This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was 72 degrees, the air felt heavy with humidity, the wind was at 10-15 mph out of the SSE and the sky was overcast and grey.
As the day went on the temperature kept going up, finally resting at 87 degrees by midday. The humidity was at a crazy 90 percent with the dew point in the mid 70s. It was hot, wet and sticky.
Kathleen wanted some time alone to read so I went out fishing. The wind was 8-12 mph out of the SSE and the water temperature had warmed to 70 degrees. I used an 1/8 ounce VMC Mooneye jig tipped with a leech and made numerous drifts from about 8 feet of water out to 14 feet. I caught several rock bass, but no walleye. I did have something hit my jig hard, and bite off my jig and bait, but I couldn't hook whatever it was; most likely a big northern pike.
After a couple of hours on the water I went ashore. It was still very hot and humid. Kathleen had finished her book and was ready to cool off by jumping into the lake. I joined her in the waters of Leech Lake, and I have to say, the 70 degree water definitely cooled my core.
The sky remained overcast and hazy most of the day which meant that the sunset tonight was unspectacular. By 10:00 p.m. it finally started to cool off, and it was cool enough that sleeping tonight shouldn't be too uncomfortable.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June 29, 2011 -- In Leech Lake
This morning's weather was even nicer than yesterday. The temperature was in the mid-60s, and would hit 70 by noon. The wind was fairly strong at 10-15 mph out of the SSE, but the water in front of our properties was calm. The sky was sunny with only a few clouds on the horizon.
After breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee, I set out to move several wheelbarrow loads of rock from the pile at the cabin to around the harbor wall at the house. Even though Peterson Excavating had brought in a dump truck load of rock, they only put it in the spots where they had added cable to reinforce the harbor walls. There were still other areas that needed to have rock added to fight against erosion by providing better drainage.
The temperature by this time had climbed to 81 degrees and with the humidity at 82 percent, I was soaked in sweat by the time I had finished my work. So, I did what I always do at Leech Lake when I'm really hot -- I jumped in the lake.
The initial shock of the 69 degree water was electric, but after a while the water temperature felt great, and I ended up spending a half an hour playing and swimming in the lake.
Later in the afternoon, when she had returned from her 6-mile run, Kathleen decided to take a bath in the lake using camp soap and wanted me to join her. We swam between the docks at the house and cabin, and washed ourselves in the water near the dock at the cabin.
After playing in the water a bit, we climbed onto the dock at the house and sat in our lounge chairs for the next several hours just talking and hanging out.
Finally, just after sunset we went into the house, had some dinner and just enjoyed the warmth of the summer night.
Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter -- some forecasts calling for temperatures in the 90s. I'm sure if it does end up being that hot that Kathleen and I will end up in the lake again.
After breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee, I set out to move several wheelbarrow loads of rock from the pile at the cabin to around the harbor wall at the house. Even though Peterson Excavating had brought in a dump truck load of rock, they only put it in the spots where they had added cable to reinforce the harbor walls. There were still other areas that needed to have rock added to fight against erosion by providing better drainage.
The temperature by this time had climbed to 81 degrees and with the humidity at 82 percent, I was soaked in sweat by the time I had finished my work. So, I did what I always do at Leech Lake when I'm really hot -- I jumped in the lake.
The initial shock of the 69 degree water was electric, but after a while the water temperature felt great, and I ended up spending a half an hour playing and swimming in the lake.
Later in the afternoon, when she had returned from her 6-mile run, Kathleen decided to take a bath in the lake using camp soap and wanted me to join her. We swam between the docks at the house and cabin, and washed ourselves in the water near the dock at the cabin.
After playing in the water a bit, we climbed onto the dock at the house and sat in our lounge chairs for the next several hours just talking and hanging out.
Finally, just after sunset we went into the house, had some dinner and just enjoyed the warmth of the summer night.
Tomorrow it's supposed to be even hotter -- some forecasts calling for temperatures in the 90s. I'm sure if it does end up being that hot that Kathleen and I will end up in the lake again.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
June 28, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning we awoke to sunny skies, big billowy white clouds, a light breeze out of the NW at 5-8 mph and a temperature of 62 degrees.
We could finally enjoy our coffee while sitting in the warm sun on our back porch overlooking the lake.
By 1:00 p.m. the wind had shifted and was coming out of the SSE at 8-12 mph, most of the clouds had moved on leaving the sky clear and blue and the temperature had warmed to near 70 degrees.
Kathleen and I decided that since it was such a beautiful afternoon that we'd take a drive out to Lake Itasca State Park, where 30 years ago we stayed overnight as part of our honeymoon. It is the headwaters of the Mississippi River and we plan to walk across the small stream that it is at its origin.
It's a beautiful drive out Hwy. 2 to Hwy. 71 and eventually to Hwy. 200 which takes you through the small town of Lake George and finally to the east entrance of Lake Itasca State Park. Once inside the park we drove the short distance to the Douglas Lodge where we had lunch. Thirty years earlier, Kathleen and I had dinner, and the next day breakfast, inside the same rustic, log lodge.
We then walked down to the edge of the lake near the start of the Brower Trail where we came across a large patch of Lady Slippers, Kathleen's favorite flower. We walked a short way up the Brower Trail, but eventually cut up the hill and emerged near the cabins where we had stayed three years ago when we had gathered on the shores of Lake Itasca for the Coyle Family Reunion.
Itasca State Park, Kathleen with Lady Slippers and at Lake Itasca
Kathleen and I then drove the five miles to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Once there, we walked the 800-foot trail that leads to the start of the mighty Mississippi River. At its origin, it is so small and shallow that it is easy to walk right across it. Both Kathleen and I waded into the cold waters that make up the first few feet of the Mississippi. Unlike in times past when we've been here, the water was both colder, deeper and faster moving. It must be a result of all of the rain we've had the past few days, up to 4 inches by some estimates.
After some enjoyable time at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, we walked back to the truck and drove back to Leech Lake. As wonderful as Lake Itasca State Park is, and it is wonderful, for us, nothing beats the beauty and splendor of Leech Lake.
We got home at 7:30 p.m. and the temperature was still 72 degrees. The wind was calm and the sky was almost completely clear. We opened a couple of cold beers and walked out to the end of the dock to sit in our lounge chairs and watch the sun set.
The sun didn't actually set while we watched, but it did drop lower and lower into the western sky. At 8:45 p.m., about a half an hour before sunset, I took the boat out to do some fishing, while Kathleen enjoyed some quiet time to herself; which she greatly deserves.
I trolled from our house south past Second Duck Point into the middle of Duck Bay in 9-12 feet of water pulling a silver shad-colored jointed Shad Rap at a ground speed of 2 1/3 mph. The water temperature was just over 69 degrees.
During my first circuit I caught but one rock bass. I decided to switch lures and go back to my favorite #9 Minnow Rap in the Tennessee Shad color. I once again trolled south past Second Duck Point into Duck Bay before turning north and heading back to our house. On my way north I hooked into a nice fish and when I got it on board I measured a 19 1/2-inch walleye; a slot fish so it immediately went back into the water.
Once back on shore, I got a fire going in the fire pit at the cabin and Kathleen sat around the fire and talked for an hour or so before walking out onto the end of the dock and looking at the millions of stars in the clear night sky. The Milky Way was clearly visible, as was Saturn, Libra and Scorpio.
We had another wonderful day at Leech Lake, and the area that surrounds it.
We could finally enjoy our coffee while sitting in the warm sun on our back porch overlooking the lake.
By 1:00 p.m. the wind had shifted and was coming out of the SSE at 8-12 mph, most of the clouds had moved on leaving the sky clear and blue and the temperature had warmed to near 70 degrees.
Kathleen and I decided that since it was such a beautiful afternoon that we'd take a drive out to Lake Itasca State Park, where 30 years ago we stayed overnight as part of our honeymoon. It is the headwaters of the Mississippi River and we plan to walk across the small stream that it is at its origin.
It's a beautiful drive out Hwy. 2 to Hwy. 71 and eventually to Hwy. 200 which takes you through the small town of Lake George and finally to the east entrance of Lake Itasca State Park. Once inside the park we drove the short distance to the Douglas Lodge where we had lunch. Thirty years earlier, Kathleen and I had dinner, and the next day breakfast, inside the same rustic, log lodge.
We then walked down to the edge of the lake near the start of the Brower Trail where we came across a large patch of Lady Slippers, Kathleen's favorite flower. We walked a short way up the Brower Trail, but eventually cut up the hill and emerged near the cabins where we had stayed three years ago when we had gathered on the shores of Lake Itasca for the Coyle Family Reunion.
