October 3, 2008 on Leech Lake

The last time Kathleen and I had been in the boat together was September 18, when she, Rick, Beth and I all went for a boat ride after an afternoon of painting the cabin. It was a beautiful day today, so we thought we should take a ride around Sucker Bay.

We got in the boat at 1:00 p.m., under sunny skies, a temperature of 52 degrees and virtually no wind. The water temperature was still 57 degrees.

We first took a leisurely ride up Sucker Bay to Birch Ridge resort, then headed south toward Big Hardwood Point. At Big Harwood, Kathleen and I tried a little drift fishing with jigs and soft plastics, but didn't catch anything.

We then motored over to Otter Tail Point, where I made a few passes around the point trolling a #9 Minnow Rap. Again no fish.

We then took a ride up to Duck Point and finally to Second Duck Point and home. It was a wonderful time on the water with Kathleen.

Later in the afternoon I took the boat out myself and did some drifting from Second Duck Point to the Birches. I caught a couple of decent perch using an 1/8 oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig, a silver spinner blade and Gulp minnows. All perch were released back into Leech Lake.

The big news today was that Kathleen's first cousin, Tom Petters, was jailed on a number of federal charges stemming from an alleged Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $3.5B. Obviously this is of great concern to Kathleen's entire family.

Here are some photos Kathleen and I took on our boat ride.


Kathleen in the boat on the north end of Sucker Bay on Leech Lake.


Me at the helm during our ride on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake.


A view of Sucker Bay from the north. On the left is Second Duck Point. In the center is Duck Point. On the right, Goose Island. You get a sense of how big Leech Lake really is, this is just one bay on the lake.


Our property. On the right is the flag pole and dock of our house, and on the left is the boat lift and dock at our cabin. Three-hundred feet of heaven on Leech Lake.