Winnipeg Free Press delivers a great incentive trip!

Last fall, the Winnipeg Free Press sent one of its very important consultants to Aikens as a reward for his hard work. It was the first time that they had sent somebody to our lodge, and everybody on that trip had a fantastic time and it led to one of the Free Press reporters coming up during our PWT Shootout. Gary Lawless wrote a very flattering article about our lodge, our staff, and our five-star experience!

This year, the Free Press brought a large group. Its publisher, Mr. Andy Ritchie, was thrilled with his trip as he brought many of his top executives, along with many of their large customers to the lodge. The customers were spoiled by the Free Press, as they were given brand new St-Croix fishing rods and rod cases, and a few cases of expensive wines were also brought in. The first day had a bit of a late start, as fog delayed the flights in until the late morning. However, as soon as the fog lifted it was an absolutely gorgeous day! The fishing was fantastic, and although no trophies were caught there were many slot walleye and pike landed. Day 1 action ended late in the night with Pépe, one of the invitees from the Free Prees, entertaining everyone with his guitar in Big Molly’s Bar. Another group member Brian even sang a few requests, and he was even able to get Pit & Julie to dance in center stage with his rendition of the Turtles’ “So Happy Together” (trust me… that’s not an easy thing to do!)

The sun decided not to peek out in Day 2, and it was drizzling all day. That, however, didn’t prevent another great night in Big Molly’s Bar! As you read in the previous news article, everybody got together after supper and watched game 3 of the Stanley Cup final via an online stream. Afterwards, Pépe was once again entertaining the crowd, but this time he had some help from his new friends Turbo, Julien, Paul. Heck, even some of the Free Press guys (like Agostino) would join in for a couple of songs! Jimmy and Elise brought out a monster buffet for the bar crowd. It was another great night and the “Aikens Experience” was really sinking in for the group.

The final day was another beautiful one. Shaun Dufresne caught a 28.5” walleye in the Back Bay while fishing with Pat. They had pinpointed a school of very large fish using a patented bottom-bouncing troll with crawlers. The trip ended with a late shorelunch, group picture, and a late afternoon flight back to Winnipeg. We truly enjoyed showing the people at the Winnipeg Free Press what the “Aikens Experience” is all about, and we know that we will get the opportunity to do this again in the future!  Thanks to everyone who was a part of a great weekend at Aikens Lake.