I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to dock
it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2 hour
drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except for the
two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would take
me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to Madison
is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel boating could be
safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

"Dan J.S." wrote in message
...
I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to dock
it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would
take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

I have seen what the boat traffic is like on the Fox River.........it looks
like a place for lunatics and drunks. The other location is barely any more
desirable because of the drive (with baby and possible traffic tie ups) and
the lack of things to see and do.

I would seriously keep looking.

"Dan J.S." wrote in message
...
I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to dock
it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would
take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?


If you can't come up with a 3rd option, I'd choose the place with the safest
boating. Driving with a baby's not such a big deal, once you develop a
pattern and figure out his daytime nap schedule, if any. If he presents
problems in the car, just give him The Look and ask him "Do you wanna fish,
or not?". He's a guy. He'll figure it out quickly.

Dan J.S. wrote:

I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to dock
it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2 hour
drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except for the
two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would take
me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to Madison
is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel boating could be
safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?



It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always
look at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think
I got that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other
areas for special events like the 4th of July?

It's been a while since I lived up there (McHenry County) so I don't
know which lakes still have dockage available. I kept my 18' bowrider
on Brown's Lake in Racine County for four years. The "marina" was sold,
torn down, and now a few nice homes are there a few steps from Hwy 11.

I guess you have written off Geneva and Delavan?

Dan

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
news
Dan J.S. wrote:

I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to
dock it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would
take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always look
at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think I got
that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other areas for
special events like the 4th of July?

I would second this poster's suggestion for Lake Koshkonong near Milton Wi.
Good fishing, good sized lake for cruising, pretty homes along the shore.
However, it does have a reputation for being somewhat unsafe in high winds.
Not very deep and rumors have it, you can see the sand on the bottom between
the waves during big storms. Wouldn't want to be out on the water,then.

Tom G.

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
news
Dan J.S. wrote:

I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to
dock it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would
take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always look
at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think I got
that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other areas for
special events like the 4th of July?

It's been a while since I lived up there (McHenry County) so I don't know
which lakes still have dockage available. I kept my 18' bowrider on
Brown's Lake in Racine County for four years. The "marina" was sold, torn
down, and now a few nice homes are there a few steps from Hwy 11.

I guess you have written off Geneva and Delavan?

Dan

Geneva and Delavan make the fox river look good. They had a study a while
back to determine why the waves are so strong on Lake Geneva. Belief was
because the lake is an east west lake. Turns out, the reality was because of
all the boat traffic.

Thanks for the other suggestions. To trailer this pontoon boat is a major
pain in the ass. I have a truck for the towing, but a minivan for the
family. It just makes more sense to leave it somewhere and use the minivan
to get to it.

I just bought a summer place near Fox Lake. I'll trailer to fish some of the
local lakes, in both WI and IL. I formerly kept the boat near Delavan, but I
was able to get off the water by 9:00 a.m. so the crazies didn't bother me
so much.

From what I can see and have learned about Fox River/Lake, you can run into
a lot of NO WAKE - NO LAUNCH periods of time when your boat may not be
usable at all. No one can predict the weather for this coming summer. I'd
check the records with the Fox River Authority as to how many and how long
the closures were during recent years. I know of a high water closing ( a
few years ago ) that lasted for a month or more on the fox river. RG
"Dan J.S." wrote in message
...

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
news
Dan J.S. wrote:

I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to
dock it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots
of traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it
would take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always
look at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think
I got that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other
areas for special events like the 4th of July?

It's been a while since I lived up there (McHenry County) so I don't know
which lakes still have dockage available. I kept my 18' bowrider on
Brown's Lake in Racine County for four years. The "marina" was sold,
torn down, and now a few nice homes are there a few steps from Hwy 11.

I guess you have written off Geneva and Delavan?

Dan

Geneva and Delavan make the fox river look good. They had a study a while
back to determine why the waves are so strong on Lake Geneva. Belief was
because the lake is an east west lake. Turns out, the reality was because
of all the boat traffic.

