Diaries of a Lodge Owner

Outdoor Journal Radio
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In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country. From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.

  1. 17H AGO

    Episode 133: Mentors, Muskies, And Mindset

    What if the fastest way to get better at anything isn’t a “secret spot,” but a better way of thinking? We welcome muskie guide and entrepreneur Pat Tryon for a wide-open conversation about the habits that turn long slogs into sudden breakthroughs: studying structure, compressing the search with smart tech, learning shoulder-to-shoulder with experts, and keeping your ego out of the way when the pattern isn’t clear yet. Pat takes us back to the Upper French River and a nerdy off-season project that changed everything: knowing every rock. By scanning maps, drilling contours, and building a mental atlas, he could spot one winning setup and instantly jump to five more that matched. We unpack how this off-water practice speeds on-water results, why dock mapping and contour reading matter more than hot tips, and how modern sonar reveals what many of us used to dismiss. The theme isn’t gadgets—it’s using tools to support a clear process. We also get practical about mentorship. Pat explains how riding with seasoned anglers exposes the real craft you never see on highlight reels: boat angles, cadence changes, timing, and the patience to let a lure suspend longer than your nerves prefer. Add in the human hack of talking to everyone—locals on the dock, bait shop owners, quiet regulars—and you’ll catch the small cues that switch your day on. Throughout, we connect these lessons to everyday life: pattern recognition, data-informed decisions, and honest iteration help in business, creative work, and any tough learning curve. If you’re ready to trade “what’s the secret?” for a system that actually works—persistence plus skill, guided by genuine curiosity—this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves to learn, and drop us a review with the best hack you’ve picked up from a mentor. Which part of your craft will you study next?

    1h 7m

  2. FEB 11

    Episode 132: Reel Moments Together

    Some memories hook you for life. We dive into how a childhood spent on a riverbank grew into a mission to help families create those same anchor moments—first casts, first fish, and traditions that bring everyone back to the water year after year. We share a weekend at the Spring Fishing and Boat Show that sparked it all, highlighted by a dynamic father–daughter seminar with Angler & Hunter TV’s Mike Miller and his 16-year-old daughter, August. Their message is simple and powerful: give kids real gear, real responsibility, and room to try. From weedless stick worms and barbless hooks to letting young anglers tap the sonar and GPS, small choices set them up to win. We pair those takeaways with our own stories of dock monsters, brochure-worthy walleye, and lodge-side tactics like tossing dead minnows where perch stack so kids can catch fish within minutes of arriving. Running a lodge taught us that we are not selling fishing trips—we are selling experiences. You will hear how thoughtfully pairing families with kid-savvy guides, planning shore lunches that end with fresh-made donuts, and protecting easy-access dock fisheries turn quick wins into lifelong loyalty. Those bright, sensory-rich moments—cedar-scented valleys, the shock of a northern exploding from the weeds, the first time a child says “I’ve got a fish”—become traditions families defend on the calendar. We talk about setting a non-negotiable annual trip, unplugging from screens, and using the outdoors to teach patience, respect for wildlife, and calm in a noisy world. If you are a parent, mentor, or lodge owner, this episode gives you a clear playbook: equip for success, celebrate small victories, and build repeatable rituals that make kids proud to be anglers. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs a nudge to plan that trip, and leave a review with your favourite first-catch memory—we might feature it on a future show.

    54 min

  3. FEB 4

    Episode 131: Unplugged On Purpose

    The moment your phone loses signal and the shoreline comes into focus, something shifts. We dig into why that feeling matters—and how an outdoor lodge can design for it—by drawing a hard line on connectivity in the cottages while keeping smart tech where it helps. The main lodge becomes a social hub for quick check‑ins, photo sharing, and serendipitous conversations. Cabins stay quiet on purpose, nudging families toward board games, dock time, and long talks that outlast any push alert. Behind the scenes, we share the systems that make a stay smoother without breaking the spell: reliable booking and accounting tools, a wired dock portal for licences and purchases, and a dining‑room photo display that turns guest catches into breakfast stories. On the water, we get practical about safety and confidence. GPS and sonar reduce the stress of navigating complex channels, and we pair them with old‑school navigation habits so guests feel prepared if screens fail. We also tackle forward‑facing sonar with nuance. It’s powerful, but not a magic wand. The best results come when decades of instincts meet live views, turning slow periods into lessons on structure, fish behaviour, and conservation‑minded handling. Beyond boats, small additions—weather tracking, trail cameras, a simple telescope under a dark sky—deepen nature immersion without flooding the trip with noise. The rule of thumb: adopt tech that enhances attention, limit tech that steals it. If you’ve been craving fewer notifications and deeper connections, this conversation offers a clear blueprint: keep Wi‑Fi at the hub, keep cottages calm, and use the right tools to protect people and place. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a reset, and tell us: would you choose an unplugged cabin with smart support over full‑time connectivity?

