Big Alkali Fish Camp Rant

[Fishingnerd33]

I apologize in advance for this, but I gotta get this out of my system. My family and I had a great day of fishing! Let me set the scene for you all. We were in the fish-cleaning building (obviously) cleaning fish. There were two other guys not in our group cleaning their pike. We were having a great time talking with them and cleaning fish. Dad hasn't really learned to fillet so I figured now was a good time to show him. So it took us awhile to clean all of the fish we kept.

He came up and said, "Where you gonna put those guts when you're done?!" I didn't even look up and started chuckling a little, mom & dad were smiling.

Owner - "Don't just be standing there with that grin on your face, what you gonna do with those guts when you're done?!" I quit smiling and looked up, "yeah I'm talking to you! That's ridiculous coming in here and keeping 100 crappie!"

My dad said, "We kept 40, that's 10 a piece, that's not out of line at all sir."

Owner - "Yeah right, come in here and keeping 100 crappie that's just dumb! Doesn't take anyone 2 hours to clean 40 crappie!"

I said, "Well, I'm teaching my dad how to fillet, he's never done it so it's going to take awhile."

Owner - "There's no reason for people who aren't guests to spend that much time in here!"

I said, "Isn't this..?"

Owner - "I don't care what you have to say!"

Dad said, "Are we...?"

Owner - "I told you I don't care what you have to say! The next time you come here, don't keep 100 crappie and clean them at home!"


Out of the 41 we kept, we only had 3 females with eggs. Besides, it's not any of his business how many we keep from "his" lake. Then he kept saying how ridiculous it was that we were fishing on "his" lake and weren't staying at one of "his" cabins. I told him that was the dumbest reasoning I've ever heard. I told him that the only reason he was mad is cause we weren't staying at one of the cabins. Boo hoo.

The whole time he was b****ing about us cleaning our fish we were a captive audience but as soon as he was done telling us off he started walking off. I had to talk to the back of his head while he went back to his concession stand.

Needless to say all of us were pretty steamed about getting treated like that. I thought it was a pretty pathetic way of trying to run a fish camp. There, I think it's out of my system now, just thought that you all should find out about the way the owner of the fish camp thinks & treats those who don't stay at his camp.

[Pro-Hunt]

Sounds like a big difference from the previous people who ran it!! That is too bad it had to go to someone like him.

[Fishingnerd33]

Yeah, my grandparents know the folks who ran it before them, and I got to know them pretty well. They were great people who loved people coming up and catching fish. They treated people great and it was a lot of fun to talk to them after a day on the water.

[catchNrelease]

Sorry to hear about your story. I almost thought about going up there this year. Dont need a hassle.

[Fishingnerd33]

Originally Posted by catchNrelease

Sorry to hear about your story. I almost thought about going up there this year. Dont need a hassle.

I'd recommend it, it's a real pretty lake and it can yield some great fish. I'm not sure if that's a common reaction he has to people who don't stay there but honestly to get into fish like that it's worth any hassle that bum was. PM me if you want some info.

[OldBaldGuy]

Nerd, I gotta ask: what were you planning on doing with the guts?

[catchNrelease]

Originally Posted by Fishingnerd33

I'd recommend it, it's a real pretty lake and it can yield some great fish. I'm not sure if that's a common reaction he has to people who don't stay there but honestly to get into fish like that it's worth any hassle that bum was. PM me if you want some info.

I have been there many times prior to the rehabilitation...

[Fishingnerd33]

Originally Posted by OldBaldGuy

Nerd, I gotta ask: what were you planning on doing with the guts?

I was gonna take em and dump em on his front porch and drive off. It was either that or on his head. Thought better of it though.

[Fly-Boy-Wray]

That makes me miss Dick and Geri!



They were and are good people! They would have never treated you like that….



Sorry for the bad experience.

[BucketMouth87]

hmmm , me and a group of guys stayed up there last month and he treated us very well. He called me in advance and told me that he got the heater turned on in the cabins so we were good to go. He even let us borrow his shower because it had some hot water and the public showers didnt. Also he seen I had a low tire on the trailer and offered to get his air compressor and air it up. Maybe he was having a bad day when you were there but he seemed like a pretty genuine guy to me and my group. I would definitely recommend staying at the fish camp. He helped us out quite a bit and made it a trouble free trip (even when it was 30 degrees).

[Wirenut]

I haven't been there, so I'm trying to picture this; you weren't staying in his cabins, but using his facility to clean your fish, and expecting him to clean up your mess? Is this a public or private station?

[Fishingnerd33]

Originally Posted by Wirenut

I haven't been there, so I'm trying to picture this; you weren't staying in his cabins, but using his facility to clean your fish, and expecting him to clean up your mess? Is this a public or private station?

It's no different than going to a state park and using a fish cleaning station without camping there isn't it? There weren't any signs saying the fish cleaning station was for guests only. We always used it in the past without incident. What sense does it make to have a fish cleaning station at a lake if only the guests in the cabins can use it? The game & parks commission is in charge of everything regarding the fishing, it doesn't make any sense to me to have it be an unmarked private station.

[Fishingnerd33]

I'm hoping it was just a bad day for him. Either that or liquid courage. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he had a little sauce in him when he came over with the way he was acting.

[Wirenut]

Originally Posted by Fishingnerd33

It's no different than going to a state park and using a fish cleaning station without camping there isn't it? There weren't any signs saying the fish cleaning station was for guests only. We always used it in the past without incident. What sense does it make to have a fish cleaning station at a lake if only the guests in the cabins can use it? The game & parks commission is in charge of everything regarding the fishing, it doesn't make any sense to me to have it be an unmarked private station.