Itasca State Park, Kathleen with Lady Slippers and at Lake Itasca
Kathleen and I then drove the five miles to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Once there, we walked the 800-foot trail that leads to the start of the mighty Mississippi River. At its origin, it is so small and shallow that it is easy to walk right across it. Both Kathleen and I waded into the cold waters that make up the first few feet of the Mississippi. Unlike in times past when we've been here, the water was both colder, deeper and faster moving. It must be a result of all of the rain we've had the past few days, up to 4 inches by some estimates.
After some enjoyable time at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, we walked back to the truck and drove back to Leech Lake. As wonderful as Lake Itasca State Park is, and it is wonderful, for us, nothing beats the beauty and splendor of Leech Lake.
We got home at 7:30 p.m. and the temperature was still 72 degrees. The wind was calm and the sky was almost completely clear. We opened a couple of cold beers and walked out to the end of the dock to sit in our lounge chairs and watch the sun set.
The sun didn't actually set while we watched, but it did drop lower and lower into the western sky. At 8:45 p.m., about a half an hour before sunset, I took the boat out to do some fishing, while Kathleen enjoyed some quiet time to herself; which she greatly deserves.
I trolled from our house south past Second Duck Point into the middle of Duck Bay in 9-12 feet of water pulling a silver shad-colored jointed Shad Rap at a ground speed of 2 1/3 mph. The water temperature was just over 69 degrees.
During my first circuit I caught but one rock bass. I decided to switch lures and go back to my favorite #9 Minnow Rap in the Tennessee Shad color. I once again trolled south past Second Duck Point into Duck Bay before turning north and heading back to our house. On my way north I hooked into a nice fish and when I got it on board I measured a 19 1/2-inch walleye; a slot fish so it immediately went back into the water.
Once back on shore, I got a fire going in the fire pit at the cabin and Kathleen sat around the fire and talked for an hour or so before walking out onto the end of the dock and looking at the millions of stars in the clear night sky. The Milky Way was clearly visible, as was Saturn, Libra and Scorpio.
We had another wonderful day at Leech Lake, and the area that surrounds it.
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 27, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
At 8:00 a.m. this morning it was still raining and there was thunder rumbling off in the distance. The temperature was 55 degrees and the wind was strong at 12-17 mph out of the NW. The sky was mostly cloudy, with little patches of blue here and there.
For most of the morning and into the early afternoon rain continued to fall. Finally, around 1:00 p.m. the rain let up so Kathleen and I immediately took advantage of the break and went for a long walk. We walked to the "beaver pond" or as Kathleen calls it, "swamp 1," and back. About a 3 mile walk.
On our way back we saw Tom Malay driving his truck toward the community center. He stopped and informed us that a tree had fallen across West Shores Road between Harbor Dr. and the community center. He told us that he had his chain saw with him and that he planned to clear the road; and get a little firewood in the process.
Once home, I quickly got on the ATV and rode out to the site of the fallen maple to help Tom clear the road. It's always a good idea to have someone with you when you're using a chain saw.
The tree hadn't snapped off in the wind, rather it had simply fell over as a result of the three inches of rain we've had in the past 36 hours. We have standing ponds all over our properties, so it's not hard to imagine a large maple tree toppling over from its own weight in the super-saturated ground.
Ron Newstrand joined Tom and me for the tree-cutting operation. During our efforts a large diesel pickup truck hauling a big back hoe came down the road, but had to stop until we were able to clear the road. A UPS truck came from the other direction on its way to making a delivery, but was able to turn around in the road and go a different route.
After an hour of chain sawing and hauling, the three of us loaded a cut maple into the back of Tom's and Ron's trucks, since both use wood to heat with during the winter. No sooner had we opened up the road than it started to rain.
Since I was on the ATV I took off first for home. I managed to get the ATV stored in the garage and myself into the house before the rain got worse. We did get more rain between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., but by 6:00 p.m., the rain had stopped, the clouds parted somewhat and we actually saw some sunlight. The temperature, however, never got past 60 degrees. The had shifted and was coming out of the west at 12-15 mph.
After dinner it was nice enough to go out onto the dock and watch the sunset; although it was still quite windy. Tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and warm, which will be a welcome relief from the cool temperatures and the rain. I'm hoping to be able to get out onto the water to do some fishing tomorrow.
For most of the morning and into the early afternoon rain continued to fall. Finally, around 1:00 p.m. the rain let up so Kathleen and I immediately took advantage of the break and went for a long walk. We walked to the "beaver pond" or as Kathleen calls it, "swamp 1," and back. About a 3 mile walk.
On our way back we saw Tom Malay driving his truck toward the community center. He stopped and informed us that a tree had fallen across West Shores Road between Harbor Dr. and the community center. He told us that he had his chain saw with him and that he planned to clear the road; and get a little firewood in the process.
Once home, I quickly got on the ATV and rode out to the site of the fallen maple to help Tom clear the road. It's always a good idea to have someone with you when you're using a chain saw.
The tree hadn't snapped off in the wind, rather it had simply fell over as a result of the three inches of rain we've had in the past 36 hours. We have standing ponds all over our properties, so it's not hard to imagine a large maple tree toppling over from its own weight in the super-saturated ground.
Ron Newstrand joined Tom and me for the tree-cutting operation. During our efforts a large diesel pickup truck hauling a big back hoe came down the road, but had to stop until we were able to clear the road. A UPS truck came from the other direction on its way to making a delivery, but was able to turn around in the road and go a different route.
After an hour of chain sawing and hauling, the three of us loaded a cut maple into the back of Tom's and Ron's trucks, since both use wood to heat with during the winter. No sooner had we opened up the road than it started to rain.
Since I was on the ATV I took off first for home. I managed to get the ATV stored in the garage and myself into the house before the rain got worse. We did get more rain between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., but by 6:00 p.m., the rain had stopped, the clouds parted somewhat and we actually saw some sunlight. The temperature, however, never got past 60 degrees. The had shifted and was coming out of the west at 12-15 mph.
After dinner it was nice enough to go out onto the dock and watch the sunset; although it was still quite windy. Tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and warm, which will be a welcome relief from the cool temperatures and the rain. I'm hoping to be able to get out onto the water to do some fishing tomorrow.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
June 26, 2011 -- Our 30th Anniversary -- On Leech Lake
Thirty years ago today, my wife Kathleen and I married along the shores of the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I can't believe it's been 30 years. In some ways it's gone by like a blink of an eye, yet in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. We were so young!
The temperature here at Leech Lake 10:00 a.m. was 60 degrees, the sky was overcast and grey, and the wind was 10-15 mph out of the SSE, but because of the way we're positioned on the peninsula, the water in front of our property is still and the flag is limp against the pole. The ground was still wet from the overnight rain.
As the day went on it got warmer, and eventually topped out at 73 degrees. The wind remained out of the SSE for most of the day, but shifted to the NNE about 4:00 p.m. For most of the afternoon the sky was partly sunny.
Kathleen went running at 2:30 p.m., which gave me an opportunity to go fishing. I spent a little more than two hours on the lake and tried a number of different tactics to catch some walleye, but came up empty on all counts.
I tried jigging with a leech, casting a Mimic Minnow Spin over the tops of deep weeds (in 14 feet of water) and tried trolling with a jointed Shad Rap, but all I could catch were some perch and rock bass.
The water temperature was 68 degrees.
Once I was on shore and Kathleen was back from her run, we cleaned up and made a wonderful anniversary dinner. Kathleen looked amazing in her little black dress, and we enjoyed a champagne toast to our 30 years of marriage.
After dinner we sat in the living room and talked. As the evening wore on the thunder started to rumble and just after midnight we had a powerful thunderstorm complete with a fantastic lightening show. It was great way to end our anniversary celebration.
The temperature here at Leech Lake 10:00 a.m. was 60 degrees, the sky was overcast and grey, and the wind was 10-15 mph out of the SSE, but because of the way we're positioned on the peninsula, the water in front of our property is still and the flag is limp against the pole. The ground was still wet from the overnight rain.
As the day went on it got warmer, and eventually topped out at 73 degrees. The wind remained out of the SSE for most of the day, but shifted to the NNE about 4:00 p.m. For most of the afternoon the sky was partly sunny.
Kathleen went running at 2:30 p.m., which gave me an opportunity to go fishing. I spent a little more than two hours on the lake and tried a number of different tactics to catch some walleye, but came up empty on all counts.