Thanks for the other suggestions. To trailer this pontoon boat is a major
pain in the ass. I have a truck for the towing, but a minivan for the
family. It just makes more sense to leave it somewhere and use the minivan
to get to it.

Dan J.S. wrote:

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
news
Dan J.S. wrote:


I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to
dock it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots of
traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it would
take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always look
at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think I got
that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other areas for
special events like the 4th of July?

It's been a while since I lived up there (McHenry County) so I don't know
which lakes still have dockage available. I kept my 18' bowrider on
Brown's Lake in Racine County for four years. The "marina" was sold, torn
down, and now a few nice homes are there a few steps from Hwy 11.

I guess you have written off Geneva and Delavan?

Dan


Geneva and Delavan make the fox river look good. They had a study a while
back to determine why the waves are so strong on Lake Geneva. Belief was
because the lake is an east west lake. Turns out, the reality was because of
all the boat traffic.

Thanks for the other suggestions. To trailer this pontoon boat is a major
pain in the ass. I have a truck for the towing, but a minivan for the
family. It just makes more sense to leave it somewhere and use the minivan
to get to it.



It's a tough area to find a good place to boat. That's why I kept my
boat in Burlington. Are you in McHenry County? If you are farther
south I have another option - the Illinois River. I fish there every
year in a tournament but that is in late March or early April. There is
very little boat traffic then but I don't know how much it increases
when the season hits. Unlike the Fox, there are few places to eat and
drink.
Here's a link that will give you an idea of the area...

http://www.spring-valley-walleye.org/curent.htm


Dan

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
nk.net...
Dan J.S. wrote:

"Dan Krueger" wrote in message
news
Dan J.S. wrote:


I have a 25 foot pontoon boat (bennington). Trying to decide where to
dock it for the 2006 season.

Choice #1. Madison, Wisconsin - Lake Mendota. For most part, very quiet
lake, good swimming, best 4th of July fireworks in the Midwest. bad - 2
hour drive from my house, no restaurants, not much boating to do except
for the two lakes.

Choice #2. Fox River, Illinois. In McHenry, Illinois. 15 minutes from my
house, great restaurants on the river, 50+ miles of boating. Bad- lots
of traffic on the river, people drive like crazy, lots of drunks, it
would take me 1 hour plus of boating to get to a good swimming hole.


To throw into the mix, I have a 3 month old baby boy, so driving to
Madison is really not the best of options. On the flip side, I feel
boating could be safer in Madison.

Any thoughts on this?

It sounds like you have a trailer and tow vehicle so you could always
look at smaller, closer, lakes like Shabbona (sp?) and Koshkonong (think
I got that right!) and still have the flexibility to trailer to other
areas for special events like the 4th of July?

It's been a while since I lived up there (McHenry County) so I don't know
which lakes still have dockage available. I kept my 18' bowrider on
Brown's Lake in Racine County for four years. The "marina" was sold,
torn down, and now a few nice homes are there a few steps from Hwy 11.

I guess you have written off Geneva and Delavan?

Dan


Geneva and Delavan make the fox river look good. They had a study a while
back to determine why the waves are so strong on Lake Geneva. Belief was
because the lake is an east west lake. Turns out, the reality was because
of all the boat traffic.

Thanks for the other suggestions. To trailer this pontoon boat is a major
pain in the ass. I have a truck for the towing, but a minivan for the
family. It just makes more sense to leave it somewhere and use the
minivan to get to it.

It's a tough area to find a good place to boat. That's why I kept my boat
in Burlington. Are you in McHenry County? If you are farther south I
have another option - the Illinois River. I fish there every year in a
tournament but that is in late March or early April. There is very little
boat traffic then but I don't know how much it increases when the season
hits. Unlike the Fox, there are few places to eat and drink.
Here's a link that will give you an idea of the area...

http://www.spring-valley-walleye.org/curent.htm


Dan

Thanks Dan. Yes I live in McHenry... I might check out the Illinois River
too... thanks everyone for some good alternative suggestions...