Lake Koshkonong is located about 25 minutes from Stoughton. It's a big lake (10,500 acres), but shallow. The average depth is only 6 feet. The primary inflow and outflow is the Rock River. Scott and I started out on Lake Koshkonong but quickly made our way over to motor down the Rock River. It was our first time taking a boat out on a river. It was beautiful. First picture is my view point from where I was seated looking head down the Rock River. I intentionally kept part of the boat in the picture for a point of reference.
It's very lush along the river.
Initially they were calling for scattered thunderstorms, but it ended up being an absolutely beautiful day.
Last picture of the Rock River, looking from behind in the boat.
Boating on a river is a little different than boating on a lake, partially in terms of boat traffic. Although you can't tell in any of the pictures above, there were quite a few people out yesterday; a lot of people skiing, tubing and on jet skis.
There were a couple places along the river where you could pull up, dock your boat, and grab a drink or a bite to eat. We didn't stop, but I took pictures of two of the places. I'm kind of obsessed with these restaurants that you can get to by boat. There is just something satisfying about pulling up to a place on your boat, sitting outside in gorgeous weather and drinking a cold beer. It's kind of heavenly.
After we were done tooling around the Rock River, we headed back to Lake Koshkonong. There is a spot between Lake Waubesa and the channel going to Lake Monona in Madison where people anchor their boats, get out into the water and party. Lake Koshkonong has a similar place.
We've never anchored our boat and gotten out into a lake before, but yesterday we decided to stop and join the party. There was a fairly long stretch of boats that had stopped and a lot of people were out in the water. I didn't get a picture that really captured the scope of it, but below are a few folks that were hanging out. As you can see, the water is very shallow and the bottom was soft sand.
I think lake water is dirty and nasty and I'm well known as a germophobe. It took a little coaxing, but Scott convinced me to get out of the boat. I do things with and for that man that I never thought I would do. He definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone and helps me break my routine, all in a good way. Once I got out into the water, I was fine. The cool water was refreshing and the sand on the bottom of the lake was super soft. It felt good under my feet.
We've noticed when driving by the party people in the lake in Madison that someone always has music bumping. It is a party after all. Yesterday in Lake Koshkonong, there were 2 different boats providing music; one was playing pop/dance music and the other country.
Boats, standing out in the water, people talking and drinking beer, music playing. Now that's a good party. The people in the boat over Scott's left shoulder in the picture below took it to a whole other level. Not sure if you can see the smoke, but these folks had a grill on the back of their pontoon boat and were cooking out. It smelled so good.
Apparently this fella wanted to take a break from the sun. I guess that's one way to do it-- the old umbrella hat.
Scott, being the friendly, social guy that he is talked to a few people who had their boats anchored around ours. We also met this guy.
Hunter was his name. He was so stinkin' cute and had the sweetest face and eyes. He swam the entire time we were there. He just went from person to person to person. He was very social. I didn't get pictures, but we also talked to some folks on a pontoon boat that had 2 Dobermans with them. You know I love my Doberman Pinschers. One, named Scooby, was quite the swimmer. He just kept swimming around and around their boat with a football in his mouth. When he got tired, he would put his paw on the ladder of the boat and hold himself there to take a rest. He never rested long though. After a brief break, he was back at it-- swimming around with his football. He was so funny to watch. He was loving every minute of his lake time.
That was our day on the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong. We had a really good time. It's so nice to have a bigger, reliable boat so we can be more adventurous in our boat travels than we were with our old fishing boat Martha. We loved Martha, but the new boat allows us to do more. I had some anxiety about buying the new Lund (which doesn't have a name yet), but at this point I'm fairly certain that boat is worth every penny.
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