Lou’s Place

By: Jeff ‘Showtime’ Gagnow

First you must begin singing the theme to the ‘Beverly Hillbllies’….alright you got it? Now sing this with me….

Here’s a little story ‘bout a man named Lou who bought a little bait shop to see he what he could do….then one day we were sittin’ in Captains class and he turned to us and said do you wanna catch bass?........White Bass that is…..Fremont Gold!

Now that you will have that song in your head all day; you can thank me later! No joke that is about how it happened; Lou Woods like Randy (Williams) and myself (Jeff ‘Showtime’ Gagnow) love to work in the outdoors and the three of us have always chased our dreams of doing just that.

This week I want to take a little time and introduce you to Lou’s place; or as the IRS likes to call it Wolf River Outfitters; SOLEY (inside joke well not a joke but Lou knows; ask him!) owned and operated by Lou Woods and his family.

Wolf River Outfitters is located right downtown in Fremont, WI along the river. The building is a former Café; it’s small, quaint, and as far as the Woods family is concerned just right! You don’t have to worry about sifting through tons of useless dust encrusted tackle; because the store isn’t big enough but Lou can guarantee that everything you need to fish the Wolf River (any species) is available. Was there a need especially, in this location? Let’s just say that when you have dozens to hundreds of people coming through the store each day during the heat of the Walleye and White Bass run and there are 3-5 people working, selling tackle, renting boats, and slinging minnows not knowing which way is up….yeah I would say there was a need.

Of the two species just mentioned I can honestly say that the White Bass brings in the most business; the Walleye run is special and it is my opinion that more of the locals take advantage of this. But the White Bass……I have personally met many international travelers who when they plan their vacations to the US actually make and take the time to come to Fremont and fish for White Bass in May. This doesn’t count the number of Wisconsinites and ‘out of staters’ who spend their hard earned vacation time and money to come up to our little neck of the woods and again chase the White Bass. Having lived up here all my life I have fished it, heard about it, but I never really experienced it until Lou took a chance and opened the store. By experienced it I don’t mean actual fishing; I mean sit back and watch the people from all walks of life, young, old, national, international, male, female, you name it the White bass does not discriminate and that in itself if a beautiful thing. Think about that this little fish bringing all these people together….simple isn’t it.

Fremont, WI is truly ‘The White Bass Capitol of the World’; and Wolf River Outfitters is fast becoming a part of its heritage and history. So stop on by and see what I mean, the shop is open year round so even if for some strange reason you are not into White Bass; Lou and his family can help with whatever you may need.

In case I forgot to mention it there are (3) licensed Captains/fishing guides to help out as well; Lou Woods the owner operator, Randy Williams the ‘professor’ an extremely knowledgeable fisherman, and me Jeff Gagnow; not sure what I bring to the table but as long as Lou doesn’t ask I don’t have to answer it…thanks Lou!

Did any of this make sense, I don’t know; I am but a simple fisherman so for gosh sakes get out there, have fun, oh and introduce someone to the sport!