Mille Lacs resorter economics

Hey all,

I kind of fell into a rather interesting discussion purely by chance this past week up on Mille Lacs. I’ll leave out the names of those involved but this info came straight from several of the largest resort owners on the lake…. straight from their own mouths.

Their resorts are doing extremely well financially. Actually, to be very specific, this current year looks to be their most profittable and busiest…… EVER. Last year was their most profitable and busy year prior to 2001.

Doesn’t this seem quite strange seeing how all we ever hear is how poor the situation is for the resorters up on Mille Lacs?

Of course I asked that question. Here’s what I was told. The print and news media does come out on occassion and interview these two owners. As soon as they state things are going great….. “inteview is over.” Apparently good news isn’t news at all.

I also asked why some resort are so unbelieveable empty when others apparently are doing so well. The answer? Those suffering began suffering long before the slot limits where ever imposed. Lack of reinvestment in funds to improve or upgrade facilities and grounds along with poor management are the death to all businesses, slot or no slot.

This isn’t of course the whole picture but it sure fills in the edges for me. I have always loved the protective regs on that lake but I also felt badly for the resorters that were reported to be suffering as a result. Apparently for some, the protective regs have been a boon instead of a death sentence.

I was very glad to hear it.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Sounds like typical media manipulation. Sounds like the slot limit regulations divided the resorters and investors into different camps. Those who could adjust, and those who could not.

—The first camp is the majority, and are those that catered mainly to the masses (who mostly want to take home multiple family limits,are less concerned with the quality of the resort, and now avoid Mille Lacs) and now find themselves with few customers.

—The second camp not only reinvest and upgrade the resort, i would bet they made a marketing shift to accomodate the new regulations, and prosper like never before.

—Unfortunately, the media caters the ratings, more eyeballs means more$. No manipulation, exaggeration, twisting of the truth,No low elevation in their stooplifiying mealy mouthed presentation of events is too low.

—If there is money involved,the media’s will accomodate whichever path will make the most of it,much like a certian “profession” that operates mostly at night on street corners.

—In the long run, it remains to be seen which dictate fishing regs on Mille Lacs, politics&mediamoney, or good fishery management.

I’m curious about the relationship(if any) between resort economics and the future fishery?

Well I personally doubt any changes will be made by the DNR solely based on the resort owner’s collective or individual economic situation(s). The DNR does receive input regularly from a round table forum group, made up largely of resort owners and other interested and informed individuals.

I did get an early ear-full of what a number of the members of this round table would bring as a suggestion to the DNR at these meetings. The suggested slot would be 14″ – 18″ with one over 30″. Also, there is talk that for this fall/early winter, the regs will revert back to the 16″-20″ slot that was in effect earlier this season because of the sharp drop-off in harvest rates and angler success during the ice fishing season. When and if that will happen remains to be seen.

And the band’s allotted take for 2002 goes up again over 2001’s quota. The surely will be a factor as well.

I just pray that there is enough vision to recognize the significance of the trophy fishery that is taking shape up on Mille Lacs. I’ve watched the average size increase about 1 – 1.5 inches a year for the fall trips from around 20″ – 21″ a few years back to where were at now with 24″ -25″ fish being the norm. Where else can you go and catch fish like that? No where. And it continues to get better. I predict an over-all improvement in the situation for all resort owners if the slot stays same or similar because more and more anglers will become aware of the awesome, often unbelieveable, fishery that is only a couple hours from the Twin Cities. More and more angler will learn to appreciate the lake for what it is… a place to go and catch a fish of a lifetime. Or 2….. or 3!

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

It was published in the paper that the slot will change on December 1st. It will be 14″ to 18″ with one trophy over 28″. The reason given is that any fish taken after Dec. 1 will count on the 2002 allocation of fish we are allowed to take. What we have to remember for Mille Lacs is that the Supreme Court ruling will be the main factor for new limits for the future , the tribes have the potential to take 50% of the catchable walleyes. We are going into the last year of the 5 year agreement. The new debate over allocation of resources will begin in 2002 and take effect in 2003. Lets hope that cool and calm negotiations will take place. If the tribes claim their 50% , that will have a serious affect on what sport anglers will be able to have. We will see the slot change every year based on the research done to determine the catchable fish in the lake.

