, we were ready to go, but um it was uh it can be an extremely stressful time because the last thing you want to do is when your guests hit the island is not being ready.
SPEAKER_08Right, yeah.
Cross-Training And Service Standards
SPEAKER_04Like you don't want to to have cottages that aren't ready, you don't want to have a dining room that's not perfect, right? So it's um uh it's good team building too because it it creates that sense of urgency, right? You you gotta you've gotta be up early, you've gotta go all day. There's there's so much on the list, and you know, that and and it's those times I find that bring the staff closer for for a couple of reasons. Number one, there is that urgency, but number two, um, it doesn't matter if you're a housekeeper server or if you're a dock hand or if you're a guide or if you're the office manager, everybody is doing everything. You know, you're raking pine needles, you're you're putting boats together, you're, you know, and cleaning. And it doesn't matter what position you're in, you just do everything. And then that way, what that does is it it builds a respect between positions, you know. So that the you don't have the the dock guy saying, Oh, well, the serving's easy or cleaning is easy or whatever, because everybody gets a little taste. And I can tell everyone's out a pinch of it, yeah. Yep, uh, from top to bottom, there is no position at a lodge that's easier than another, right? For sure. To be honest with you, for and and it's and it's different for for for people, right? So you get somebody that's uh that's a trained server while you put them on the dock and and uh have them uh you know uh putting all the life jackets and uh oars on the boats and checking for this and you know, making sure the engines start and that, and they're like, oh my god, I would never want to do this job. Yeah well, it it gives them the perspective of what those people are doing versus what they're doing. And um, I'll tell you, for me personally, one of the while the most intimidating position at the lodge for me was serving. You know, when you're walking through a a uh full dining room and you're carrying multiple plates or water or glasses or a tray of full drinks, it's um it's just a an extremely stressful experience because you don't want to drop something and you don't want to spill something on somebody, right? Like, I mean, I did that once. I had a whole tray full of thank god it was just water, but and I think it was a it was one of the the big guy groups, uh the the Kennedy group. And uh I come out with a big tray full of, you know, eight glasses of water or whatever, setting them all out on the table. And I uh, you know, you're holding this tray in one hand and you're reaching with another hand while one of those one of the glasses come right off that tray and landed on the lap of a fella. And you know, it's all fun and games for everybody else other than the guy that's soaked. But uh it's it that that position for me was the most stressful of all of the positions, and that's just because you know, I I'm not trained doing that. I I did my best, I and I jumped in when I had to, but after that, you know, I was a two-hand man. I carry two plates, I don't carry three or four.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I could never do that. I all I will often go through, I'll go every night with I'll take the jug through and I'll top everyone's water. How are you guys doing? Or grab them on the line and go through and top of it, but I but I'm not a server by any means. Like last year I stepped into the role of the chef, but that was behind closed doors, so I was comfortable. And I did it like that. It was I wouldn't say it's easy, but I mean I just slid right in. We made it work for me, and and the guests loved it. That's all that mattered. But yeah, it I couldn't uh that would kind of be my you know fear factor episode, I guess you could say at work for me. I can talk to anyone, I can stand there. It's not that part of it, it's the the focusing on what you're doing.
SPEAKER_04Oh, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that one wouldn't be able to do that.
SPEAKER_04I had one girl in my first year, Sarah. She was a Portuguese girl, a wonderful, wonderful person. And I'll tell you what, that girl was a workhorse, and she never used a tray. She'd carry uh three three plates per arm. Per arm. And then she would go, she would go and um uh when she had three plates per arm, um, one of the other servers would quickly follow her out, take that first plate off, and then for her, it was bang, bang, bang. I don't even know how she did it. And then and then, you know, as a lodge owner, you want to you want to know how to do every position. For me, the kitchen was a place that I I didn't I I that was my black hole for cooking and and serving. And and uh the chefs always had me bent over a barrel. Well, this one year I was down to one chef, chef Dave, and um um it was late in the season and uh about a month left, and it's very difficult to hire somebody for a month to do a position like that.