    54 min

  4. JAN 28

    Epiosde 130: Lodge Life, Unfiltered

    The story starts before dawn and doesn’t end until the last plate is stacked. We open the door to real lodge life: the 5 a.m. kitchen huddles, the dockside calm for nervous boaters, the septic fixes nobody sees, and the dining room standards that set the tone for trust. It’s everything you don’t find on a brochure, told with the momentum of days that never quite go to plan—and the mindset that refuses to leave room for failure. We trace the early missteps of running with a skeleton crew and the hard-won lessons that followed: why the old model worked, how details like hospital corners and clean bathrooms win hearts, and why making the spouse and kids comfortable is the fastest path to loyalty. There’s the infamous dinner where a guest’s outfit rattled the room and cemented a dress code. There’s the sideways-rain arrival of a major group—saved by a tarped pontoon, fast logistics, hot meals, and guides at the ready—that turned a shaky first impression into years of repeat business and referrals. Along the way, a community forms: lounge games that break the ice, a baby grand on the dock, jam sessions by the fire, and the quiet satisfaction of watching strangers become family for a few days. The core takeaway is simple and demanding: never give yourself the opportunity to fail. Remove the off-ramps, make a clear decision, and stick to it. Keep judgment sharp—especially in a business where late nights and open bottles are always nearby. If you’re building anything in the outdoors—an outfitting service, a lodge, a guiding brand—this conversation offers candid operations insight, guest experience strategy, and the gritty resilience that keeps small businesses alive in remote places. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves the North, and leave a review to help more people find these stories. What tough lesson made you better at your craft?

    1h 16m

  5. JAN 21

    Episode 129: What Happens When Experience Outweighs The Catch

    What if the secret to a thriving lodge isn’t the bite count, but the rituals that make strangers feel like family? We share how a northern fishing lodge shifted from “catch-first” to “community-first” using simple, repeatable traditions that turned a good trip into a must-return experience. It starts with jam nights—live music that melts social barriers and gives everyone a reason to linger. Add in a Thursday shore lunch that’s pure theatre: guests donate their morning catch, watch skilled hands fillet it, and see it transformed over roaring pans into a feast of fish, fries, and donuts. We talk candidly about staff morale in tight quarters, why clear boundaries preserve trust, and how a little constructive friction—like centralizing the best internet—can pull people together without forcing it. Then we scale to yearly anchors: a Canada Day fireworks “blaze of glory” launched from a floating dock, complete with a whistled O Canada that carries across the river, and a massive community fish fry that pulls in cottagers, yachters, and locals with live music and valet mooring. These traditions forged real partnerships on the Upper French River, made the lodge a landmark, and built the kind of loyalty that fills the calendar. We close with Thanksgiving: a long table of staff, family, and guests that marks the end of the season with gratitude and the best turkey dinner the team has perfected all year. If you run an experience-based business—or want your camp, club, or company to feel like a place people belong—this story is your playbook. Learn how to design rituals that lower walls, lift hearts, and keep people coming back together. Enjoy the episode, then subscribe, share it with a friend who loves the outdoors, and leave a review to tell us which tradition you’ll start next.

