I know nothing about this place outside of rent slips. I called this morning to gather pricing and Joe was very uninterested in talking to me. He said he could put me on a wait list but wasnt interested in talking about pricing with me. As a consumer i dont see how anyone would want to work with someone who wont even talk about pricing. Seems very fishy and i will not give this company any business as long as Joe continues to behave in this manner. I really believe the reviews posted before mine are all true and this company would really thrive if they replaced or put Joe through training. I'd love to sit and go through de-escalation and customer service training with Joe. Tyrese brent tyresetnt@gmail.com is willing to talk or give information. Thank You read more

Terrible experience. Rented a boat on the 4th of July only to have the owner call me 3 hours before we were going on it to tell me it's too windy and he doesn't want to risk it, despite the fact that it's not that windy and there are a million boats on the lake. Would not recommend. Save your time and money and rent a boat elsewhere. read more

no, joe is a micro manager, heyyyyyy, wheres the fish joe, ? oh i have alot my buddy's get alot of fish here ,,,where? called me twice when i was on the boat, something wrong here,,, read more

Ruined our day... had a reservation for a family outing and planned our day around it. Showed up and Joe told us it was too windy and we couldn't take a boat. He wasn't even at the shop and did not let us know prior. It wasn't windy at all! Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time with this guy... read more

Bad experience with this place and owner. Let me start off by saying it was ice fishing season and I park on the lake which Joe the owner choose to plow. When me and my son step out of the car the owner drives up and tells us that there is a donation box for him plowing a lake so I can park, but I'm drive a truck so plow or not I can still get out there. This is not the first run in with this rude owner. The second time I actually rental a fishing boat from them. The boat was nice as always, but when we came back there was no one there to guide us in. We end up docking the boat fair and near the pontoons. When we went to check out the owner scold us for not parking closer. Its maybe if your got off your butt and come greet us when we would know. Not again I would go there. There is white bear lake more friendly, lake Minnetonka or lake Waconia. Good luck to those who want to see how he is lake your in for a rude treat. read more

They have a great price to rent a pontoon for the day. The boat was nice and worked great for what we needed it to be. It would have been a five star experience except for Joe the owner needs to learn how to talk to people. As all the other negative reviews say he can be very passive aggressive and made rude comments about how you drive the boat. It can be very awkward. I'm writing this review to say it is a great price and boat just understand your interaction with the owner is more than likely going to be somewhat unpleasant. If you can handle that go for it and head as far away in the boat as you can from the dock. read more

Joe is awesome!! Great customer service and friendly! He is very easy to work with. Stored my boat over the winter and rented a slip this summer. Thanks Joe! read more

Harty's Boats & Bait - Boating Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!! WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!! Not sure if this guy doesn't care, or doesn't need the business, but the owner of this place should do something where he doesn't have to interact with other human beings! My Husband and our 8 year old son went there to get bait and some snacks and all of a sudden the owner erupted and yelled at everyone in the store to "Get Out!" What??? Who does that? Stuff like that can really ruin a day/experience and since most of us are going to the lake to enjoy ourselves during our precious free time, avoid this place... read more

My experience is pretty much like that of the others who've written reviews. The pontoon boat was excellent, clean, and comfortable. But the owner is gruff as can be. My primary concern was that he declined to wear a mask, saying he's a Republican. It's hard to see that political affiliation should exempt someone from protecting customers. And happened to caring for fellow humans in the party of Lincoln? read more

We had an awesome time on the boat when we first got out on the lake. The boat was beautiful and spacious and the owner seemed to give us good insight on where to go to drop anchor and swim. HOWEVER, when we returned, the owner was such a jerk. First, we arrived back at the dock 5-10 minutes early, which he saw us coming and came down to the dock to help us get in. Upon which time he yelled at our boat driver for coming in like a 'drag race' and to back up and come in slowly, and that if we hadn't been early he would have been able to walk us thru. So our driver did what the owner said, and the owner yelled in exasperation that our driver was going to ruin the motor. The entire time the owner was 'coaching' our driver to get the boat pulled into the dock, he was criticizing and bickering and just being awful, saying that he saw us turning right and left all over the lake coming in (which we had only done as adjustments were needed driving in). We left the boat in perfect condition - clean, all our stuff picked up, no food or trash on the floor - which he did comment on...AFTER being a complete jerk. Basically, if you are not perfect at driving a boat, don't rent here. Not sure if he treated us like kids because we were in our twenties, or because several in our group of twelve are people of color, but he was an epic jerk when we returned his pontoon in pristine condition. You rent your boats. You can't expect people to be perfect without real tutorials before taking them out. I will never rent here again. Take it to Lake Minnetonka! read more

I've rented boats from Joe twice now, and each time he has been very helpful and professional. You can tell by speaking with him that he really cares about Medicine Lake and what he represents to the community. read more