I tried jigging with a leech, casting a Mimic Minnow Spin over the tops of deep weeds (in 14 feet of water) and tried trolling with a jointed Shad Rap, but all I could catch were some perch and rock bass.
The water temperature was 68 degrees.
Once I was on shore and Kathleen was back from her run, we cleaned up and made a wonderful anniversary dinner. Kathleen looked amazing in her little black dress, and we enjoyed a champagne toast to our 30 years of marriage.
After dinner we sat in the living room and talked. As the evening wore on the thunder started to rumble and just after midnight we had a powerful thunderstorm complete with a fantastic lightening show. It was great way to end our anniversary celebration.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
June 25, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning the temperature was 60 degrees at 9:15 a.m., the wind was variable from 8-17 mph out of the SSW and the sky was mostly sunny.
By 11:00 a.m. my parents had loaded up their car and were heading down West Shores Road on their way back to Illinios. We had a very nice visit with them.
Kathleen and I enjoyed our coffee on the back porch, ate some breakfast and then temporarily went our separate ways. Kathleen went running, while I went fishing.
Since it was Saturday, there were about 10 boats motoring around from Second Duck Point to our house. After getting my boat out onto the 68 degree water, I joined them in the general area.
The sun was shining, the temperature was 72 degrees, and the wind was still fairly strong at 12-15 mph out of the SSE when I dropped my jig tipped with a leech into 10-12 feet of water. With the stiff wind blowing I opted to use a slightly heavier jig and tied on a 1/4 ounce parrot colored Gumball jig instead of my usual 1/8 ounce jig.
Even with the drift sock in the water the wind was pushing the boat along at 1/2 to 3/4 mph. I made several drifts between Second Duck Point and our cabin, but could catch no walleye. I repositioned the boat near the Malays and drifted past Norm's, but again, could catch no walleye.
I eventually switched to a Mimic Minnow Spin while drifting from the Birches past Schiebe's cabin, but could only manage to catch a few perch. I gave up and came ashore about 2:30 p.m.
Kathleen was just getting back from her run, so we decided to go for a bike ride. The temperature was now around 75 degrees, and the wind felt great during our ride. We rode down to the boardwalk on Duck Point and back; about a 8 mile ride.
When we got home we cleaned up, listened to a Prairie Home Companion, ate dinner, and then sat out on the dock to watch the sunset. We moved our party to the back porch just after the sun dipped below the horizon and just enjoyed being together.
Just after midnight I could hear the rain falling. I guess the 50% chance of showers was actually greater than that. I was a wonderful day on the shores of Leech Lake.
By 11:00 a.m. my parents had loaded up their car and were heading down West Shores Road on their way back to Illinios. We had a very nice visit with them.
Kathleen and I enjoyed our coffee on the back porch, ate some breakfast and then temporarily went our separate ways. Kathleen went running, while I went fishing.
Since it was Saturday, there were about 10 boats motoring around from Second Duck Point to our house. After getting my boat out onto the 68 degree water, I joined them in the general area.
The sun was shining, the temperature was 72 degrees, and the wind was still fairly strong at 12-15 mph out of the SSE when I dropped my jig tipped with a leech into 10-12 feet of water. With the stiff wind blowing I opted to use a slightly heavier jig and tied on a 1/4 ounce parrot colored Gumball jig instead of my usual 1/8 ounce jig.
Even with the drift sock in the water the wind was pushing the boat along at 1/2 to 3/4 mph. I made several drifts between Second Duck Point and our cabin, but could catch no walleye. I repositioned the boat near the Malays and drifted past Norm's, but again, could catch no walleye.
I eventually switched to a Mimic Minnow Spin while drifting from the Birches past Schiebe's cabin, but could only manage to catch a few perch. I gave up and came ashore about 2:30 p.m.
Kathleen was just getting back from her run, so we decided to go for a bike ride. The temperature was now around 75 degrees, and the wind felt great during our ride. We rode down to the boardwalk on Duck Point and back; about a 8 mile ride.
When we got home we cleaned up, listened to a Prairie Home Companion, ate dinner, and then sat out on the dock to watch the sunset. We moved our party to the back porch just after the sun dipped below the horizon and just enjoyed being together.
Just after midnight I could hear the rain falling. I guess the 50% chance of showers was actually greater than that. I was a wonderful day on the shores of Leech Lake.
Friday, June 24, 2011
June 24, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was a very pleasant 58 degrees, the sun was shining and the wind was out of the SSE at 5-8 mph. It's the first time in more than a week that the wind has blown from a southerly direction. The lake has some small ripples, but is basically calm. It'll be a nice day to get out on the water.
Kathleen and I greeted the day with a cup of coffee on the dock. It's always great to have a morning cup of coffee sitting over the water listening to the loons and other birds while watching bald eagles soaring overhead.
We then walked over to the cabin and visited with my Dad who was sitting on the deck overlooking the lake. After a few minutes, I decided to go fishing, so I grabbed the fatheads and leeches and joined the 10 other boats out in front of my house.
With the breeze coming out of the south, I actually motored out to a spot in front of Giza's cabin in 10 feet of water before turning off the motor and deploying the drift sock. I again used an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig in parrot color tipped with a large leech.
I made a complete drift from Giza's to Malay's and only caught a couple of perch, one of which was about 10 1/2 inches and boarding on being a jumbo. But with the fishing slow, and my parents visiting, I stowed my fishing gear and went ashore.
We spent the afternoon visiting and just hanging out.
At 4:30 p.m., we left the lake and drove north on Sucker Bay Road out to Hwy. 2, where we headed east to have supper at the Big Fish Supper Club in Bena, near Lake Winnibigoshish, where my Dad treated us to supper for our anniversary.
All four of us, my Mom, Dad, Kathleen and I, had the walleye dinner.
The landmark Big Fish Supper Club
After dinner we drove back to the lake and spent a couple of hours on the back porch watching the sunset and listening to my Dad tell stories about his college days, when he was admitted to Yale but decided to go to Boston University instead, how he hitchhiked from Oslo, Norway to Copenhagen, Denmark and how he ended up a principal of a high school at the tender age of 27.
We had a very relaxing and enjoyable evening on the shores of Leech Lake.
Kathleen and I greeted the day with a cup of coffee on the dock. It's always great to have a morning cup of coffee sitting over the water listening to the loons and other birds while watching bald eagles soaring overhead.
We then walked over to the cabin and visited with my Dad who was sitting on the deck overlooking the lake. After a few minutes, I decided to go fishing, so I grabbed the fatheads and leeches and joined the 10 other boats out in front of my house.
With the breeze coming out of the south, I actually motored out to a spot in front of Giza's cabin in 10 feet of water before turning off the motor and deploying the drift sock. I again used an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig in parrot color tipped with a large leech.
I made a complete drift from Giza's to Malay's and only caught a couple of perch, one of which was about 10 1/2 inches and boarding on being a jumbo. But with the fishing slow, and my parents visiting, I stowed my fishing gear and went ashore.
We spent the afternoon visiting and just hanging out.
At 4:30 p.m., we left the lake and drove north on Sucker Bay Road out to Hwy. 2, where we headed east to have supper at the Big Fish Supper Club in Bena, near Lake Winnibigoshish, where my Dad treated us to supper for our anniversary.
All four of us, my Mom, Dad, Kathleen and I, had the walleye dinner.
The landmark Big Fish Supper Club
After dinner we drove back to the lake and spent a couple of hours on the back porch watching the sunset and listening to my Dad tell stories about his college days, when he was admitted to Yale but decided to go to Boston University instead, how he hitchhiked from Oslo, Norway to Copenhagen, Denmark and how he ended up a principal of a high school at the tender age of 27.
We had a very relaxing and enjoyable evening on the shores of Leech Lake.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
June 23, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
My wife Kathleen.
At 8:24 a.m. local time I received a text message from my beautiful wife Kathleen that she was on the plane and would very soon be on her way to Minneapolis. From there she will fly to Bemidji where I will meet her at the airport at 4:40 p.m. It will be wonderful to have her join me at our lake home on Leech Lake.
The temperature this morning, the second full day of summer, was 46 degrees. The sky was grey and overcast again, without a hint of blue to it. It wasn't raining so much as it was spitting a heavy mist. The wind was strong at 12-17 mph out of the north, with gusts well over 20 mph, creating rolling waves and white caps on the lake. I did see one brave boat on the water at about 9:15 a.m.
Even though it was wet from all of the mist and light rain T&K showed up at 10:00 a.m. to mow the lawn. With all of the rain during the past week or so the grass has grown really tall and desperately needed to be cut.
