Kesagami Lake

[Sam]

Has anyone used Gardiners to fish Kesagami? I have stayed at Kesagami lake lodge a few times and really enjoyed fishing the lake. But the $1800+ U.S. is more than a few of our party for next year wants to pay.

[Chromer]

Have fished there the last two years. Cabin is on Partridge Lake, 10 minute boat ride to portage which is 5 minutes through the bush to Kesagami. Ron has several deep v Nadens on Kesagami with 8hp merc motors. I don't need to explain how good the fishing is as you have been there previously. Any other questions, just let me know.

[WillieB]

Do a search of past posts using "Gardiner"....an assortment of interesting reading to say the least.

Good luck

[Sam]

I looked at the thread from 2002 and it has me a little worried. But in reality as long as the cabin is reasonable and everything works. I don't need him to be friendly for the little bit of time I will see him and I guess I should care how he treats his wife, but it's pretty low on the list of things that matter to me. How is the fishing on Partridge lake?

[Chromer]

Everything works at the cabin, two fridges, propane stove and lights. Beautiful dock and boardwalks with a nice deck as well. Cabin is one room with 5 sets of bunkbeds, it's not the Four Seasons but it works. Fishing on Partridge is OK but much better on Kesagami so you will spend most of your time there. Ron is a different kind of guy and can rub some people the wrong way as he has a lot of rules regarding his camps. As long as you treat his equipment like you would your own you'll be fine. As I mentioned earlier, I have been to Partridge the last two years and wouldn't hesitate to fly with Ron again. Hey, your fishing Kesagami for half the money the lodge is charging I think it is a pretty good deal. Once your in the boat nailing walleye after walleye rules, cabins and all the rest just don't seem to matter that much.

[Sam]

I have been to the lodge three times in the past and the last time we had trouble getting walleye under the 18" limit for shore lunch. We had between 15 and 20 Pike over 35" and 4 over 40". I don't mind taking extra good care of the owners equipment to fish the lake for a reasonable price.

[phishfearme]

i'm glad kromer had a better experience that we did. i felt gardiner was by far the worst outfitter we've ever used. specific: 1 - the boats on partridge were old, small (12 ft.) and the motors were extreemly slow - getting to kesagami was an all day affair (maybe he upgraded them) 2 - thick plastic on the matresses (foam) was incredibly noisy and uncomfortable 3 - he charged for every ounce over the weight limit 4 - his number one priority is for his stuff to last forever, tohell with your comfort - there's lots more but i'm tired of typing. there's WAY too many good outfitters around to put up with his crap - you need to REALLY want to fish kesagami to go with him.
phish

[Seanik]

I totally agree with Phish'S comments. I was there in Aug. of 2001 and will never book with Gardiner Air as long as Ron runs the business. I never met an outfitter so consumed with preserving old and worn equipment at the expense of his clients enjoying their fishing vacation. We always treated outfitter equipment and cabins as good as or better than or own and left the place in better condition than we found it. Ron did his mid-week Check (it's really an inspection) and awarded us Two pies and a gallon of ice cream because we passed with only one gig, the bbq grate was a little dirty.
The pressure of not breaking anything including his rules and being under the thumb of this paranoid outfitter is not worth the great fishing that Kesagami offers. Kesagami Lodge closes for the season in mid July because the fishing slows down, be aware of that. Also he treats his wife pretty much like he treats his clients, crappy.

[polaris-pete]

I was one of 9 who flew one time with the jerk Ron from Gardinier air!!Also one whom posted on his crude way of doing business. A more ignorant man I never knew existed til we met him. When we first met him butter would melt inhis mouth until we actually arrived at his place and hes history now and hope others learn from many other posts on this guys operations.Hes one paranoid individual.We have been doing fly-inns up north for 30 + years and he really shouldn't be in the customer oriented business because he does not know how to respect his own wife no less any paying customers.When we returned we sent a letter to the Cochrane Business Association about the way he coducts business and the reply we got from them said in a few paragraphs some of the bad experiences other fishermen have had with him.I used to see him at the hamburg, NY sports show and always looked miserable as he was and never saw many perspective customers around his booth.I haven't seen him there this Spring and hopefully can save some other fishermen the hassles of having to book with him! He should really get some lessons from Air Ivanhoe on how to conduct business and keep people coming back each year.

[Sam]

I hate to hear all this. I would really like for a couple of friends to get to fish Kesagami. But they just can't swing the $1800 for the lodge.

[Chromer]

It is a tough call. As I mentioned earlier I can see how Ron can rub people the wrong way. However, you spend an hour and a half with him for the flight in and camp overview, a half hour with him for the midweek check up and an hour on the way home. If you really want to fish this lake and only have to deal with Ron for 2.5 hours it is not that big of a deal.

[phishfearme]

kromer - the trouble is his "presence" is there constantly. there's threats all over the cabin and he has your deposit money!! also, if he hasn't updated the boats/motors on partridge, it took us OVER 45 minutes to get to the portage and on two days with a very stiff west wind, we couldn't even get out. he came in mid week, gave us #### for pointing the bow of the boats into the wind (with motors up) and proceeded to turn the boats around. after he left we had to take both boats of the bottom of the lake as they both got totally swamped. no way would i go with him again and i will warm anybody who listens. phish

[Sam]

What kind of deposit do you give? I have only been to lodges and used their American plan. We have not had to give a deposit.

[Trailerguy]

[font color=green size=3][b]I have no knowledge of this outfitter, but it would be common practice to ask for $100 a head deposit or more for a new group. After the outfitter gets to know you they often let the deposit slide. It's not uncommon to be ask to pay the expected fee's for the week at check in either. There are a lot of people that have stiffed their outfitter, for whatever reason, because they think they won't be back.

[Sam]

I have paid when I got to the lodge at places and at Kesagami lodge we settled up when we were leaving. I didn't realize some places required a deposit though.

[phishfearme]

yes - ron requires a damage deposit (i can't recall if it's $100 or $150 each) and won't return it until he males his inspection of kesagami boats/motors (which are pretty good), partridge boats/motor (suck) and the cabin. he made us take the propane grill grate down to the lake to wash it a second time. sam - you will be able to fish kesagami - which is the only reason why we did this trip - but you need to know what you're in for. maybe then it won't be so bad. we actually had a good reference for ron but.... good luck. phish

[phishfearme]

sam - one more thing - a good thing this time. where the boats are stashed on kesagami, walk back into the wood a few meters and you'll find spring seep holes. the water in them is ice cold and a great place to stash a few cold drinks. - phish

[Chromer]

The seep holes were great, sort of, we put all of our beers in them at the begining of our trip drank those beers all week long and ultimately noticed that someone from a previous group had taken a huge crap in the bottom of the very sink hole that all of our pints were stashed in. A bit of a turn off.

Chromer