Sawmill Bay -- Ice shacks, new owners

[Fred 30]

Maybe should take down that 5 buck charge for sleds and atv. That is very misleading.

[SHACKS LANDING 18]

Update:. Ice has been plowed to Coffin Island.  There is between 14" & 16" of ice.  Several shacks have been towed with full size trucks.

[SHACKS LANDING 18]

Very sorry everyone for the confusion. We are trying to keep it the way Gary ran the property but some things need to change. We could not remove the earlier post so the 5 dollar charge is gone. It doesn't matter if you park your truck on the property, drive all your equipment out with you there is still a yard plowed for everyone's easy access to get on the lake. As for parking on Sawmill Bay Rd. you can do that but you still need to go through our other property to get to the lake unless you know someone else that has land and allowing you access. I personally been out there for over 15 years and never had a problem with paying acouple of bucks for the peace of mind of thousands of dollars with of your equipment to be safe not to mention the fuel, repairs and the time to plow. I hope everyone understands and will have a great time on the ice. See you there GOOD FISHIN'

[AmateurHourAngling 49]

5 minutes ago, SHACKS LANDING said:

Very sorry everyone for the confusion. We are trying to keep it the way Gary ran the property but some things need to change. We could not remove the earlier post so the 5 dollar charge is gone. It doesn't matter if you park your truck on the property, drive all your equipment out with you there is still a yard plowed for everyone's easy access to get on the lake. As for parking on Sawmill Bay Rd. you can do that but you still need to go through our other property to get to the lake unless you know someone else that has land and allowing you access. I personally been out there for over 15 years and never had a problem with paying acouple of bucks for the peace of mind of thousands of dollars with of your equipment to be safe not to mention the fuel, repairs and the time to plow. I hope everyone understands and will have a great time on the ice. See you there GOOD FISHIN'

Going out tomorrow to dads shacks. Will be in the red and black Chevy blazer. I'm not expecting to pay any fees since my father pays a rather expensive yearly price.

[SHACKS LANDING 18]

Just stop in at the garage and let them know. Good one you had me going.

[countryboy123 1]

Sounds to me like the 3 new owners want to get rich quick.

I will not be leaving my shack out at Sawmill after this year, $400 is too much.

I know others have the same opinion.

Not an intelligent business practice to piss off shack owners with this increase. Especially seeing as it is likely the main source of income for this property!    

[CurtisYaright 20]

Good luck finding another spot!

I think 400 is reasonable.

Think about it, year round storage for your shack and outhouse. 

Imagine the cost if you had to trailer it back and forth.

If you went out with your truck just 10 times during the season it would cost you 200 bucks to access the lake, so storage is only 200 then.

Where else can you get this service on Lac so close to the highway?  No where!

 

Ill gladly pay to have this service available.

 

 

 

[Fishbum 35]

12 hours ago, CurtisYaright said:

Good luck finding another spot!

I think 400 is reasonable.

Think about it, year round storage for your shack and outhouse. 

Imagine the cost if you had to trailer it back and forth.

If you went out with your truck just 10 times during the season it would cost you 200 bucks to access the lake, so storage is only 200 then.

Where else can you get this service on Lac so close to the highway?  No where!

 

Ill gladly pay to have this service available.

 

 

 

Exactly the way I was thinking this year !  Not mention for the guys who don't have or don't have a good buddy that won't charge you to use their car hauler trailer to tow the hut in and out there's a rental fee for each trip plus the extra gas money to tow each way twice a year!  

Sure it's a pretty big hike in prices but I still see it as fair for the guys who like to fish and get their use out of it ! 

[fishman1 164]

Gas prices down 35 percent , since when gary ran the place, and the last I saw, he plowed th yard as well.

so I beleive pople are justified not beig happy with the 33 percent increase for shacks.

grumpy eddy from sawmill bay Resort died. 

All is it takes is some one to buy the place or the owners to plow the yard and this could ruin your busines overnight.

this is wht happened originally btween,, Gary and Ed Kachur.

dont get greedy guys, you've already ruffled some feathers.

[levi64 72]

Never seen consumers argue that a price increase was an ok thing...  Thats very different. Must be good to have the bucks..

