Rick Smith: Outdoorsy Hotelier
"I spent 12 years in Minnesota, and I didn’t fish nearly as much as I fish here."
It all began with a guided ice fishing trip out on Devils Lake. Rick Smith was a client of Perch Patrol and after visiting, he fell in love with the area. Now Smith is the general manager of Sleep Inn and Suites in Devils Lake, and taking the knowledge he gained after three decades in the hospitality industry, he has developed a fishing package with Perch Patrol. He also added the first fishing cleaning station at a hotel in the area and built dog kennels on site.
As an avid outdoorsman, Rick is always looking for the best places to fish and hunt in the area. He takes his personal knowledge and shares that information with his guests. “We want people to catch fish. We want people to find ducks and geese,” Smith emphasizes. With that as a foundation, his outdoors clientele has boomed. “We have guests from all over the country. It’s not unusual to have 6six or seven states represented in a single weekend."
When visiting the Devils Lake area, be sure to get out on the lake to find out why it’s called the “Perch Capital of the World.” Smith recommends Perch Patrol as a guide service and Pete’s Bait Shop for supplies.
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