Kinni Lodge is an adorable bed & breakfast/cabin. It has three rooms to rent with a shared full…read morekitchen and living room. There is a hot tub and grilling area. Each room has a closet, fireplace, tv, dvd player, and bathroom. All doors lock with your room key for privacy and security. Every morning there is breakfast prepared; muffins and cinnamon rolls, english muffins, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, etc. It has a full kitchen. The lodge is off the river and only blocks from downtown. It allows everything (or a lot at least) to be within walking distance. I highly recommend this place for a place to stay. Much better than a hotel with a great amount of character. When you set up reservations make sure to ask about payment. It was cash only so clarify upon reservation.

When my kids were younger I booked a trip down the Kinni with this outfitter. 2 adults, one 7 year…read moreold and one 9 year old. I requested 2 person kayaks since my kids had never kayaked and my daughter was scared. They told me this would not be a problem. We got to the outfitter 15 minutes prior to our scheduled time. I confirmed 2 person kayaks were necessary. Paige said that she loaded the one person kayaks and since they were already in the trailer - she wasn't going to take them off. I asked several times and she refused. She told me the kids would be fine. It was the worst experience ever. My kids were frustrated and hate kayaking to this day. I have heard from others that she does not have patience for kids so be aware if you are thinking of using this outfitter for anyone under 18. Also, This summer I booked with River Guide Kayaks. Totally different experience.

This was a first class experience, from the guided river trip, to the friendly staff, shuttle…read moreservice was on time, and ease of booking. The guide made us feel safe and pointed out the wildlife and urban sites of interest. Highly recommended!

From the owner: Kayaking rental and tour agency, we provide shuttle service and extensive local knowledge of the…read moreTwin Cities excellent waterways. We customize trips to fit your groups age, athletic ability and desire for adventure!

I purchased a Living Social coupon for Kinni Kayaks and called them and left a message for a…read morereservation for the weekend. The owner did get back to me (voice mail) about openings. I called back, (again voice mail), and asked for a Sunday time for two. Nothing. Left another message, nothing. Left another message, again, nothing. I also called a couple more times but did not leave a message. My attempts to contact this business spanned two day's, Thursday and Friday. The business owner could not find the time to actually call me, instead he texts me six days later. I can understand that a business would get busy following a release of a discount, but that doesn't justify bad customer service. I requested a refund from Living Social, which you can do within seven days of purchase and got my money back, thankfully. I truly believe that a float down the Kinni river would be worthwhile, I just will not be doing it with Kinni Kayaks. Jay

Fun and easy way to arrange your adventure down the Kinni! We were two first-timers making a…read moreSaturday expedition. Jayson (the owner) was very responsive and straightforward in planning. His service and support during the day were top notch. Equipment was solid and met expectations. Great experience all around.

My son was coming up from Texas for his 30th birthday. He loves to fish so I looked for a guided…read morefishing trip all over Wisconsin and from Saint Paul to Michigan. Everything was way expensive and booked way in advance. I Stumbled onto www.smallcraftoutfitters.com . Guided Kayak Fishing. Incredibly inexpensive and addictively fun! Tyler (the owner/guide) is based on a small ~150 acre home lake, Eau Galle Reservoir but he guides on other lakes as well. Beautiful Lake Eau Galle (Spring Valley, Wi) is east of St Paul roughly 40 minutes A four hour fully furnished excursion aboard a personal custom fishing kayak waiting for you already in the water. Poles already fitted with lures ready to cast. Ice chest with water in the guide's boat and bring your own snacks. The rates for us that day was $75 for the 1st person and $25 for each additional person with their own Kayak. WOW! If we weren't to catch a fish at all it would still be worth it for just the guided tour around beautiful Lake Eau Galle. I have to add up front, I broke my foot a few weeks before and wearing a boot. Tyler was super accommodating making sure there was no trouble getting me into the Kayak. Also, handicap parking just 20 feet from the dock. I had never been in a kayak before but these were very stable and a very comfy seat. You are also fitted with life jackets. We got there around 630a, Tyler wasted no time getting underway. We headed straight for the dam and worked our way around the lake. I don't want to spoil anything for you but he will give you all kinds of interesting information about your surroundings and always quick to point out the eagles flying about. You can bring your own rods and tackle but his selection for you is all you need. I wasn't quite used to the open face spin reel and only a couple of times had to fix a minor tangle. That was mostly me and my lack of talent. Just to make it easy next time I'll bring a closed face spin/cast combo like a Zebco 33 or 808. The artificial lure he will likely select for you is a weedless top water frog. It's a light lure but his rod/line setup delivers casting distance. You can pretty much cast it anywhere.... Over logs, on top of water growth or up on land and jig is back towards you like a little frog swimming from the bank. I'm sure part of the reason for using the weedless lures was to promote more fishing and less toil of trying to get unsnagged from a bad cast. The trick with the frog lure is when the bass takes it under you have to wait a full 3 seconds before you set the hook or you will jerk it out of his mouth and not catch him. I had trouble forcing myself to wait but after I caught on I could make the catch. My son was a natural catching more than a half dozen decent sized ones from the morning and into the heat of noon. Opportunity was always there, I'd say we had 30 strikes between us. My son hooked a pike but it threw the lure before it could be landed. That's the way it goes sometimes. All in all a very pleasant outing, I'll do again. Bugs weren't bad at all but don't forget sunscreen, hat and sunglasses. Tyler is very humble and loves to talk. A few occasions I pulled my Kayak up to his and talked about everything under the sun while we watched my son catch fish. Bonus: Tyler will take lots of pictures for you and send up to a share drive so can view and download. Oh and did I mention how beautiful Lake Eau Galle is? One more thing to think about. So you could go and buy yourself a Kayak with every thing you need to do this and it would cost a good bit as well as having to store it, load it, haul it. Rather you might consider www.smallcraftoutfitters.com guided trip once a month for the short summers we have up here and it would cost you a lot less than owning your own fishing Kayak. Not to mention the space you'll save in your garage.

From the owner: A family owned business passionate about kayak fishing!read more