Everts Resort Under New Ownership

The Weber Estate who has been in control of Everts Resort since the owner passed away 3 years ago has decided to sell the resort to John “Hunts” Lange of Swanville, a small town near Little Falls, MN.

Here’s a little about Hunts that’s starting a new chapter in the traditions of Everts Resort:

John “Hunts” Lange started life in the St. Francis/Upsala area, moving on to other things when he was still in his teens. He worked in the New Mexico oil fields and eventually spent 21 years in Chicago as the owner of Lange’s General Insulation.

“I still run that, and go back about every three weeks,” Lange said.

He moved back to Morrison County in May of 2008, starting John Lange Trucking, hauling road material.

Granny’s Cafe in Swanville was sold to John and was transformed into The Rooster Restaurant. “I actually want to be around home now instead of driving a truck and running and running,” Lange said.

Hunts is engaged to be wed this August.

With conversation moving from past to present, “We have many many improvements in store for the resort” Lange said. “The fish cleaning house needs to be moved and improved along with a major resort face lift. We want to fry fish for our customers as they come off the water too. Our bucket list is large and can’t wait to get started. ”

John has brought along his long time walleye fishing buddy, Mike “Ski” Piekarski to run the day to day operations of the resort. “Ski” as his friends call him, ran the bait shop in Swanville for a number of years and always wanted to manage a resort operation. “Hunts” said “here’s your chance “Ski”, let’s go!”

Hunts will have the aid of his relatives to help get things swinging and keeping the rigs moving this and every weekend. “Oh yeah, the bait shop will be open longer hours too” he added.

“We know that Kari,Steve and Little Jimmy will be missed as much as most all of the past managers have. There’s something special about Everts that just seems to bring people together. We wish them well and from our understanding, they won’t be far away.”

Stay tuned for this weekends activities! The bite is picking up and it won’t be long before the photo’s of the hogs start rolling in!

Congrats and looking forward to meeting the new staff!

Best of luck,

FDR

Figures…’nother couple walleye guys.

I met with Hunts and ski for a short time over the last two days. I’m not going to steal they’re thunder but these guys think “outside of the boat” so to speak.

I’m hoping they will take just enough time off for me to convert them over …to the dark side.

Good luck Kari and Steve! You guys did a fantastic job and will be missed.

-J.

Good luck Kari and Steve, you brought this place back from the dead. To the new owners, I look forward to some improvements. The only suggestion I have is to make sure you keep stocked with the baits we’ve come to love/count on. I hope you guys expand your selection of Prescott baits. They have been killer.

Glad I got to see it before the big change. There’s always room for improvement.

Where’s the cast net cleaning station going to be

Will the new owners still value old calendar launch tickets Kari sold? I still have about 10 left from my last calendar…

The new owners should start a little bar/cafe or something to get a hot meal or breakfast on them cooler days. Or a cold beer with my buddies after a good day on the water. Convert a cabin into a small restaurant. That would not only draw in fisherman but more summer boat traffic on them hot July/August days.

And a new restroom facilities
Crapping on a frozen seat in January is enough to make you cry. Lol.
Just fyi.

Matt many of your suggestions are being looked at or are in the early stages of making them happen.

Because we are on the river, we are restricted by the DNR rules along with Federal laws in pretty much everything we do.

Yesterday we added a 3rd portapotty. (With two it was a mess!)

As far as products go, you’ll continue seeing the ol standards of BFishN Tackle products along with Prescott Bait Company’s Flukes and other plastics.

We are committed to stocking what the river folks need and want.

Sounds like a plan to me.
You will see me most in the winter from January on.
And probably this weekend. Looking forward to meeting the new owner and hearing about the upgrades.

See you then Matt! We’re looking forward to meeting you and all the other In-Depth Outdoors Members.

Also the guy they call James Holst.

I finally got out on pool 4 about a year ago thanks to a few members.
Steve and Kari were always very friendly and helpful. You guys will be missed!
I know your work ethic and passion for helping people will lead to success in the next chapter.