Multiple bad experiences. I'm a resident of the lake. Multiple times when I've gone in to purchase minnows he has been drinking. I thought maybe he was just mean because he was under the influence, but even the times when he wasn't with beer in his hand he was rude to me and my friends. If you call ahead asking for hours he will yell at you. When I first moved on the lake I wanted to drive and pick up minnows so I asked for directions, after all he has two locations, he told me; "If you can't find the bait shop you probably will not have any luck fishing so why come in." On one trip to get minnows, BTW he's a counter don't think you will get a nice big scoop he counts them one by one, while I was buying minnows my friends notices some crappies under the dock and started catching them. Harty ran out and yelled at them and swearing at them. A little extreme we thought for paying customers. Another time there were some people stuck on the lake where it had drifted over the road that Hardy plows from the public launches to his launch. I knew he had a plow and truck to get them out so I stopped in to ask if he could help because all I had was a car and a shovel Joe said, "they deserved to be stuck, it's every man for himself, they are dumb @!#$'s for going out there." I guess since he's the only profiting from the road and they were stuck 200 yards from his house he could go help, worst case he gets stuck and he walks home and sleeps in a warm bed, not Joe Harty. My neighbor was yelled at for driving a rental boat to wildly, even though he was out with his new born and 80 year old grand parent. Joe chased them down and yelled at him in the lake. He has not rented from him since. I no longer purchase minnows or any other products from him. I would recommend that you do the same. I recommend Johnson's Bait and Tackle 11540 Bass Lake Rd, Plymouth, MN 55442 (763) 383-8830 Johnson's is friendly he will stay open for you if your running late he appreciates your business unlike Joe Harty. read more

Wow...just got off the phone with this very rude owner. I just wanted some lake safety information. I'll take my business elsewhere.

Love this place family-owned great service everything at Harty's Boat Works is big. Big minnow bags big minnows big smiles and big hart(y)s. My sister and I enjoy the friendly and knowledgeable customer service. And don't forget to wave to mom up at the top of the hill. Joe tells us if you're lucky she'll flash you. With her flashlight that is to say hello. read more

Called owner to ask if I could launch boat lift for a fee. Sight unseen, owner stated that he "guaranteed" my boat lift had zebra mussels because of the general area it was from. Further, owner called DNR with allegations that I am transporting non-native species and trying to launch in Medicine Lake. Previous encounter with this business years ago was also a highly negative experience. Highly recommended to stay away. read more

Owner was condescending and ageist. Treated us like children and would not let us rent a boat since the water was "choppy". While the weather was less than ideal, it was adequate enough to use a boat on. Also the edgy attitude was highly unnecessary. read more

Douchebag. Went to get bait during business hours and he didn't even sell me any! He saw me, turned around and walked away down the dock. I stopped 2 nights in a row and he pulled this same crap. I waved and hollered hello to get his attention and he IGNORED me intentionally. He's rarely open during posted business hours anyway and he doesn't have shit for bait. He only cares if you have a big fat ass boat that you're going to store there. That's how he gets his money. He's a prick, douchebag and asshole. Believe the reviews you are reading, they are true. No one else can sell bait here because he owns the east side. Therefore, he can be a prick. Go elsewhere. read more

I can't give a more glowing review about my experience renting a boat from Hardy Boat Rental. We got to use their brand new Pontoon, which was amazing, for a very reasonable price and time length. The lake was large enough to cruise around and beautiful. We fit 4 adults and 4 children comfortably. Joe was easy to be in contact with, and extremely helpful in selecting our pontoon. The week prior, he was lenient with us canceling on short notice due to weather. After our trip, Ann and Joe contacted us with a text and a call to thank us for our business-- what a sweet couple! If you respect Joe's boats, then there will not be an issue. He is very clear with his easy rules-- keep it clean and don't be reckless. We plan to use this business again. Joe will be my "boat guy" when we want to impress our out of town friends and family, and have a fun time with local friends. After this experience, I am okay not having my own boat ;) Thank you for a memorable experience! read more

I bought $30 of bait there and the owner started pissing and moaning because I was being picked up at his dock. I wasn't fishing from his dock, wasn't mooring at his dock, wasn't even standing on his dock, I was just being picked up there. read more

My extended family rented a boat from Harty's this past summer for my son's birthday and the experience was horrible. The owner made it less than ideal. The boat was lovely, but upon returning the boat, the owner chewed out the kids (all uder 5) for making a mess on the floor with food and yelled at them when they tried to open the door to the boat while docked. We had lost the anchor in the lake and admitted this and offerred to pay for it of course. He was rude to us and told us we drove the boat like a go cart. We felt like teenagers when really we were resposible adults in our mid thirties. The owner was a complete jerk and we will NEVER rent from there again. What does a boat rental company expect? That every boat will return in pristine condition without any food on the floor especially when riding with small children? That accidents don't happen? We paid our rental fare and should have been treated with respect, instead WE, the customer, left feeling insulted. I have rented many boats on Lake Minnetonka and have never had this poor of experience. We will definitely be going back to Lake Minnetonka INSTEAD of Harty's Boat Rental on Medicine Lake. read more