Season Passes????

I may be opening up a can of worms here, but i’m gonna give it a shot anyway. I am thinking of offering a season pass for the boat launch, (which would be good for a year). I have an idea of what I think is a reasonable price, but I would really like to hear your opinions/ideas. I know some people are gonna criticize the price no matter what, thats just life I guess. I would like to have a season pass for the people who fish 3-4-5 times a week. I realize some people may come out ahead with a pass and some might get one and end up having to pay more than if they had just paid the $7 daily fee. I want to be fair, to the fisherman AND the resort. That launch money is the only income here in the winter pretty much. For those of you that fish the river in the summer, the pass would allow you to ramp here all year long and avoid the crowds at the launches in and around Red Wing. Anyway, this might be nothing but a B–ch session about ramp fees, or it might be helpful for me to get a season pass started. Please give me your honest opinions of what is fair and I’ll see what happens. Thanks in advance.

Steve Vick Everts Resort Manager

Steve, this is a great idea. Thanks for considering it.

I liked what Beannies on the St Croix did. They had 2 plans.

1. Unlimited season pass for ?? (Think around $300)

2. A punch card deal good for 10 passes. Pre-pay for a 10 pass card and have a little break. In your case that would be somewhere in the area of $56-60 bucks up front.

Thanks,

Jon J.

I think it is a great idea…. the season pass wuld benefit the local guy’s and you will sell a lot of tackle/food/etc….. the fellas that come up a couple weekends a year will still be be willing to pay the $7 …….hopefully every contributes some good ideas to this posts………. and those of you that have not been to everett’s yet this year….. it has really gotten a great facelift….. steve has done a super job down there…….

Something to think about…you may want to break it up by month/season. One reason is to vary the price-winter 50% off summer rates, etc to accomodate different seasonal demand.

Also-if you move to a “prepay” system, there may be more pressure on you to keep the launch open-even when ice forms, freezing rain, etc. I know that most people would be cool with the landing being closed do to bad weather, but there will always be a few that will be upset and want to be refunded some $$$ if they cant get on the river.

More thoughts on paying to use river access…..

First, I think $7.00 is a deal. It’s been $7.00 bucks for a couple seasons now and if it went up a buck or two, that would not bother me a bit. The cost would come in line with what most resorts are charging on Mille Lacs and Winne now.

As far as Season/Off Season goes, I’d say summer is the off season. Winter is where all of the hard work takes place. The constant battle of chipping ice, plowing ramps and roads. Dealing with the weekend crowds, especially when Everts becomes the ONLY place to put your boat in.

Good point on people wanting a refund if they can’t get in….. Steve, I’d make it clear there are no guarantees. With that said, last winter was as tough a year as it gets. Bob kept that place open till the channel froze shore to shore. Even then there were guys willing to drop their boat onto the ice, break through and smash a path up to the dam!! If there is a will, there’s a way.

J.

for sure winter is NOT the off season…. its the MAIN season….. its when people are almost forced to launch there…. because of the difficulties of launching at the public launch on the wisconsin channel….. for myself its way worth the money to avoid problems…. they can easily cost you way more than you want to pay!! give me a safe launch to use and Im a happy camper…. errrrrrr make that fisherman….

I think it is a great idea as well, echoing Jon J’s advice/observations. One thing you might want to think of is trying some of that metal grating that is available. Great for traction, and easy to get in and out… Minimal salt and chipping needed.

Tuck

Sounds like a great idea. Something to be said about a clean launchable ramp at the dead of winter. I know the last thing I want to do is get hung up at the landing around dark and end up breaking equipment trying to get in or out. $7.00/per launch is priceless when you are talking these conditions. Even at that, avoiding crowds in the busy times in the summer would be well worth a cost as well.

Personally, I would be in favor of a seasonal pass. (ie…November-March) All in all, a great idea for launch pass

Steve

Sounds like you might want to look real hard at the “peak season” pass that some have mentioned as running from Nov. – March and maybe look at offering a yearly pass as well. Many of the out of towners from the Twin Cities, etc. might look at a straight “yearly” pass as a poor option since they might not be likely to see the river from April – Ocotober while some locals would really benefit from that yearly option.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

I have to agree with James. Go to school up in Grand rapids and live with my parents in the twin cities when I come down to go fishing and during the summer. I only fish that part of the river in the fall up through spring then it is back to bass fishing. A yearly pass would do no good to someone like me who only fishes there during that period of time but being able to get some kind of pass would be very nice.

Eric Ahlstrom

After re-reading the post by Jon about the system Beanies is using, it sounds like they’re running a system you might want to look at.

Offer the season pass for the locals or for guys that fish the river hard year-round and go the “punch card” route for those that will launch frequently, but only during a portion of the season. That way you can reward loyal customers by giving them a bit of a break on launch fees will not burdening them unfairly with paying for launch fees through the year that they’ll never use.

I wouldn’t be too worried myself about wanting a “refund” because the landings were impassible because the only time that happens is when its just absolutely crazy cold…. but you’d want to address that formally and in writing for some you’d likely run into with this type of program. Call it “circumstances beyond your control” or something. To be honest though, even when its well below zero and honestly much too cold to be fishing, you guys have almost always had the ramps in great condition.

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Thanks for all the info so far guys….keep it coming! There is some really good ideas/comments. One thing I would like to say is that I will set the annual pass fee based mainly on the amount of use during the winter months. I’m not going to add $100 or $200 or whatever just because the pass would be good in the summer months. There is virtually nobody that launches here in the summer time because there is a fee. So i’m not worried about charging extra to make up for that. What i’m interested in is getting people to launch here in the winter AND the summer. I would not be getting a profit off the launch fee during the summer, but I would like to think I would sell minnows/leeches/crawlers/tackle/snacks/pop/beer…etc. I would rather make a little off the bait shop than none at all. Even though a lot of you don’t fish the river in the summer, those of you that do would have another place to launch (as part of the pass) with bait/tackle and snacks, without the headache of all the pleasure boaters/jet skiiers filling up the lot. My point is this: I want to keep it simple and not have some people pay $7, some pay a annual pass and some pay by the month…..its too much to keep track of. I’ll just set the fee based on the winter months and anybody that comes in the summer is a bonus for me cuz they’ll spend money in my bait shop. I would like to hear some more about what you guys think is a fair amount. I want to know if i’m way to high or way to low or about right. Thanks

Steve Vick Everts Resort Manager

ok where is this place ? im very interested especially with iowa guys and fish fry’s

Steve , What dollar amount were you thinking about asking ?

One thing I would maybe think about is your parking capacity.I could easily see guys getting upset if they have paid for a pass and the ramp is full to capacity.Maybe you have enough room, but I have been there when it has been pretty full.Just one more thing to consider if it could pose a problem and if not bring it on it is a great thought.Brett