[SHACKS LANDING 18]

I don't understand what fishman1 wrote. I think the yard is as good or better plowed and the road on the ice is mint. I would love to use fishman1's gas card and mechanic to maintain the equipment to keep everything clear. If it is so easy fishman1 could buy Kachar's place. Don't want to ruffle feathers but just be realistic. Everything goes up. Good Fishin'

[fishman1 164]

Just stating that when gary owned the place , his costs were the same as yours. 

But fuel costs were 35 percent lower, and shack storage was 33 percent lower.

the major cost factor for plowing was the price of fuel, now that it is lower, many cant u derstand why thee has been a huge cost increase.

gary seemed to be doing just fine when fuel was $1.50 a litre

I knew gary fairly well, after he raised his storage rate one year, he had over 40 shacks that hadnt paid the fee. 

Good luck in the new business.

[JohnZ 66]

I'd think the cheapest cost for plowing is the fuel... Plows arn't cheap, and they're not cheap to fix. 

[BMAN84 2]

the way I look at it is, if you can not afford the price increase you should really go back over your budgeting and maybe eliminate your fishing all together.  it is not a drastic price increase, the new owners may may not be as well off as gary was? im not sure but they neede to make their money like we make our money, there bills are expensive as well. and maybe they have a plan to make it even better with the more profit they bring in? but if a couple hundred dollars is going to ruin your annual budget maybe you should go over it again or get a part time job for a week to pay the difference.

[BIG SMOKE 22]

I have to agree with JohnZ.  As much as people focus on the price of gas and are so consumed by it, it isn't always the driving force behind increases.  Yes, gas is cheap at the present time, but what happens when out of nowhere the market takes a turn for the worse and gas prices rise?  Not saying that the price of gas is the driving force behind their increase, but now these guys would be stuck with absorbing even more costs on top of every other cost that they have.   Maybe they're being proactive and setting a price that covers them on both ends of the spectrum?  Who knows?  When the price of gas rises, I don't see too many people hanging up their keys and walking everywhere?  If people aren't happy with the price, then don't go fishing.  Pretty simple. 

[grimcity.kid 4]

holy, you guys can be animals. do you not understand the cost of purchasing and trying to run a business? why do you think many resorts are going down? because all the old farts who run them are retiring, making their pension off of selling, and the new guys are left with paying a huge mortgage. same situation here. or you can go to pine point, drive an extra 45 minutes each way and pay $10 A HEAD. so your truck of 4 guys that would have been $20 at sawmill is now $40 at PP. better yet, you cheap ones are better to park at the savanne river boat launch and should be sledding in down the river, if youre really going to whine about money. too many cheap people in this town. no wonder why ive stayed away from sawmill. aside from the shenanigans that usually end up going on, no dealing with these kinds of people. /end rant. have a good day, im going fishing.

[SHACKS LANDING 18]

No Gary's cost aren't the same I knew him well also but not so good that he just gave us the      property and equipment and said have fun boys. I know payments are coming out bi-weekly!! Thanks to everyone that understands money and time does not grow on trees. Good Fishin'

[CoryCo 16]

Trailer your shack home if you don't like the price. Have fun 

[Fisherman08 6]

Years past, All you ever read about is the on going costs that Gary would charge for using his property to gain access to the lake and maintaining the ice road.  Now it's the new owners that are being "Bullied" through this post by some, around their costs for maintaining and offering the same service that Gary did.   If Gary never got a buyer for "his" property and closed down, there would be "no access to the lake at all" from this location.

 

Business is Business, like any other.  The new owner is not going to invest in something that their not going to get a return on.  He/she has to make money over and above all the out going bills that need to be paid and have some left over to live and get by.  If they didn't they could try to sell the property again (MAYBE), or they just fold and close up.  Again there would be "no access to the lake at all".

 

It's the old adage, some people want something or everything for nothing.

 

Wowwwwwwww!  Get a life you free loaders....

 

Consider the owners putting their life on the line, getting the ice road started, and yes a life could have been lost with the Track Truck going through. 

 

Maybe say thank you to them.  it just might make you feel better. 

[Spectre 21]

37 minutes ago, Fisherman08 said:

Years past, All you ever read about is the on going costs that Gary would charge for using his property to gain access to the lake and maintaining the ice road.  Now it's the new owners that are being "Bullied" through this post by some, around their costs for maintaining and offering the same service that Gary did.   If Gary never got a buyer for "his" property and closed down, there would be "no access to the lake at all" from this location.