    1h 19m

  6. JAN 14

    Episode 128: Your Lodge’s Past Is The Blueprint For Its Future

    What if your lodge’s past was the strongest marketing you have? We sit down with Willie “the Oilman” to unpack how a northern lodge thrives today by selling a lifestyle, telling its origin story with pride, and using trade shows as a stage—not a hard sell. We start where many operators wonder: do trade shows still pull their weight? Willie explains the shift from booth-first selling to a blended strategy where a clean, portable display supports the real engine—TV segments, YouTube reels, and podcast appearances that drive measurable spikes in website traffic and bookings. He walks through smart show prep, from pull-up banners and looping promos to skipping pricey power with a battery and inverter, then makes the bigger point: shows matter when they reinforce a brand people already trust. The heart of the episode is pure lodge lore. A single Facebook post sharing vintage maps, logos, and photos draws in the Kozak family—descendants of a former owner living across Estonia, Alberta, and the Philippines—who reveal the lodge’s hidden smoking room, original landing, and the legendary “weatherman” guide who checked an AM radio at dawn. These stories turn cabins into chapters and meals into museum tours. We connect that heritage to guest experience design: capping capacity so every guest has their own room and bath, staging fuel and supplies in winter, switching to salted shiners to cut bait waste, and recruiting an elite staff including a Keg head chef and celebrity guides. It’s a playbook that keeps calendars full years out while protecting the magic that keeps guests returning. By the end, you’ll hear a simple truth: a lodge is not a hotel. It’s a promise you make at first contact—and keep on the dock, at dinner, and around a wall hung with real history. If you care about outdoor hospitality, backcountry logistics, or how story-driven marketing wins loyal guests, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a lodge owner who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us the one story that would make you book a trip today.

    1h 4m

  7. JAN 7

    Episode 127: Are Big Trade Shows Still Worth It For Lodge Owners

    The floor may be buzzing, but the best trade show wins often happen in quiet moments—over a handshake, a shared story, or a thoughtful follow-up that arrives right when someone is ready to book. We open up about the early missteps, the pressure to sell fast, and why we chose a different path built on trust, clear expectations, and experiences we could control. Rather than pushing deposits, we focused on unique selling points that never go out of style: great food with a sit-down lunch, comfortable cabins, and an atmosphere guests wanted to return to. We dig into the tools that turned browsers into warm leads—simple giveaways with clean consent, consistent emails that deliver value, and visual storytelling that works even when you step out of the booth. If you’ve ever wondered whether a packed bookings book is real or just theatre, you’ll appreciate our commitment to underpromise and overdeliver, which kept satisfaction high and repeat visits strong. The real multiplier came from networking. We share how meeting TV hosts, writers, tournament anglers, and tourism leaders led to televised visits that filled calendars and boosted search visibility. Saying yes to last-minute media, then delivering a flawless stay, paid off far more than squeezing a few walk-up deposits. We also cover the operational side: aligning staff language, avoiding costly mixed messages, and building a simple follow-up system so promising conversations don’t go cold. If you’re a lodge owner, outfitter, or small tourism operator weighing show costs against digital marketing, this story gives you a practical blueprint for turning trade shows into relationship engines that pay off all year. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s prepping for trade show season, and leave a quick review with your best booth tip—we’d love to learn what works for you.

    1h 19m

  8. 12/31/2025

    Episode 126: Ice Village On Lake Simcoe

    Ever seen a town pop up on a frozen bay? We sat down with Donnie Crowder of Hot Box Huts to explore how a three-hut hobby became “Hogtown,” a 52‑hut ice fishing village on Lake Simcoe built around safety, comfort, and catching more fish. An early cold snap laid down a rare shelf of white ice, and Donnie explains how that milky layer creates low light cover in three feet of water—turning the shallows into one giant dock where perch and pike cruise all day. We dig into the nuts and bolts of an on‑ice operation: staging lightweight huts during a soft start, running covered sleighs for short, safe rides, and staffing the village so someone actually knocks on the door to help you dial in your rig. Donnie shares the “runway” layout along a gradual drop that tracks how perch move from shallow to deep, why schooling behaviour makes efficiency everything, and how a beaded spoon out-fishes bait when the school arrives. For families and first‑timers, sight fishing in clear, shallow water becomes an instant tutorial. For gearheads, underwater cameras reveal tiny tells—gentle flares, bloodworm rooting—that change your presentation and your results. Predators add drama and insight. Pike ride high, hunting shadows under the ice, so quick‑strike rigs set inches below the surface can be startling and deadly. We also get into harvest choices on a heavily fished but healthy bay, why leaving 14‑inch breeders helps the biomass, and how short modern seasons compare to those in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Donnie’s tech philosophy is practical: live scope for specific situations, cameras for learning, and a 24/7 YouTube lake cam that doubles as a safety update and a front‑row seat to passing bald and golden eagles. If you’ve wanted a winter day that feels welcoming instead of punishing, this one’s for you. Warm huts, clean washrooms, kids fed through a new on‑ice food partner, and nonstop lessons that make your next drop better than the last. Hit play to learn how to read white ice vs black ice, set up for perch that won’t sit still, and turn a frozen bay into a place your whole crew can love. Enjoyed this conversation? Follow and subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a winter adventure, and leave a review to help more anglers and families find the show.

    1h 18m
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About

In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country. From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.

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