October 19, 2008 -- Kathleen's Birthday

Today is Kathleen's birthday. Happy birthday Kathleen!!

In addition to Kathleen and I, Kathleen's mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and a friend of her nephew's are here at the lake for a couple of days.

Yesterday, I took my nephew Sean and his friend Stan fishing, and both caught walleyes. Sean's was 21" so it had to go back into the lake. Stan caught a 17" walleye which is below the 18-26" slot limit on Leech Lake, so he could keep his fish.

I cleaned Stan's fish today so when he and the Coyles leave tomorrow, he and Sean can cook it up when they get home. They are anxious to eat some fresh Leech Lake walleye.

It was very busy day. With a high temperature today of only 50 degrees, and shifting winds -- first at 5-10 mph from the SW and as the day progressed 8-12 mph from the north -- I readied the boat to come out of the water.

I got the trailer in place, unloaded a bunch of tackle and gear from the boat, and finally I pulled the boat out of the lift, around the dock and onto the trailer. Once secured, I got in the truck, pulled the boat up the ramp on onto shore. Another season of fishing in my boat had reached its end.

I have to say, having a boat ramp at the cabin sure makes putting my boat in the water in the Spring and pulling it out in the Autumn a breeze.


The boat ramp at the cabin.

Once the boat was on shore, I cleared the rest of the equipment out of it, pulled the drain plug so any remaining water would drain from the hull, and put the cover on it. My Lund Pro-V 1800 IFS was now ready to take into Bemidji to be stored until May 2009.

With the help of Sean and Stan, I removed the canopy from the boat lift, rinsed it off, and got it ready for winter storage.

With my boating chores complete, I turned my attention to making Kathleen's birthday dinner. We all enjoyed dinner and celebrating with Kathleen as she blew out the candles on her cake and opened her presents. It was really nice that her mom and brother could be here on her special day.

Once again Kathleen, happy birthday. I'm glad we could celebrate it together at Leech Lake.


The birthday girl.


Mike, Kathleen and their mom.