Yea, I'd say it is if it was part of his privately owned cabins. If it was a state owned station, then no. He may have gotten tired of non-paying guests messing it up and being left to clean it himself. A simple "sure, where would you like them put?" and a "thank you" may have gone a long way. That's also a Federal Wildlife Refuge, so standard G&P rules may not apply.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Wirenut

Yea, I'd say it is if it was part of his privately owned cabins. If it was a state owned station, then no. He may have gotten tired of non-paying guests messing it up and being left to clean it himself. A simple "sure, where would you like them put?" and a "thank you" may have gone a long way. That's also a Federal Wildlife Refuge, so standard G&P rules may not apply.

[bvrtrap]

It has been a long time since I was there, but the cleaning station we used was private. We just talked to the owners and they just asked that we cleaned up after we were done. Sounds alot like the same situation.

[Willie Boy]

Originally Posted by BucketMouth87

hmmm , me and a group of guys stayed up there last month and he treated us very well. He called me in advance and told me that he got the heater turned on in the cabins so we were good to go. He even let us borrow his shower because it had some hot water and the public showers didnt. Also he seen I had a low tire on the trailer and offered to get his air compressor and air it up. Maybe he was having a bad day when you were there but he seemed like a pretty genuine guy to me and my group. I would definitely recommend staying at the fish camp. He helped us out quite a bit and made it a trouble free trip (even when it was 30 degrees).

sounds a lot like he appreciates and takes care of the folks who stay at his cabins...

Is this a public fish cleaning station? Or is it 'resort affiliated'?

If the latter, wondering if permission could have been requested?

[mkloster]

Originally Posted by Fishingnerd33

It's no different than going to a state park and using a fish cleaning station without camping there isn't it? There weren't any signs saying the fish cleaning station was for guests only. We always used it in the past without incident. What sense does it make to have a fish cleaning station at a lake if only the guests in the cabins can use it? The game & parks commission is in charge of everything regarding the fishing, it doesn't make any sense to me to have it be an unmarked private station.

I'm with Wirenut on this one. Uh, yes, it is very different. In your example, the fish cleaning station is owned and operated by the state park, which you have access to because you paid the entrance fee to the state park.

At Big Alkali, (I am assuming) it is an amenity provided by the owners of the cabin/resort. If they want to limit it to their customers only, they have that right. Now one can agrue that by doing so they are ticking off potential customers, but it is definitely their right and should be respected. Because you said that you just laughed at him when he asked you to clean up after yourself just proves his point, and would have ticked me off as well.

IMO, you were very wrong in this situation.

[Fishingnerd33]

When he first came up the way he was saying it sounded like he was joking, he was really loud & sarcastic. We didn't know he was even the owner until like half-way through his tirade; just thought he was another fisherman just joking around. We didn't think that his comment was serious in any way until he said that he was serious. We quit laughing & grinning when he said he was serious and we tried to tell him that there weren't any signs saying it was for guests only...how are we supposed to know?

He was already ticked before he came over. He basically told us off and left, he wasn't trying to get anything to actually change, just said his piece and left. He didn't have any right to come up and talk to us the way he did. If he knew he was right and that we really shouldn't have been there why didn't he stay and talk with us when we were trying to ask questions? Wouldn't he want to explain it if it's really his private cleaning station? Why doesn't he have any signs posted? Are we just supposed to know that we aren't supposed to clean fish there?

By the way, to remove any doubt, we left the cleaning station much cleaner than when we got there. Cleaned up after the other people cleaning there too. Just saying the only mess we made was in the barrel, where the mess is supposed to be. The barrel wasn't even a 1/4 full with our crappie and like 5 northerns.

I just thought it was pretty ridiculous coming up and yelling at us and not letting us try to figure out why he was so upset. Even if he was correct, he has no right to start yelling at us and just walking off. If he would have come up and said something like "you know, this is supposed to be for guests only." That would have changed everything. I would have then offered to take the guts out to the dumpster for him. When we were there in the past, the cleaning station was always public. The owners told us that, just assumed the new guy was as nice as the last folks.

[Fishingnerd33]

Originally Posted by mkloster

....Because you said that you just laughed at him when he asked you to clean up after yourself just proves his point, and would have ticked me off as well.

IMO, you were very wrong in this situation.

He came up and said, "Where you gonna put those guts when you're done?!" I didn't even look up and started chuckling a little, mom & dad were smiling.

Owner - "Don't just be standing there with that grin on your face, what you gonna do with those guts when you're done?!" I quit smiling and looked up, "yeah I'm talking to you! That's ridiculous coming in here and keeping 100 crappie!"

My dad said, "We kept 40, that's 10 a piece, that's not out of line at all sir."

Owner - "Yeah right, come in here and keeping 100 crappie that's just dumb! Doesn't take anyone 2 hours to clean 40 crappie!"

I said, "Well, I'm teaching my dad how to fillet, he's never done it so it's going to take awhile."

Owner - "There's no reason for people who aren't guests to spend that much time in here!"

I said, "Isn't this..?"

Owner - "I don't care what you have to say!"

Dad said, "Are we...?"
Owner - "I told you I don't care what you have to say! The next time you come here, don't keep 100 crappie and clean them at home!"

We were very wrong? What are we supposed to do? Start apologizing all over ourselves when he treats us like that? If we're wrong we're wrong. No reason at all to treat anyone like that. Does he think he's that important to just come up and start yelling at us? Not a way to treat people at all.