James Holst??? The mystery man behind the curtain….. The one and only OZ

Ohh, he’ll show up
Most likely be 40 minutes late
But he WILL show up

I was down to Everts last night and just have some feedback for the new owner.

There are two reasons I have chosen to go to everts in the past over public ramps. One, early spring and late fall when the air is cold, the ramps have always be clear of ice and easy to use and long lines move fast. Two, during warm months when other ramps are good to use I consider my $7 launch fee more like the most updated, detailed, and accurate fishing report from the experts (steve and kari). There are many days I can site where I simply would not have put fish in the boat had it not been for a report from Kari at the beginning of the day or midday when I’m struggling and take a break at the docks.

If the new owner can continue to do these two things, I will continue to be a happy everts customer. Last night when I stopped in, there was no fishing report like there has been in the past. Just collecting money and scooping minnows in a bucket. No offense, but a monkey can do that. To new owner: don’t be a monkey. I miss Kari already.

Give them time. The reason Kari had information is because she built a relationship with all the return customers. That’s doesn’t happen over night,

A monkey could catch fish if you hold it’s hand and tell it where and how to fish. Don’t be a monkey. Learn how to catch them without depending on others. Hard work pays off.

Give the new owners a chance. I’m sure they are just learning the river as well.

I wasn’t trying to be negative, just wanted to help the new owner understand my view as a customer so the resort can continue to thrive. I love this place and want it to remain great. I wish that Steve and Kari could have stuck around a little longer to show new ownership the ropes.

rentnarb: I apologize for admitting that fishing the miss can be humbling at times and as someone that may only fish p4 6 times a year, it is very helpful to have an up to date fishing report. No different than reading the outdoornews fishing report each week to get get depths and general areas people have been recently catching fish.

For the record, I didn’t think you came off as negative.

i’m sure that all those who built relationships with Steve and Kari are disappointed during this transition period.

Life changes, we adapt.

I’m sure the new owners will do everything in their power to make Everts as great as it has always been.

Last night when I stopped in, there was no fishing report like there has been in the past. Just collecting money and scooping minnows in a bucket. No offense, but a monkey can do that.

Tim, I’m guessing I had a banana in my mouth!

I’m going to guess Ski was on a break or possibly went to bed. If it was John, Joe or Tom scooping your minnows, they were outside parking rigs, cooking for the fishermen or going to town for stock and wouldn’t have much fishing info.

I’m not making excuses for anyone there, both John and Ski have been working ridiculously long hours this last week so you folks wouldn’t notice much of a difference.

I believe they succeeded in all but one area that was out of their control.

Either way, keeping a finger on the pulse of the river is key to the success of the bait shop. I’ll make sure they see this as they are both open to constructive criticism.

I spent my weekend at the resort moving my camper in and wetting a line. The hours and 100 mph work pace That I noticed going on was jaw dropping. I like most others got to know Steve and Kari and they will be missed. Evert’s has seen change before just like any other business and people adapt to it just fine. As far as I can tell these guys will do just fine in what they are doing. The only down fall I noticed was a guy wearing a SPAM cap still in the damn bait shop!

It will take time for them to adapt to the river fishing tactics and tips and I know I will do my part to help them step in and go with the flow and be a help to all the customers that come through their door! They got my 2 thumbs up approval from 2 days of seeing them do nothing but clean up, update, and still find time to take their work gloves off and shake your hand and get to know each and everyone that visited the resort.

I was up there last week and Ski ‘s advice was spot on. If he hadn’t told us to use hair jigs with meat we likely would have used plastics and struggled.

I think the resort is in good hands and it sounds like there will be many improvements. It is time to embrace and support the new faces around there. They aren’t going anywhere.

I Met Mike last night. Seems like a good guy who has been very busy the last week. He was very friendly even after a long day of fixing stuff. It would be tough to transition new ownership at such a busy time of year.

Big snow ! … ATRO ?

Was there on Saturday and was amazed how smooth things went getting boats in and out. Pulled in and thought I was stuck in a bad dream but was on the water in no time. My hats off to the staff working. And told Brian K. I read all his posts on here and he even apologized for that so guess it was a win win. J/k!