My parents and I visited in the early afternoon while continued to do some final cleaning and straightening up around the house. At 3:30 p.m. we left the lake to drive into Bemidji to get Kathleen.
As we drove into Bemidji the clouds parted and the sun came out for the first time in days. By the time we were loading Kathleen's luggage into the car it was 73 degrees in Bemidji, sunny and warm.
We stopped at the grocery store, picked up some unbaked pizzas and drove back to the lake. We ate our pizzas, enjoyed the conversation and then Kathleen and I sat on the dock and watched the sunset.
I am looking forward to a couple of very relaxing and enjoyable weeks at Leech Lake with Kathleen, celebrating our anniversary.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
June 22, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
Another cool, rainy day at Leech Lake. This morning at 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 55 degrees, the wind was 8-12 mph out of the NNE and the sky was grey, cloudy, and a light rain fell.
In fact, rain fell all day long. At some periods it rained hard, but most of the day there was just a light steady rain falling. The high temperature today on the shores of Sucker Bay never got past 56 degrees. The wind was also fairly steady at 8-15 mph out of the NNE, with gusts up to 25 mph.
No fishing today. I stayed inside and visited with my parents.
In fact, rain fell all day long. At some periods it rained hard, but most of the day there was just a light steady rain falling. The high temperature today on the shores of Sucker Bay never got past 56 degrees. The wind was also fairly steady at 8-15 mph out of the NNE, with gusts up to 25 mph.
No fishing today. I stayed inside and visited with my parents.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
June 21, 2011 -- Summer Solstice -- On Leech Lake
Despite going to bed at midnight last night, I was wide awake at 4:45 a.m. When it became clear that sleep was not going to come easy, I decided to get up. And since I was up, I figured I might as well go fishing, so at 5:30 a.m., just 8 minutes after sunrise, I was on Leech Lake.
The wind was stiff at 12-15 mph out of the NNE creating some decent sized swells and a classic walleye chop. The temperature was 50 degrees, the water temperature was 65.5 degrees, and the sky was cloudy and grey.
The wonderful thing about being on the lake so early is there are no other boats to contend with. In fact, I could not see another boat in any direction on Sucker Bay.
With the water to myself, I motored out to 10 feet of water in front of Poage's cabin, put in the drift sock, and drifted south and out into the bay at a ground speed of roughly .60 mph. I tipped my parrot colored Northland Gumball jig with a leech and began fishing.
About halfway through my drift I caught a rock bass. But as I got closer to Second Duck Point I started marking a lot of fish on my Lowrance electronics. As if on cue, something bit my jig quickly and took the leech. It felt like the "tap" of a walleye.
Within 5 minutes of dropping a new leech into the choppy waters off Second Duck Point, I felt that familiar weight of a walleye and quickly set the hook. I could tell right away it was a good fish, most likely in the slot (which on Leech Lake is 18-26 inches; any fish in that "slot" has to go back into the lake).
I had forgotten to get the landing net ready, so while fighting the fish with one hand I extended the shaft on the landing net with the other. Soon I had the net under the fish and into the boat. The walleye measured 21 inches, and was a very solid, almost fat, fish. I gently released the fish back into the water.
At that point my lack of sleep was creeping up on me so I decided to go ashore. By 6:30 a.m. I was back in the house wondering if I should give sleep another shot.
Here on the shores of Leech Lake, the Summer Solstice officially arrived at 12:16 p.m., although you wouldn't know it was summer by the weather. The temperature was 55 degrees and there was light rain was falling as summer arrived in the Northwoods,. Within an hour a larger storm moved in and with it heavier rain. The color-weather radar on weather.com's site shows the strongest part of the storm to move over Ottertail Peninsula around 2:30 p.m.
By 3:30 p.m., with heavy rains still falling, the part of the yard that had been torn up by the harbor repairs by Peterson Excavating, looked like a swamp, with standing water atop the mud. At least this should help the grass seed I spread soak into the ground and hasten the recovery of the lawn.
My parents called me from Grand Rapids at around 2:15 p.m. as they were about to go into the grocery store. I figure after shopping and the drive to the lake, that they should arrive sometime around 4:00 p.m.
Sure enough, just after 4:00 p.m. my parents arrived. We spent an hour or so talking and catching up, and then I got the grill going for some dinner. At 8:00 p.m. I came back to the house and just as I got inside it started raining again. It was raining at 9:30 p.m. as I closed down the PC for the night.
Obviously no fishing tonight. But if there's a break in the weather tomorrow, I will try to get out and catch some more Leech Lake walleye.
The wind was stiff at 12-15 mph out of the NNE creating some decent sized swells and a classic walleye chop. The temperature was 50 degrees, the water temperature was 65.5 degrees, and the sky was cloudy and grey.
The wonderful thing about being on the lake so early is there are no other boats to contend with. In fact, I could not see another boat in any direction on Sucker Bay.
With the water to myself, I motored out to 10 feet of water in front of Poage's cabin, put in the drift sock, and drifted south and out into the bay at a ground speed of roughly .60 mph. I tipped my parrot colored Northland Gumball jig with a leech and began fishing.
About halfway through my drift I caught a rock bass. But as I got closer to Second Duck Point I started marking a lot of fish on my Lowrance electronics. As if on cue, something bit my jig quickly and took the leech. It felt like the "tap" of a walleye.
Within 5 minutes of dropping a new leech into the choppy waters off Second Duck Point, I felt that familiar weight of a walleye and quickly set the hook. I could tell right away it was a good fish, most likely in the slot (which on Leech Lake is 18-26 inches; any fish in that "slot" has to go back into the lake).
I had forgotten to get the landing net ready, so while fighting the fish with one hand I extended the shaft on the landing net with the other. Soon I had the net under the fish and into the boat. The walleye measured 21 inches, and was a very solid, almost fat, fish. I gently released the fish back into the water.
At that point my lack of sleep was creeping up on me so I decided to go ashore. By 6:30 a.m. I was back in the house wondering if I should give sleep another shot.
Here on the shores of Leech Lake, the Summer Solstice officially arrived at 12:16 p.m., although you wouldn't know it was summer by the weather. The temperature was 55 degrees and there was light rain was falling as summer arrived in the Northwoods,. Within an hour a larger storm moved in and with it heavier rain. The color-weather radar on weather.com's site shows the strongest part of the storm to move over Ottertail Peninsula around 2:30 p.m.
By 3:30 p.m., with heavy rains still falling, the part of the yard that had been torn up by the harbor repairs by Peterson Excavating, looked like a swamp, with standing water atop the mud. At least this should help the grass seed I spread soak into the ground and hasten the recovery of the lawn.
My parents called me from Grand Rapids at around 2:15 p.m. as they were about to go into the grocery store. I figure after shopping and the drive to the lake, that they should arrive sometime around 4:00 p.m.
Sure enough, just after 4:00 p.m. my parents arrived. We spent an hour or so talking and catching up, and then I got the grill going for some dinner. At 8:00 p.m. I came back to the house and just as I got inside it started raining again. It was raining at 9:30 p.m. as I closed down the PC for the night.
Obviously no fishing tonight. But if there's a break in the weather tomorrow, I will try to get out and catch some more Leech Lake walleye.
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 20, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
At 9:30 a.m. the temperature was 49 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast and the wind was out of the NE again at 8-12 mph, with gusts up to 17 mph. As I started to write this post the furnace kicked on. If I'm not mistaken, tomorrow is the first day of summer, so shouldn't it be warming up soon?
I took care of some chores around the house this morning before driving into Bemidji at just after noon. I registered the truck for another year at the DMV, picked up some new wiper blades for the truck at the Chevy dealership, did some grocery shopping and eventually made it home around 4:30 p.m.
I got everything put away, took the garbage down to the community center bins, put on the new wiper blades and cleaned up around the house. At 6:00 p.m., with the temperature at 66 degrees and mostly cloudy skies, I decided to go fishing.
The wind was out of the north at 10-15 mph, and there were some pretty good waves on the lake. I figured the "walleye chop" might make the fishing good. I took the boat out in front of the cabin, put in the drift sock, and drifted south toward Second Duck Point in 10 feet of water. The water temperature was 66 degrees.
I tipped my parrot colored Northland Gumball jig with a leech and started fishing. Even with the drift sock in the water, the wind pushed the boat along at a ground speed of .50 to .67 mph. I caught several rock bass and perch, but only one small walleye, a 13-incher.
