Scugog "No Longer a" Mishap (Updated Storey)

[icejunky]

This Weekend was the annual Trip to Lake Scugog......do some Walleye and Perch Fishing...or so we thought. Its a group of 5 of us who made the trip this year..we booked a 6 man hut (back in December) and were ready to go...problem is our hut was not

Once we get to the lake we are told that another group had decided to stay overnight and thus were being given the large hut...we were assured that we were going to be given 2 nice huts side by side so the group would still be together.

Our Start time was 4pm and come 4pm we were still standing in the driveway of the opperator. He was using his snowmobile to transport us onto the lake 1 at time and I offered to head out first and set up all the tip-ups while he brought the rest of the group out....So out I go...dropped off at our site only to find out that the holes had not been punched in the hut or outside for the tip-ups....No bait had yet reached us either...

So I wait around as he drops us all off then dissapears to go get his power auger to blast some holes for us...It's now 4:45.....10 minutes later he is back with the auger...which does not work...needs to rest it for bit befor he can get it to go...holes are done..but still not bait......It's now 5:15 and we have bait!!!...hey but it's getting dark and we have not lights?

It's pitch black in the huts and we cant even see if our bait is in the water...finally he comes back with a few candles to lite the way...I tell him it's not enuff and he says he will go back to get a lantern and a couple torches for outside...well 20 minutes later we get 1 torch for outside but still no lantern and we have no idea where our tip-ups are due to poor outside visibility...

I'll come back to the latern in a minute because it does not show up untill 8 o'clock...Long story still short it was about 6pm befor we were up and running...2 hours of set-up due to poor prep by the opperator..

Even worse then the prep was the Huts them selves.....5 guys and 4 holes should explain everything....When he dropped me off at the start I looked at the huts and asked if he was sure we could get 5 guys in them...Oh ya No problem...So I open the door to the hut he claims is a 3 man...well there is only 2 cut outs in the floor..SO I ask where does the third guy fish...Oh I can get a third hole in here"....No he couldnt and as mentioned above 5 guys fished out of 4 holes...and we were crammed in.

I just could not beleive that this was how he treated repeat customers..On the phone he gave me a spiel about how important his repeat business is...We are no longer repeat customers....CowderHea d another IS memeber who was part of our group was ready to walk...and i agree...It was a bad experience overall..not to mention the fishing was very slow...which cant be blamed on an oppporater


Sorry for the long winded post....And in the end all that really matters is we got in a great night with friends on the ice....And as the Father-N-Law said..he has not seen that many stars in 20 years..great night for fishing

[grumpymoe]

Not someplace you would go again.....your reservation for the big hut should have been honored.....the group that had to checkout should not have been allowed to stay an extra night without moving to other accomodations.(the 2 your group had to squeeze into)......Grump

[willbilly]

Mac - Did this place you stayed have a round window in the room? I stayed there over New Years , and and thinking of going back up! Might reconsider!

[icejunky]

Im all about second chances...This was the second chance visit for this Scugog Operator...last year we used him and the Hut was perfect, warm, brightly lit.....the issues we had was the hot location...we were in 5 feet of water on a completly mud bottom..no weed, no nothing and since we could sight fish for the first 2 hours we saw 0 fish and not one of the 5 guys got a bite...This still was not the big issue

last year it was the attention, he made promises like "I will be back by 6pm to check in and see how the action is", then at 7:30 he finally arrives. That would not have been a big issue other then the fact that out fuel ran out at 6 and it was now pitch black and dark in the hut..while we waited for him to come back.

He also told us he would move us to another hut if we had not action in the next hour or so..once again it was a few hours befor he returned...

So with his Second Chance he dropped the ball as well....Im not a screamer or even a big complainer..so we left yesterday with saying a word to him, just shook his hand and said thanx..but we wont be back

[grumpymoe]

I just thought of something important to add when making a reservation with hut rental operators....will you move the hut several times during our visit if required? .....the reason for asking that is that these people are simply renting huts and most are not providing Guide Service....Grump

[rabidsponge]

I went with ICEJUNKY on this trip and I can honestly say it was the worst experience I have ever had with any type of fishing period. I dont like to bad mouth people because I know he is just trying to make a living but this guy was seriously unorganized. The fact alone that he didnt get us set up and ready with everything until it was 2 hours past our start time was more than enough for me to know I"m not going back to him...all without one word of an apology.

[icejunky]

Just Like Lonewolf did on his Okuma post...I have a happy ending to the Scugog (No longer) Mishap.

I have been away for a few days and came home to and e-mail and phone message from the opperator we used on Scugog. I dont know if he is an IS member or just  has friends who are. Anyways, he saw this thread and called to set things right with me and the group I fished with

He has offered us a free trip (in his large hut) at our convince, in other words we pick the day at time. I think it was a very reasonable offer and Im currently trying to run down the whole group of us to see if they will accept...The two  I have contacted so far are on the fence..But the offer was made and thats good enuff for me

In hindsight if We had brought this up that night then this whole issue may have been corrected by now. But I, glad he was willing to take care of us now..

I will keep you all posted

[icejunky]

Well...Last weekend we headed out to Scugog...and Im Happy to report it was a success.

It was the best rental I have yet to experience. We had our choice of huts and no time limit, come and goe as we pleased.

The Hut operator also checked up on us regularly, made sure we had minnows and drilled more holes as requested. It was a great time. We were really taken care of, and we will return for sure

We also found out why we were stuck in the small huts on our original trip..It seems the renters before us trashed the place and filled the holes with toilet paper and such. He did not have time to clean it as we were early so he had to give us small huts.


All in all the walleye fishing was slow but The Group of 5 of us caught about 200 perch but they were all small guys.

[hali-man]

Anyways, he saw this thread and called to set things right with me and the group I fished with

The power of the net! 

[sturgeon]

Good to hear ice junky. Its good to know that some service providers care about their customers.

Not like bell and the trouble I have had with them but thats another story.
Sturgeon