 

Business is Business, like any other.  The new owner is not going to invest in something that their not going to get a return on.  He/she has to make money over and above all the out going bills that need to be paid and have some left over to live and get by.  If they didn't they could try to sell the property again (MAYBE), or they just fold and close up.  Again there would be "no access to the lake at all".

 

It's the old adage, some people want something or everything for nothing.

 

Wowwwwwwww!  Get a life you free loaders....

 

Consider the owners putting their life on the line, getting the ice road started, and yes a life could have been lost with the Track Truck going through. 

 

Maybe say thank you to them.  it just might make you feel better. 

 I've been reading the posts and I gotta say there isn't really any bullying(well besides ^ this post) going on just complaining and opinons, which they have the right to do. Can't make everyone happy and honestly people need get have some thicker skin. Honestly the people who had problems with the prices weren't being disrespectful at all, seems to be the guys that are trying to stick up for the price changes doing the name calling (ie freeloaders.)  Also good on the owners not shying away and answering all the questions/complaints about the prices and still keeping everyone up to date on road/ice conditions. 

 

I mean really if you don't wanna pay go to another lake *cough whitefish otherwise find someone with a camp for access, pay at this place, pay at the other place or go savanne river launch. 

 

 

Just something to do until I can go again anyways, so until then 

[BearSlayer 7]

If you want to play you have to pay.If you don`t want to do like others have said go elsewhere.NUFF SAID

[CurtisYaright 20]

(When Gary owned it)

Just to clear something up because some of you think the plowing of the lake was included in the price of storage, YOUR WRONG.  Gary charged for storage and lake access only.

Plowing was done as an extra and guys that had shacks out there donated money to help pay for the plowing of the ice road. Gary had a list on his tool box of all fishermen who donated.

 

These new owners have been doing a excellent job, plowing the ice road.

Thanks Guys!

[Grounds Keeper Willie 10]

The way I see it if the ones complaining want to leave over the cost of storing their shacks someone else will just show up and fill their place. New people build new shacks every year. If 4 guys are in on a shack that's $100 a year per guy for storage which isn't bad considering the headaches of towing your shack down that highway at the beginning and end of each year. It's been said already that bills need to be paid. The way I see it if these new owners are spending all their time plowing the yard and maintaining the road then they have to make a livelihood off of this as well. Funny how people who understand the stresses of bills and payments every single day could be so silly and expect people's efforts to go unpaid so that they can have no retirement. From what I understand this place didn't get sold for cheap correct me if I'm wrong. I like having a place to drive to on the ice to a heated comfortable building and I completely understand that making this possible all costs money. Keep up the good work guys!

[WalleyeWayne 137]

I don't see anything wrong with anyone's comments. Prices go up - people question why? Most new business's start out with a business plan co-developed with their accountant to ensure, first and foremost, any loaned or mortgaged money can be re-paid to the financial institution that is supporting the new ownership. The business plan also includes a time-frame within which defines when the ownership expects to reach profitability. No knowing any of the details of the new ownership, I would project deficit recovery to be projected within a 10 year time-frame. There are numerous costs incured with running the business that most people don't know or wouldn't understand. Hence, deficit recovery has to be somewhat aggressive to meet current costs and responsibilities.....and any development plans going forward. A 33% increase can be considered aggressive, but is most likely necessary in this type of industry. I wish the new owners well and as usual, things settle down with time.

[johnr 47]

Just a note of support from an old retired business owner .......the world would be a much better place if all of the people with all of the opinions ran it, wouldn't it? I'm hoping that a few friends got together and bought a beautiful recreation property. I'm hoping that they view it as a camp purchase and not a business entity! I'm hoping that they have a ton of fun with it and if the business side of it helps pay the mortgage then more power to them!! I'm hoping that those who are using their property go out of their way to help them succeed because if they succeed then in turn the customers will have fun! The fun starts when all of the people who threaten to make it fail by leaving, leave ! I assume they will have fun somewhere else!  If it is, indeed fun, then many more like minded fun customers will want to join........" business plan 101 " Best wishes to the new owners and all the happy customers!