SPEAKER_01So we sat down the only way you do that is you get someone coming out of a camp in the north, yeah. In like the northwest too where they only open for 60 days a year. That's that's the only chance you got. Good luck with that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So anyway, we sat down and decided uh that I was gonna be the breakfast chef. Yep. And uh he showed Dave worked me through it all. And at the time, like I mean, we were making our own, our own um croissants and well, they would come in in like dough, and then the night before you'd have to uh proof them and put the egg wash on them and then set them all out and put them in the fridge so that they'd rise and all that shit, right? So he showed me how to do all that for the buffet. So, and then all the bacon and and uh sausages and uh the whole deal, right? And and we were it was at a time where um we were pretty full. Like, I mean, I we were cooking for anywhere from 30 to 45 people. And um uh I got doing the buffet and and for about three weeks I was doing buffet, buffet, buffet, buffet. And I got good at it. Uh it was it once you get into that groove and that routine, and and you're throwing stuff in the in the uh convection oven and you're timing it all and keeping it ready so it's warm when it all goes out into the shafing dishes and everything else. And um at the time, um uh Pat Tryon. He everybody out there knows Pat Tryon. Uh he's been on the show just like you. Not quite, not obviously not as often, but he's been on the show a lot. And uh his girlfriend at the time, now his wife, Jen, um uh, and she was a trained server, um, and one of the best. And one morning after breakfast, I I got cocky, eh? I said to Jen, I said, Jen, I think tomorrow we're gonna do um, we're gonna do um um uh we're gonna do plated. Which means you, you know, you get your chit sheets and you put them all in the line and you're making plates, right? Yep. I said, we're gonna do plated. And Jen said, um, Steve, are you sure? I said, Wow, yeah, man, I'm I'm good. I'm Ross, I could do this, I'm ready for the next step, right? So she said, Well, it's up to you, but and in my professional opinion, I think things are going pretty smooth the way that they are. And I said, Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever, Jen. And then the next morning, I'm I come in and and we're always in early, right? And Jen was in there getting getting shit ready, and and I said, Okay, we're doing plated, uh, send the menus out. So, and we had a breakfast menu set up from before, right? So, anyway, I remember the first couple of chits started flowing in, and people don't really get there all exactly at the same time, but because it's a fishing lodge and because people want to go out fishing, it's pretty close to all at the same time. Well, the first couple come in and I was doing pretty good, and I was feeling pretty confident. Well, all and I had three servers running the floor. All of a sudden, I had like 15 chits and I'm way behind, and eggs are getting burnt, and this and that, and I'm like, oh my God. And I looked at Jen and she saw the deer and the headlights look, and she said, Yeah, oh yeah. Jen said, Steve, I don't mean to sound rude, but if I were you, I would go wake up Dave right now because he was sleeping in for the he would do lunch and dinner, and he was in bed. And I looked at her, I never said a word. I turned and I run right out of the side of the kitchen up to Dave's bedroom. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Dave, Dave, I'm in fucking trouble here, buddy. You gotta get out of bed. Get out of bed, Dave. He's like, What is going on? I said, I made the call to do plated, and I am buried, buddy. You gotta help me. You gotta come, right? Like, right in the room. For sure. Yeah, yeah. I run back down, and within a couple of minutes, Dave's got his hair all sideways, and he's he's he's in his pajamas for Christ's sake. He comes in and he and in like 10 minutes, everything is smooth. Like it was just like he waved a magic wand and everything is smooth.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_04Oh my God. After that.
SPEAKER_01I would have been the same way. I would have been like, oh no. Oh yeah.
The Plated Breakfast Train Wreck
SPEAKER_04No more plated for me, man. I'm I'm not a chef. I uh I I can do I can I can uh if I've got time to sit back and think and organize, but as soon as the shit hits the fan, I'm covered in it. I'm covered. Yeah. Oh yeah. That was my experience with that. I'll tell you what. Oh yeah, that's good. Oh yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Dave. I appreciate that. Yeah, he's still uh he's still chefing for Show Dire. He does a he does a great job up there. Nice, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That's great.
SPEAKER_01I love that so many of your staff stayed there. That's that's wonderful. Yeah, well, it's uh that says a lot, right? Like I know where did I just see that? I just saw it some months. One of my buddies has a business, and uh oh, Rich Richard Hoffman, one of the guys I traveled with.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So Richard Hoffman used to be he's one of my guests at the lodge, but he's been more of a friend um to me for a long time. Like when I went through my stuff at Nordic and everything, he used to he was one of the guys, big business guys in the States that that stood behind me and backed me with with what to do knowledge-wise and uh in business. And so at one time, he and still to this day, he is the biggest manufacturer of printing equipment in the world. He's got a he's got he's got the state, poll, and Czechoslovakia, Japan, China. He owns factories everywhere, making printers. So, like Amazon. So when you order a shirt on Amazon, they print it.
SPEAKER_04Oh, I see.
