Hey, you want to take a boat ride? But it's October 22nd we can't go out now. Wrong! We got the invite to run up the Wolf River last Saturday. So we packed up the cooler and some sweatshirts and headed down to meet our friend in Oshkosh at the Rainbow Park Launch. It was interesting as we pulled in to see the Slow no wake buoys lined up on the shoreline. A slap in the face signal that our boating season is about to end. But the weather was beautiful and why not get on the water any chance you get? We headed towards Winneconne and planned a stop at the Winneconne Public Boat launch next to Lang's Landing. We stopped to wait for a few more friends that were bringing their boat to follow us up the river. We hung out for about 30 minutes. Eating shrimp and having a few drinks while soaking up the sun. The rest of the crew arrived and dropped the boat in and we headed for Fremont. It was a great ride but it was funny as the water temperature dropped. So as you are running in the boat you could feel some heavy temp fluctuations. But I was still comfortable in a t-shirt. As we headed up the mighty Wolf River, we had to keep an eye out. There were a ton of fishermen that felt the need to park in the middle of the river. We ran into 2 different spots on the river where we had to wait for boats to move to just get through the area. Seems like a recipe for disaster at some point. Not sure why you can't sit along the side of the river and cast to the center. I have fished on the Wolf before and have never thought. I should park the Jon boat in the middle of the river to fish.

We decided to go up to Pine Grove to have a hamburger. We should have looked online first. Since we got to the docks and discovered that they are temporarily closed. So the plan was to head up the river a little farther and stop at Gills Landing. We made it up to Gill's and the docks out front were gone. The seawall here did not look very good and was not a place anyone would want to tie up at. I remembered there were some docks in the back channel. So we went around the back and found where the front docks were placed for the winter. The water was deep enough and we found a place to park and headed up to the bar. It was a blast from the past for me. I remember many days as a kid stopping into Gills with my parents and my Aunt and Uncle. So funny to walk in and feel like you walked into a time capsule. We ordered drinks and headed out to the patio to enjoy the day. The bartender came out with our drinks and asked if we needed anything else. We ordered some appetizer baskets and some Jambalaya. Yes, Jambalaya! They really do a great job with this dish. The apps were very good as well. Deep-fried meatballs, Duck tacos, Loaded tots, and of course cheese curds. We did have to laugh as we walked in the back door and they were playing Bingo with a group of about 20 people in the back entry area. As we walked in the Bingo crew all looked a bit surprised that we were there. This is place is a little rough and could use a good handyman to fix a few things. But nothing severe enough to stop me from swinging in. It has some crazy backwoods character. If you have not been to Gills put it on your list of places to check out. We hung out for about an hour and then decided we needed to start heading back as the daylight drops quickly this time of the year. On our way back we stopped at the Fin N Feather to take a bathroom break and to get some food. We stayed about 30 minutes and then headed to the launch. On the run across Lake Butte des Morts, the sunset over the water was absolutely beautiful. What a great day! I am guessing this will be our last run for the season. But hey you never know!

Here are some photos for you to check out!  See all the photos in the Wiparty Boating Photo Gallery.