I didn't go out trolling tonight, opting to stay in after dinner and read. Tomorrow my parents are set to arrive. I haven't seen them in more than a year so it will be great to spend time with them. And then on Thursday of this week, Kathleen is arriving in Bemidji. It will be fantastic to have her join me here at Leech Lake. We will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on Sunday, June 26.
I took care of some chores around the house this morning before driving into Bemidji at just after noon. I registered the truck for another year at the DMV, picked up some new wiper blades for the truck at the Chevy dealership, did some grocery shopping and eventually made it home around 4:30 p.m.
I got everything put away, took the garbage down to the community center bins, put on the new wiper blades and cleaned up around the house. At 6:00 p.m., with the temperature at 66 degrees and mostly cloudy skies, I decided to go fishing.
The wind was out of the north at 10-15 mph, and there were some pretty good waves on the lake. I figured the "walleye chop" might make the fishing good. I took the boat out in front of the cabin, put in the drift sock, and drifted south toward Second Duck Point in 10 feet of water. The water temperature was 66 degrees.
I tipped my parrot colored Northland Gumball jig with a leech and started fishing. Even with the drift sock in the water, the wind pushed the boat along at a ground speed of .50 to .67 mph. I caught several rock bass and perch, but only one small walleye, a 13-incher.
I didn't go out trolling tonight, opting to stay in after dinner and read. Tomorrow my parents are set to arrive. I haven't seen them in more than a year so it will be great to spend time with them. And then on Thursday of this week, Kathleen is arriving in Bemidji. It will be fantastic to have her join me here at Leech Lake. We will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on Sunday, June 26.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
June 19, 2011 -- Father's Day -- On Leech Lake
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially my dad, who is the greatest dad a guy could ever hope to have! Thanks Dad.
This morning at 8:15 a.m. the temperature was 53 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast, the lake and the horizon blended together in a silvery-grey mist and the wind was calm; once again the flag lay limp against the pole and the water looked like glass. I could not see across the lake, it was simply a silver-grey expanse.
There has been a strange visitor in the yard this morning --a pigeon. Now, if I was in San Francisco, Minneapolis, or maybe even Bemidji, I wouldn't be surprised seeing a pigeon, but here on the shores of Leech Lake, that's very unusual. In fact, in the 10 years we've had our properties on Leech Lake, I had never seen a pigeon up here until today.
One other interesting aspect to this particular pigeon, it had a green band around its left leg and a blue band around its right leg, just above its feet. Maybe it's a homing pigeon that had lost its way. Anyway, the darn thing was eating the grass seed I just put down yesterday, so I had to shoo it away. But, it kept coming back, so eventually I just gave up chasing it away. At some point it will have its fill of grass seed.
Despite overcast skies and the threat of rain, I decided to fishing at 2:00 p.m. The temperature was 66 degrees, the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the NE and the water temperature was 67.5 degrees.
I started fishing in 9-12 feet of water in front of Schiebe's cabin, and didn't catch anything. I moved a little further south to the Birches, but caught only a rock bass, although something big hit my line and bit off the jig. I retied another 1/8 ounce, parrot color Gumball jig, tipped it with a leech and resumed fishing.
Unfortunately, I was not able to catch anything else. Not even a small perch. I suppose if I was using a fathead instead of a leech I may have caught perch, but I was after walleye. At 4:00 p.m. I came ashore.
Nature Update: For some reason the wind seems to be blowing almost exclusively out of the east, or some variation of the east, such as NE. In my many years here at Leech Lake I have typically seen wind out of the north, south and west, but rarely the east. But for some reason, the prevailing wind direction during the past six weeks is east.
This morning at 8:15 a.m. the temperature was 53 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast, the lake and the horizon blended together in a silvery-grey mist and the wind was calm; once again the flag lay limp against the pole and the water looked like glass. I could not see across the lake, it was simply a silver-grey expanse.
There has been a strange visitor in the yard this morning --a pigeon. Now, if I was in San Francisco, Minneapolis, or maybe even Bemidji, I wouldn't be surprised seeing a pigeon, but here on the shores of Leech Lake, that's very unusual. In fact, in the 10 years we've had our properties on Leech Lake, I had never seen a pigeon up here until today.
One other interesting aspect to this particular pigeon, it had a green band around its left leg and a blue band around its right leg, just above its feet. Maybe it's a homing pigeon that had lost its way. Anyway, the darn thing was eating the grass seed I just put down yesterday, so I had to shoo it away. But, it kept coming back, so eventually I just gave up chasing it away. At some point it will have its fill of grass seed.
Despite overcast skies and the threat of rain, I decided to fishing at 2:00 p.m. The temperature was 66 degrees, the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the NE and the water temperature was 67.5 degrees.
I started fishing in 9-12 feet of water in front of Schiebe's cabin, and didn't catch anything. I moved a little further south to the Birches, but caught only a rock bass, although something big hit my line and bit off the jig. I retied another 1/8 ounce, parrot color Gumball jig, tipped it with a leech and resumed fishing.
Unfortunately, I was not able to catch anything else. Not even a small perch. I suppose if I was using a fathead instead of a leech I may have caught perch, but I was after walleye. At 4:00 p.m. I came ashore.
Nature Update: For some reason the wind seems to be blowing almost exclusively out of the east, or some variation of the east, such as NE. In my many years here at Leech Lake I have typically seen wind out of the north, south and west, but rarely the east. But for some reason, the prevailing wind direction during the past six weeks is east.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
June 18, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
After waking up at 5:30 a.m. on Friday and not going to bed until 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning I was ready to sleep in. I got up at 9:30 a.m. to grey overcast skies, a temperature of 48 degrees -- I thought that we're only days away from summer -- and little to no wind. The flag is limp against the pole and the lake is near still.
Everything, however, is wet. It obviously rained last night and the forecast is calling for rain showers and thunderstorms on and off all day. As the morning approached noon, a light rain began falling. Looking out over Sucker Bay I could barely make out the trees on the western shore of the bay because the mist and rain made the entire horizon a silvery-grey color and the sky blended with the surface of the lake.
While I was enjoying my morning coffee I decided to take the bandage off my index finger of my left hand and examine the damage I had done to it yesterday with the very sharp serrated edge of my Leatherman.
When I finally got the bandage off, I could see it was soaked with blood. Now exposed, the tip of my finger, which was missing a nice chunk of flesh, began bleeding again. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on the wound, and then covered it with gauze and tape. I didn't secure it as tightly as I did with the original bandage, and I'm hoping that it'll stop bleeding today and begin to heal over.
With a slight break in the rain, I went outside and raked the grass seed into the dirt. I had put a fair amount of seed on the torn up part of the lawn yesterday, but with my finger bleeding all over my hand, and the with the rain starting to fall more heavily, I never did get a chance to rake the seed into the dirt properly. I plan to add more grass seed to the affected area again in a couple of days.
Well, I couldn't wait a couple of days, and at 1:30 p.m. went out and put down more grass seed and raked it into the ground. It was hot work since the humidity today is close to 100%. There is a heavy mist in the air and although the temperature was only 62 degrees it felt more like 92.
And if the humidity wasn't enough deterrent, the mosquitoes certainly were. There were clouds of them swarming over me as I raked the dirt that used to be my yard. There are still numerous standing bodies of water all over the peninsula as a result of the very wet spring, including a huge swamp directly across from Newman's driveway, which in many parts is our property. These gigantic swamps are producing millions of mosquitoes, many of which are the size of house flies. So it was ultimately the mosquitoes that drove me inside rather than the humidity.
I cooled off with a nice shower and then settled down to do some reading. I thought about going out fishing, but it was still misting a bit and looked like it might rain. I really didn't want to get my bandaged finger wet -- and there's no way to avoid getting your hands wet while you're out fishing -- so I remained on shore.
Everything, however, is wet. It obviously rained last night and the forecast is calling for rain showers and thunderstorms on and off all day. As the morning approached noon, a light rain began falling. Looking out over Sucker Bay I could barely make out the trees on the western shore of the bay because the mist and rain made the entire horizon a silvery-grey color and the sky blended with the surface of the lake.
While I was enjoying my morning coffee I decided to take the bandage off my index finger of my left hand and examine the damage I had done to it yesterday with the very sharp serrated edge of my Leatherman.
When I finally got the bandage off, I could see it was soaked with blood. Now exposed, the tip of my finger, which was missing a nice chunk of flesh, began bleeding again. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on the wound, and then covered it with gauze and tape. I didn't secure it as tightly as I did with the original bandage, and I'm hoping that it'll stop bleeding today and begin to heal over.