I have a good friend that was born and raised in Onamia and has fished Mille lacs for over 30 years. I fished with him twice this summer and he couldn’t remember catching as many big walleyes as we caught those two trips! Also, he commented on the state of area resorts saying basically what you have already stated, that the resort owners he personally knew were doing quite well.

Personally, I am fishing for that trophy with a couple of fish to eat. So do I like what’s happening at Mille Lacs this year? You bet! I am hopeful that it continues.

And it should continue… perhaps even get better. The fish I’ve caught this fall have been VERY fat and healthy on average so indeed there’s no shortage of food to slow the growth rates of these fish. I believe we’ll slowly see a change in the popular attitude as more and more people realize that the fun is in the catching and not in the slaughter of stringers of huge fish. Certainly those that seemingly despise the slot limits on Mille Lacs will have gone elsewhere by now…. its hard to take someone seriously when they talk about fishing Mille Lacs ‘all the time’ and how much they hate the new(er) regs.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

James,

Personally I have never asked the specific question. “Are you guys hurting”. But, hanging out on my “Home Turf” of Big Point I can tell ya that the FlagShip and Fishermans Wharf are going down. Possibly because both places are for sale, low morale of employees… don’t know. Service still seems top notch. Just no one around. I have been up on a lot of weekends during prime time spring/fall bite and the place is a ghost town. I also hang out at Macs Twin Bay and have overheard many discussions about hard times for the owners and employees there too.

I agree that the whole spin on slots is getting twisted the wrong way. Heck, I said it before, what if they just made the whole lake catch and release and marketed as a world class fishery 2 hours from the TC. You would need to book today for a room next June!!

One other thought. That @@##$##$% casino over on the east side of the lake brings in a lot of traffic. Are those resorts benefiting from the casino or the fishing???

J.

I believe the differnece all comes down to marketing strategy. The resort owners I spoke to go to a lot of shows and advertise heavily o nthe internet…. perhaps they’re either reaching more people or the kind of people interested in catchign a pile of big fish VS. a stringer full of eaters. Either way, some will always be doing better than others in any economic or political climate.

The one thing I do know is that this is the way fishing SHOULD be! Lots of fish to be caught. Fat, huge, healthy fish. And for those that can’t control their urges to fillet out 20+” fish, the regs now mandate it. And things only look to continue to improve.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Anybody who fishes mille Lacs right now and complains, is either a terrible fisherman or they have no ethics and those aren’t the kind of people you need on the lake anyway. Any resort that has decent advertising of the tremendous fishing in the lake right now should get plenty of business. The resorts who are still trying to get Iowans to come up here and fill up their trunks with fish are the ones having trouble and maybe that is not a bad thing.

Is this a scam? Why is Donotdelete James Holst? Mille fishing is GREAT but the politics SUCK! And, there are les resorts than before also.

Not sure on James’s contact info here, but the thread is from 2001 bro!

The orginal post is over 20 years ago😁

Jensen wrote:

The orginal post is over 20 years ago😁

Seeing this thread get resurfaced brings a smile to my face. Getting the chance to be a part of this website community for better than two decades has been a true blessing. 👍

And nothing seems to have changed with regards to the profitability of resorts on mille lacs Lake. I will be spending a week with my family at appledorn’s this summer and we have to book a year in advance to get any kind of desirable dates. Some resorts don’t have it figured out yet but the ones that cater to families over fisherman while providing top notch customer service are booked to capacity.

When I went to Gen Discussion this was there? Weird

Kind of puts things into perspective seeing this from 20 years ago. Definitely could’ve been a post from two weeks ago.

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jensen wrote:</div>
The orginal post is over 20 years ago😁

Seeing this thread get resurfaced brings a smile to my face. Getting the chance to be a part of this website community for better than two decades has been a true blessing. 👍

And nothing seems to have changed with regards to the profitability of resorts on mille lacs Lake. I will be spending a week with my family at appledorn’s this summer and we have to book a year in advance to get any kind of desirable dates. Some resorts don’t have it figured out yet but the ones that cater to families over fisherman while providing top notch customer service are booked to capacity.

did you promise your family no fishing that week.

glenn57 wrote:

did you promise your family no fishing that week.

I don’t fish on any of our family trips. The last two years I’ve brought my boat to our trip to mille lacs out of Appledorn’s and have never put the boat on the water. This year I don’t even plan to bring it to the lake.

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
did you promise your family no fishing that week.

I don’t fish on any of our family trips. The last two years I’ve brought my boat to our trip to mille lacs out of Appledorn’s and have never put the boat on the water. This year I don’t even plan to bring it to the lake.

