Smokey’s Bait Shop

Rented the «Dream» 1 week ago to surprise my husband for his 30^th birthday. We had 6 other friends with us that day. They are right about what they say on their website that these boats are NOT NEW. In fact they stress on the website that these are not «luxury» boats. They are definitely used.
When we used the 2 piece ladder, bolted together, to go swimming, the bottom half broke as the 2^nd person was climbing down. We had to be careful the rest of the time of the exposed broken metal pole that was drifting in the water still attached to the top part.
Also the ONE anchor we had off the front of the boat was not the best. Could have been where we were anchored that there wasn’t a lot of solid lake bottom or weeds for it to anchor into (we anchored pretty close up to the west side of «Party Island» so we could wade in the water at the sandbar). But it got pretty windy that day so between that and the wake from other boats and jet skiers, our boat kept drifting in toward the island. About every 20 minutes we had to have one of the guys pull the boat back out and try to anchor again.
In the grand scheme of things, these issues weren’t bad. We still had a great time and were able to enjoy the beautiful day it ended up being.
And I have to say, for $ 200 for 5 hours, I can’t complain. With tax and gas (about 1 hours worth of cruising around the lake at a moderate speed), the total only came out to about $ 220. It was worth it for a great birthday surprise and a nice day out on Pewaukee Lake with friends.
Plan accordingly though, they disconnect the radio/​CD player on board so you have to bring your own. Also make sure you follow the weight/​person max. We had only 8 people total, but we are a bigger group, and when adding coolers with ice and drinks, etc, we had to be aware while riding to balance everything pretty well. More people in the back than the front and distribute the weight from left to right otherwise the boat tilts pretty easily to one side.

Great li’l bait shop on Pewaukee Lake, they’ve got Live Bait, as well as a bunch of decoy baits, and other fishing supplies. Everything you could possibly need. They are open 365 days of the year.
My son and I pier fish, and they told us the pier by the swimming area is the best, but also gave us a map and told us about another pier on the west side of the Lake. We had good success catching sunfish with the Leaf worms. Others had success, grabbing a Northern Pike with grubs.
This is the place to stop if you’re gonna fish Pewaukee Lake!

Awesome little spot to rent kayaks or a pontoon boat! I had a great time kayaking on this lake. Parts of it are very seaweedy, but that’s pretty common for these shallow-​type Wisco lakes. It’s a great getaway when you don’t wanna deal with the MKE lakefront on a hot summer day.