With a slight break in the rain, I went outside and raked the grass seed into the dirt. I had put a fair amount of seed on the torn up part of the lawn yesterday, but with my finger bleeding all over my hand, and the with the rain starting to fall more heavily, I never did get a chance to rake the seed into the dirt properly. I plan to add more grass seed to the affected area again in a couple of days.
Well, I couldn't wait a couple of days, and at 1:30 p.m. went out and put down more grass seed and raked it into the ground. It was hot work since the humidity today is close to 100%. There is a heavy mist in the air and although the temperature was only 62 degrees it felt more like 92.
And if the humidity wasn't enough deterrent, the mosquitoes certainly were. There were clouds of them swarming over me as I raked the dirt that used to be my yard. There are still numerous standing bodies of water all over the peninsula as a result of the very wet spring, including a huge swamp directly across from Newman's driveway, which in many parts is our property. These gigantic swamps are producing millions of mosquitoes, many of which are the size of house flies. So it was ultimately the mosquitoes that drove me inside rather than the humidity.
I cooled off with a nice shower and then settled down to do some reading. I thought about going out fishing, but it was still misting a bit and looked like it might rain. I really didn't want to get my bandaged finger wet -- and there's no way to avoid getting your hands wet while you're out fishing -- so I remained on shore.
Friday, June 17, 2011
June 17, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
This morning I was up at 5:30 a.m. I don't know why I woke up so early, but I did and was unable to go back to sleep so I got up. It was already light outside, although the sky was grey and overcast. The temperature was 50 degrees, and the wind was 5-8 mph out of the NNE.
At just before 8:00 a.m. Larry and Ross (Peterson, the son of the guy who owns Peterson Excavating) showed up; Butch should be here later this morning. Today the process will be to use the big front hoe to try to pull the harbor wall back some more, while using cable jacks to pull the cable tight. They'll then bend the metal posts that are holding the cable so the cable doesn't slip off, and then they'll start work on laying the tile drain. It'll be interesting to see how much work they get done today and if they'll come back on Saturday, or wait until Monday to continue work. There is a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms today, so it may be too wet and miserable for them to put in a full day.
By 11:45 a.m. the guys from Peterson Excavating had put in some of the tile drain, cut a hole in the harbor wall for the water to run out, and had starting pouring rock over the entire thing. They assure me that they will complete the project today. And if they keep up the pace they're currently on, they just might do it.
Peterson Excavating loaded the last of their tools and materials onto the truck, smoothed out the areas of the yard they had torn up, and put the big front hoe on the trailer and were moving down West Shores Road by 3:30 p.m.
The harbor looks good, albeit not as aligned as straight as it once was, but is no doubt much more sturdy and better anchored than ever before. I'll need to move some rock from the pile at the cabin to a few spots around the harbor walls that Peterson didn't work on, but that's a minor, afternoon project compared to the heavy work that Peterson just completed.
I have to hand it to them, the did a great job, made sure that the electrical pole and harbor lights functioned. The only thing we couldn't test is the sodium light on the top of the electrical pole because it has a light sensor on it and won't come on until dark.
[Update: At 3:30 p.m. I went out to the electrical pole and flipped the switch on the sodium light, and because it was starting to rain and fairly dark and overcast, it came on. Confirmed now that all electrical around the harbor is operational.]
No sooner had Peterson left than is started to rain. Not hard, just a nice steady rain. I decided now might be a good time to spread some grass seed on the dirt left behind by Peterson's heavy machinery, so I got the bag of seed and tried to open it. As is typical with many packages, it was nearly impossible to open so I got out my Leatherman, opened one of the blades, cut into the bag and by mistake also hit my finger.
Blood immediately started to flow, but having injured myself numerous times in the past I ignored it and began spreading the seed. At a certain point the rain started to come down a bit harder so I decided to call it quits and go inside before I got totally soaked.
Once inside I cleaned up my cut finger and noticed I hadn't sliced my finger, like I've done dozens of times in the past, but rather cut off a small slice from the tip; maybe as big around as a pencil eraser. Knowing from experience that this isn't the kind of cut that can been fixed with stitches, I placed a couple Band-Aids over the cut and then wrapped medical tape around the Band-Aids. I haven't noticed in an ordinate amount of blood, so I'm assuming my triage worked.
At 8:00 p.m., under a sky that was beginning to clear for the first time all day and temperatures just over 60 degrees, I made my way next door to the Newman's where John and I grilled brats for dinner. After dinner we had a fire in his "driveway fireplace," listening to some music and didn't even attempt to solve any of the world's problems. Since we had eaten so late in the evening, we didn't get out fishing today. But we agreed to connect tomorrow morning, and weather permitting we will be out on the water.
As I walked home I could feel the wind picking up and I thought I felt some raindrops. We are supposed to get thunderstorms over night. I just hope they pass by tomorrow morning.
At just before 8:00 a.m. Larry and Ross (Peterson, the son of the guy who owns Peterson Excavating) showed up; Butch should be here later this morning. Today the process will be to use the big front hoe to try to pull the harbor wall back some more, while using cable jacks to pull the cable tight. They'll then bend the metal posts that are holding the cable so the cable doesn't slip off, and then they'll start work on laying the tile drain. It'll be interesting to see how much work they get done today and if they'll come back on Saturday, or wait until Monday to continue work. There is a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms today, so it may be too wet and miserable for them to put in a full day.
By 11:45 a.m. the guys from Peterson Excavating had put in some of the tile drain, cut a hole in the harbor wall for the water to run out, and had starting pouring rock over the entire thing. They assure me that they will complete the project today. And if they keep up the pace they're currently on, they just might do it.
Peterson Excavating loaded the last of their tools and materials onto the truck, smoothed out the areas of the yard they had torn up, and put the big front hoe on the trailer and were moving down West Shores Road by 3:30 p.m.
The harbor looks good, albeit not as aligned as straight as it once was, but is no doubt much more sturdy and better anchored than ever before. I'll need to move some rock from the pile at the cabin to a few spots around the harbor walls that Peterson didn't work on, but that's a minor, afternoon project compared to the heavy work that Peterson just completed.
I have to hand it to them, the did a great job, made sure that the electrical pole and harbor lights functioned. The only thing we couldn't test is the sodium light on the top of the electrical pole because it has a light sensor on it and won't come on until dark.
[Update: At 3:30 p.m. I went out to the electrical pole and flipped the switch on the sodium light, and because it was starting to rain and fairly dark and overcast, it came on. Confirmed now that all electrical around the harbor is operational.]
No sooner had Peterson left than is started to rain. Not hard, just a nice steady rain. I decided now might be a good time to spread some grass seed on the dirt left behind by Peterson's heavy machinery, so I got the bag of seed and tried to open it. As is typical with many packages, it was nearly impossible to open so I got out my Leatherman, opened one of the blades, cut into the bag and by mistake also hit my finger.
Blood immediately started to flow, but having injured myself numerous times in the past I ignored it and began spreading the seed. At a certain point the rain started to come down a bit harder so I decided to call it quits and go inside before I got totally soaked.
Once inside I cleaned up my cut finger and noticed I hadn't sliced my finger, like I've done dozens of times in the past, but rather cut off a small slice from the tip; maybe as big around as a pencil eraser. Knowing from experience that this isn't the kind of cut that can been fixed with stitches, I placed a couple Band-Aids over the cut and then wrapped medical tape around the Band-Aids. I haven't noticed in an ordinate amount of blood, so I'm assuming my triage worked.
At 8:00 p.m., under a sky that was beginning to clear for the first time all day and temperatures just over 60 degrees, I made my way next door to the Newman's where John and I grilled brats for dinner. After dinner we had a fire in his "driveway fireplace," listening to some music and didn't even attempt to solve any of the world's problems. Since we had eaten so late in the evening, we didn't get out fishing today. But we agreed to connect tomorrow morning, and weather permitting we will be out on the water.
As I walked home I could feel the wind picking up and I thought I felt some raindrops. We are supposed to get thunderstorms over night. I just hope they pass by tomorrow morning.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
June 16, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
I was up before 7:00 a.m. waiting for Peterson Excavating to arrive, which they did just after 8:00 a.m. The first thing they did was drive the big front hoe onto the yard near the harbor and began loading all of the broken cement pieces into the bucket. Then they dumped the bucket of cement into a dump truck which then hauled the debris away.
I can tell already that the work is going to make a mess of the yard, but there's no way around it. If the harbor is to be repaired they need to have the right equipment on site to do it, and that equipment is big and heavy and is going to create ruts in the yard and tear up the lawn; as can be seen in the pictures below.