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
did you promise your family no fishing that week.

I don’t fish on any of our family trips. The last two years I’ve brought my boat to our trip to mille lacs out of Appledorn’s and have never put the boat on the water. This year I don’t even plan to bring it to the lake.

What other activities do you guys do? I’ve never thought of going up that way and doing anything but fishing. My family would enjoy a nice resort week with some trail rides and such if they had nice amenities as well

There are very few posts that you could rehash from 20 years ago that could be mistaken for writing just yesterday. This is a perfect example of one. If you are going to be successful, reinvest in your business and cater to your customer. That will never change.

It would be interesting to know what the slot and bag limit was in 2001.

How many people clicked on the link? I know I did.

Bearcat89 wrote:

What other activities do you guys do?

ATV trail riding, Golf and the two state parks are nice places to visit in the fall.

Relaxing at the cabin, sitting by a fire tossing back a few

-J.

Bearcat89 wrote:

What other activities do you guys do? I’ve never thought of going up that way and doing anything but fishing. My family would enjoy a nice resort week with some trail rides and such if they had nice amenities as well

Our summer vacation to Mille Lacs is a family reunion type deal. My brother has a pair of 8 year old twins girls, my sister has an 8 year old daughter, and Cheryl and I have an 8 year old daughter as well…. all born in the same month. So, lots of kiddo energy to burn off each day. We spend a LOT of time swimming and hanging on the beach at Appledorn’s, jet skiing and tubing, with camp fires most nights. I get up early every morning and shoot my bow. Hiking, volleyball, and a cut throat horseshoe tournament or two. At some point during the week we make a day trip up to Brainerd to drive go-carts. If we catch a rainy or cold day we take the kids to a water park. The week flies by and I have yet to have the urge to go fishing during one of our stays.

3Rivers wrote:

How many people clicked on the link? I know I did.

Back in the day that was the name of my guide business – Moving Waters. Nobody knew me as James Holst. My handle here and elsewhere was… ~H2O~

2001 Darron would have been just been buying The Wharf. Pretty much ran it into the dirt. Little to no reinvestment in the business and went bankrupt. Hope George buys the place and brings it back to life!

The Flagship gets bought by the Vets Club. But their business model is not directed towards fishing. Pull tabs and favorable tax status keeps them running along now.

Appledorns is in constant improvement. Nice place that caters to weddings, golf outings and other non-fishing activities. They even run booze-cruses on the launch when the lake gets shut down. That’s keeping the wheels turning there.

-J.

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3Rivers wrote:</div>
How many people clicked on the link? I know I did.

Back in the day that was the name of my guide business – Moving Waters. Nobody knew me as James Holst. My handle here and elsewhere was… ~H2O~

Ok, who else just typed in >>>> http://www.fishtheriver.com ???

-J

James Holst wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
What other activities do you guys do? I’ve never thought of going up that way and doing anything but fishing. My family would enjoy a nice resort week with some trail rides and such if they had nice amenities as well

Our summer vacation to Mille Lacs is a family reunion type deal. My brother has a pair of 8 year old twins girls, my sister has an 8 year old daughter, and Cheryl and I have an 8 year old daughter as well…. all born in the same month. So, lots of kiddo energy to burn off each day. We spend a LOT of time swimming and hanging on the beach at Appledorn’s, jet skiing and tubing, with camp fires most nights. I get up early every morning and shoot my bow. Hiking, volleyball, and a cut throat horseshoe tournament or two. At some point during the week we make a day trip up to Brainerd to drive go-carts. If we catch a rainy or cold day we take the kids to a water park. The week flies by and I have yet to have the urge to go fishing during one of our stays.

Oh man that sounds like a lot of fun! I can see that week flying by.

3rdtryguy wrote:

When I went to Gen Discussion this was there? Weird

You probably bumped the page button on your phone, mine goes 1940 pages and takes you 20 years back in time

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20210616-102859.png
   

So much good stuff in central MN we are ridiculously lucky.

Safari north outside of brainerd is a must for kids. And the chocolate ox just north in nisswa for an old school candy trip and the best dang ice cream cone ya ever had.

Anyone had Paul Bunyan call out their name lately?

Attachments:

1. 

   Paul-Knew-My-Name-768x1035-1.jpg
   

That little zoo was a GREAT stop. Kids would love it H20. 😉