SPEAKER_01So these print, so this is like Tim Dawson, his dad. All of the equipment he has comes from this guy's print. He's the one that developed the style of printer for different, all these different products for banners, clothing, dukes, shirts, posters, whatever. They print anything in the world they can build a machine for.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_01Um, but so when we were down on this trip, we went out one night clamming, and then we got to eat the clams. They grilled them and and we didn't do they didn't shook them raw. They could they they'd uh do them up, cook them up, and a little garlic butter and shit.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's the way I like it. Everybody that was there was his staff. He's he sold the business back to his partner now and whatever. He's out, he's retired. But that tells you something, right? Like that guy, that guy ran that business for 40 fucking years. Yeah, that's a big deal, right? When somebody I always you can judge something by that, right? And I just like a lot, all of my people followed me, you know. Jarrett was the only one because I didn't have a place for Jared to go and we and we cooked him up with Shaudier, yeah. With uh right, but everybody else can and that that tells me something, right? Yeah, to me, if you go if you had a lodge for years and you go to reopen a lodge and nobody follows you, or one person, that's an issue, right? That's that should tell you that you have some changes to make and to happen fast, right? So yeah.
Links To Follow And Farewell
SPEAKER_04But yeah. Well, that's great, buddy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, buddy.
SPEAKER_04No, hey, listen, thank you for this uh for this conversation. It was uh long overdue. Um, we've both been running in different directions, but it's great to catch up. Wonderful stories. And uh folks, uh uh tell us about tell us the name and the contact of the of your buddy uh with the uh lodge down in Louisiana again.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Cap Captain Allen is his name. Um it's Native Adventures, it's called native adventures.com. Um, please go and take a give us, give him, give him about a couple weeks here to get his website renewed. But uh once he has that flying, he the guy, he is the man down there. Everybody that's in Venice, Louisiana, that's on that bayou, he runs the contractors through him. He's he's the guy to go talk to for knowledge. So if you want an experience, he does deep sea, he does reds, he does everything. So if you want an experience ocean fishing down in the Gulf, Gulf of America slash Gulf of Mexico. Oh, geez, you know, reach out to Captain Allen and uh and uh yeah, look him up. You can also he'll right away he'll be tagged on our website. So we'll have a hyperlink from from our site to his.
SPEAKER_04That's amazing. That's amazing. I'm definitely gonna do that. We're doing that.
SPEAKER_01Buddy, it's just it was badass. You'd love it. Awesome. Hey man, I get to see you soon.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. Yeah, in uh June.
SPEAKER_01Can't wait. Stevie's gonna come do some guiding at Two Rivers Lodge. We can't wait to have him up here. That's an exciting thing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, looking forward to it. Yeah, looking forward to it. I can't wait to go.
SPEAKER_01I'll make sure your Alaskan is ready to go, buddy.
SPEAKER_04Perfect, perfect. I love the old Alaskan. And folks, listen, thank you so much for getting to this point. I really appreciate you listening. It is uh it's what keeps us going here on Diaries. And thank you to the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast Network for uh doing all of the behind the scenes. We've got uh uh Anthony Mancini. He is a producer extraordinaire, and then we've got Dino. Dino, I I come up with so many different nicknames for Dino, uh, but we're just gonna call him Dean Taylor today. Thanks, Dino, for for all your work as well. And uh head on over to fishing canada.com. You can see all of the episodes. Uh, well, not all of them yet. We still we're still not to the end of our season, but most of them you can catch them on YouTube, right through the Fishing Canada website, and check out all of the wonderful merch. There's uh a ton of new uh uh spring uh um products and SKUs, and and a lot of them, if not all of them, are coming from our buddy uh Timmy Dawson uh campus crew. It's high quality stuff. Um, it's it's amazing. And uh thanks to all of you, thanks to the listeners, and thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner, Stories of the Norse.
SPEAKER_07I'm a good old boy, never meaning no harm.
SPEAKER_06I'll be the whole you ever saw. Been reeling in the hog since the day I was born, bending my rug, stretching my line.
SPEAKER_07Someday I might on a lodge and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. I'm a good old boy. I buy the lodge and live my dream. And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Welcome to Two Rivers Lodge, where we know that our hard work and determination creates your best experiences. You'll arrive as a guest but leave as family. Surrounded by a multi-species fishing mecca like no other. Our elite cabins and professional staff are ready to make your stay unforgettable. Experience the difference. Because at two rivers, every cast is a story, and every guest is a part of the family.
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