The big front hoe used to pull/push the harbor wall back into place
The dump truck and Bobcat used to haul rubble and move rock
At least it's not raining today, not yet anyway. The temperature seems stuck at 52 degrees and the sky is overcast and grey. The wind is 8-12 mph out of the NNW.
At 11:00 a.m. I went out to the harbor to check on the progress. I could see that the harbor wall was not straight and aligned to its original position. I asked Butch if that was a far as they could pull the wall back, and he responded, "yes." Despite the fact that they have a big front hoe with a lot of power, they simply can't pull the wall back to its initial position. It shows the power of the ice, which was able to push the wall out in the first place.
Butch and Larry (the guy helping Butch) did secure the wall with thick cabling in an effort to help prevent against future ice damage. The real key, according to Butch, is going to be the tile drain system that they will install to keep much of the water away from the wall so there will be little ice to do any future damage.
By 3:30 p.m. the guys from Peterson had wrapped it up for the day, and I was ready to fishing. I went over to see if John Newman wanted to accompany me, and he did. He wanted to wait, however, until Tom Malay was finished mowing Newman's lawn.
We finally got out onto the lake at just after 6:00 p.m. We fished in 9-12 feet of 67 degree water in front of the house and cabin, before moving down toward Schiebe's
Jigs tipped with fatheads and leeches was our approach, but unfortunately all we caught were several smallish perch and few rock bass. Not even a pike tonight.
The weather, however, was beautiful. The temperature had warmed to near 70 degrees, the wind was calm and the sky was clear. It was wonderful time on the water even if the fish weren't biting.
We came ashore around 8:15 p.m. and parted ways. I went inside, ate dinner, did some reading and then called it a night. The guys from Peterson's are going to be here early tomorrow morning and I want to be up when they arrive.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
June 15, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 7:30 a.m. it was 50 degrees, dark, grey and raining. The wind is light, if any, and the flag is hanging limp.
As a result of the rain, or just plain indifference, the guys from Peterson Excavating did not show up again today to work on the harbor restoration. I'm glad they didn't show up today, because with the ground so wet from all of the rain the big front hoe would have caused excessive damage to the lawn. If they don't show up tomorrow morning I'll have to give them another call.
It rained all morning, letting up for just a few minutes here and there. At noon, I decided that since it was raining today would be a good day to drive into Cass Lake to pick up some leeches, some groceries and have lunch at the 371 Cafe; the place I had lunch with our realtor some 10 years ago when I first saw our future house on Leech Lake.
It finally stopped raining at about 2:00 p.m., just before I left Cass Lake on my way back to Leech Lake. I did indeed have lunch at the 371 Cafe and did pick up two dozen large leeches at Froggy's. At 3:15 p.m., it was still dark, grey and overcast, although it was not raining. The temperature was 58 degrees and the wind was light at 5-10 mph out of the NNE.
Upon arriving home, I found a big spool of cable in the yard by the harbor, as well as a big bag of bolts and connectors. I assumed that a supplier had dropped them off so I decided to call Butch at Peterson Excavating to let him know the supplies had arrived. As it turned out, Butch himself had dropped off the materials and told me that he and another guy would be out on Thursday to work on the harbor.
With that bit of business settled, I contacted John Newman to see if he wanted to go fishing. He did, so we did.
Once the boat was in the 66.5 degree water, I motored to a spot about 200 yards pass Schiebe's cabin in 9 feet of water and deployed the drift sock. With the wind coming out of the NE, the boat moved south toward Norm's cabin and out into the bay into 10-14 feet of water.
John used a "beetlespin" tipped with a fathead, while I used my standard 1/8 ounce Gumball jig tipped with a leech. We both caught a few pike, rock bass and perch. And both of us had our tackle bitten off; most likely by a pike.
I tied on a parrot-colored 1/8 ounce Gumball jig, while John went with a lime-green jig tipped with a fathead. John caught a very nice 21-inch walleye, while I boated a somewhat slim 15 1/2-walleye. Both fish went back into the lake.
I think John was a bit surprised that I released my fish since I'm trying to catch a third "eater" so I can prepare a walleye dinner for my parents and Kathleen next week. But from my perspective, the 15 1/2-inch walleye was just a bit too small for me to keep. I prefer to keep fish in the 16- to 17 1/2-inch range. Sure, that's only a 1 1/2 inch range, but it keeps it sporting for me. And I've got another week to catch that third fish, so I was confident enough to let that one go.
The entire time we were on the water the temperature hovered around 50 degrees, and the sky was grey and overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain, although it didn't. We came ashore just after 8:00 p.m.
I ate dinner and had an early night since I'm anticipating Peterson Excavating to be here early tomorrow morning.
As a result of the rain, or just plain indifference, the guys from Peterson Excavating did not show up again today to work on the harbor restoration. I'm glad they didn't show up today, because with the ground so wet from all of the rain the big front hoe would have caused excessive damage to the lawn. If they don't show up tomorrow morning I'll have to give them another call.
It rained all morning, letting up for just a few minutes here and there. At noon, I decided that since it was raining today would be a good day to drive into Cass Lake to pick up some leeches, some groceries and have lunch at the 371 Cafe; the place I had lunch with our realtor some 10 years ago when I first saw our future house on Leech Lake.
It finally stopped raining at about 2:00 p.m., just before I left Cass Lake on my way back to Leech Lake. I did indeed have lunch at the 371 Cafe and did pick up two dozen large leeches at Froggy's. At 3:15 p.m., it was still dark, grey and overcast, although it was not raining. The temperature was 58 degrees and the wind was light at 5-10 mph out of the NNE.
Upon arriving home, I found a big spool of cable in the yard by the harbor, as well as a big bag of bolts and connectors. I assumed that a supplier had dropped them off so I decided to call Butch at Peterson Excavating to let him know the supplies had arrived. As it turned out, Butch himself had dropped off the materials and told me that he and another guy would be out on Thursday to work on the harbor.
With that bit of business settled, I contacted John Newman to see if he wanted to go fishing. He did, so we did.
Once the boat was in the 66.5 degree water, I motored to a spot about 200 yards pass Schiebe's cabin in 9 feet of water and deployed the drift sock. With the wind coming out of the NE, the boat moved south toward Norm's cabin and out into the bay into 10-14 feet of water.
John used a "beetlespin" tipped with a fathead, while I used my standard 1/8 ounce Gumball jig tipped with a leech. We both caught a few pike, rock bass and perch. And both of us had our tackle bitten off; most likely by a pike.
I tied on a parrot-colored 1/8 ounce Gumball jig, while John went with a lime-green jig tipped with a fathead. John caught a very nice 21-inch walleye, while I boated a somewhat slim 15 1/2-walleye. Both fish went back into the lake.
I think John was a bit surprised that I released my fish since I'm trying to catch a third "eater" so I can prepare a walleye dinner for my parents and Kathleen next week. But from my perspective, the 15 1/2-inch walleye was just a bit too small for me to keep. I prefer to keep fish in the 16- to 17 1/2-inch range. Sure, that's only a 1 1/2 inch range, but it keeps it sporting for me. And I've got another week to catch that third fish, so I was confident enough to let that one go.
The entire time we were on the water the temperature hovered around 50 degrees, and the sky was grey and overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain, although it didn't. We came ashore just after 8:00 p.m.
I ate dinner and had an early night since I'm anticipating Peterson Excavating to be here early tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
How Do Loons Know When the Ice is Off the Lake?
This is borrowed from blogger Dan Baughman who writes from Bow Narrows Camp on Red Lake in northern Ontario, Canada.
"Although total ice-out is still days away on Red Lake, loons will have already landed in all the open patches of water around the edges.
In fact, as soon as you notice the ice is gone from a small bay or narrows, you will see the familiar profile of a loon. But you never see loons flying around the frozen lake looking for open water.How they know there is some place to land is a mystery. Loons cannot land on anything but water. Their legs are placed far back on their body making it impossible for them to even stand up on land.
In fact, except for pushing themselves on their bellies a foot or two onto and off of their nests, loons never touch land.Their leg placement -- sort of like propellers at the rear of their bodies -- makes them take off from the water just as a floatplane does. They always head into the wind for the added lift and both churn their powerful feet as well as flap their wings against the water. It can take them a hundred yards to get airborne. Once free of the water, they are powerful fliers and fly faster than most other waterfowl.
They also land like a plane. They set their wings and come gliding in like the Space Shuttle. Final touchdown is done on their bellies. Sometimes they will dip a wing into the water to make a fast turn. And, also like a float plane, it takes far less room for them to land than take off.So when they slide into a little patch of open water around the edge of a frozen lake, it is very likely they cannot take off again, until the ice melts some more.
I've often wondered if some of them ever get frozen-in when the temperature dips below freezing and the lake refreezes. If it happens, I've never seen it, or found their bodies in the spring.Loons are the world's oldest bird. They've been doing this for tens of millions of years. I guess they know what they are doing by now."
"Although total ice-out is still days away on Red Lake, loons will have already landed in all the open patches of water around the edges.
In fact, as soon as you notice the ice is gone from a small bay or narrows, you will see the familiar profile of a loon. But you never see loons flying around the frozen lake looking for open water.How they know there is some place to land is a mystery. Loons cannot land on anything but water. Their legs are placed far back on their body making it impossible for them to even stand up on land.
In fact, except for pushing themselves on their bellies a foot or two onto and off of their nests, loons never touch land.Their leg placement -- sort of like propellers at the rear of their bodies -- makes them take off from the water just as a floatplane does. They always head into the wind for the added lift and both churn their powerful feet as well as flap their wings against the water. It can take them a hundred yards to get airborne. Once free of the water, they are powerful fliers and fly faster than most other waterfowl.
They also land like a plane. They set their wings and come gliding in like the Space Shuttle. Final touchdown is done on their bellies. Sometimes they will dip a wing into the water to make a fast turn. And, also like a float plane, it takes far less room for them to land than take off.So when they slide into a little patch of open water around the edge of a frozen lake, it is very likely they cannot take off again, until the ice melts some more.
I've often wondered if some of them ever get frozen-in when the temperature dips below freezing and the lake refreezes. If it happens, I've never seen it, or found their bodies in the spring.Loons are the world's oldest bird. They've been doing this for tens of millions of years. I guess they know what they are doing by now."
June 14, 2011 -- Flag Day -- On Leech Lake
Once again I awoke this morning with the hope that Peterson Excavating would be here working on the harbor restoration and once again they were a no-show. I called Butch the lead guy on the project and he told me he was on the side of the road because his truck broke down. When I pressed him if he thought he'd be able to finish the harbor this week his response was, "I hope so." Not exactly the kind of answer that instills confidence.
It would have been a perfect day to work on the harbor too. The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 62 degrees, the wind was light at 8-10 mph out of the south, and the sky was mostly cloudy, with a few patches of blue here and there. With the warmth this morning, it's actually starting to feel like we might get summer after all.
Most of today I spent doing chores around the properties, including lots of cleaning and tending to the trees and plants I planted a couple of weeks ago.
As the day wore on the temperature climbed to the mid-70s, the sky cleared to almost no clouds at all and the wind remained steady at about 10-12 mph out of the south.
By 3:45 p.m. I was ready to go fishing. I pushed the boat off the lift and positioned the boat for a drift in front of the house. Using a 1/8 Gumball jig tipped with fatheads I caught several perch and a couple of rock bass. But I was on a mission to catch at least two more eater-sized walleyes; so I moved to a new position.
I took up in front of Norm's cabin and let the southerly wind push me north toward Schiebe's and out into deeper water.
I also made the decision about half way through the drift to switch from a fathead to a leech, after all, I caught the 17-inch walleye yesterday on a leech. I continued to catch perch and rock bass. Then I felt that familiar weight of a walleye. I set the hook, reeled the fish to the boat, slipped the net underneath the fish and brought a very solid 16 1/2-inch walleye into the boat. As soon as the fish was measured it went into the livewell where it will join the walleye I caught yesterday in an eventual meal for my parents and Kathleen.
Apparently the walleye are biting on leeches; at least the last two I've caught have been on leeches. But I used the last of the leeches today, so tomorrow I may drive into Cass Lake and pick up a couple of containers of the large leeches from Froggy's Sports.
With another walleye in the basket, I decided not to go fishing tonight.
It would have been a perfect day to work on the harbor too. The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 62 degrees, the wind was light at 8-10 mph out of the south, and the sky was mostly cloudy, with a few patches of blue here and there. With the warmth this morning, it's actually starting to feel like we might get summer after all.
Most of today I spent doing chores around the properties, including lots of cleaning and tending to the trees and plants I planted a couple of weeks ago.
As the day wore on the temperature climbed to the mid-70s, the sky cleared to almost no clouds at all and the wind remained steady at about 10-12 mph out of the south.
By 3:45 p.m. I was ready to go fishing. I pushed the boat off the lift and positioned the boat for a drift in front of the house. Using a 1/8 Gumball jig tipped with fatheads I caught several perch and a couple of rock bass. But I was on a mission to catch at least two more eater-sized walleyes; so I moved to a new position.
I took up in front of Norm's cabin and let the southerly wind push me north toward Schiebe's and out into deeper water.
I also made the decision about half way through the drift to switch from a fathead to a leech, after all, I caught the 17-inch walleye yesterday on a leech. I continued to catch perch and rock bass. Then I felt that familiar weight of a walleye. I set the hook, reeled the fish to the boat, slipped the net underneath the fish and brought a very solid 16 1/2-inch walleye into the boat. As soon as the fish was measured it went into the livewell where it will join the walleye I caught yesterday in an eventual meal for my parents and Kathleen.
Apparently the walleye are biting on leeches; at least the last two I've caught have been on leeches. But I used the last of the leeches today, so tomorrow I may drive into Cass Lake and pick up a couple of containers of the large leeches from Froggy's Sports.
With another walleye in the basket, I decided not to go fishing tonight.
Monday, June 13, 2011
June 13, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
I was up at 7:15 a.m. this morning in anticipation of Peterson Excavating arriving to work on the harbor restoration. At that time of the morning the temperature was 50 degrees, the wind was out of the SSE at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph, the sky was overcast and grey, and the forecast was calling for some rain this morning with a possible thunderstorm this afternoon.
Usually, Butch and his Peterson Excavating crew are here by 8:00 a.m. so I was surprised to have him call me at 8:45 a.m. Apparently the guy who supplies Peterson Excavating with cable didn't show up and without cable to tie the wall they weren't coming out to my place. So that pushed the operation back a day or two, maybe longer.
The other appointment I had scheduled today was with Merle's Carpet Cleaners out of Bemidji. The guy showed up on time and did a great job thoroughly steam cleaning the carpet. They look fantastic. I just hope I can keep them clean for the next 10 days until Kathleen arrives.
Later in the afternoon I hit the water for a couple of hours. The wind was strong out of the south at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph, but the way we're situated on Ottertail Peninsula a south wind has no affect along our shoreline. As a result, the water around the boat lift was totally calm; like glass. But once out a few hundreds yards from shore, the chop was at least 18 inches to 2 feet.
The water temperature had cooled to 65.8 degrees, the sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain; although it didn't while I was on the water.
I fished several locations, beginning in front of our house in 9 feet of water and drifting north toward the Malay's and out into the bay. I caught numerous small perch and a couple of rock bass on a 1/8 ounce Gumball jig tipped with fatheads. My goal was to catch a couple of nice eater-sized walleyes because my parents are coming to visit next week and my mother has specifically asked for a walleye dinner.
The pressure was on so I moved to a spot I know in front of Norm's cabin. I drifted there alternating between the Gumball jig and fatheads and a Mimic Minnow Spin. Again, I caught numerous small- to medium-sized perch.
I motored a little further north to the "Birches," and this time changed up the presentation to the Gumball jig tipped with a leech. In 11 feet of water I felt that familiar "weight" of a walleye and set the hook. I reeled to the boat a nice walleye, but it wasn't until I netted it and got it into the boat that I could measure it. Sure enough, a perfect 17 inches; a perfect eater! Into the livewell went the walleye and my search for another 17-incher continued.
Unfortunately all I could catch after that was more perch; although they were starting to get bigger. At last I decided to head home.
Once on shore I took a ride on the ATV, but my ride was cut short when it started to rain. I raced home but as typically happens, as soon as I got inside the rain stopped.
Although the weather seemed to be pretty stable this evening, I decided not to go out trolling. I already have a walleye in the basket and I'll try for another two tomorrow and the days to follow. Ideally I'd like three nice walleye so I can prepare a walleye dinner for my parents and Kathleen when we're all here at the lake together.
Nature Update: Crying fowl! The birds continue to be the center of attention here at Leech Lake. In addition to the many cedar waxwings, various woodpeckers, robins, redwing blackbirds and the like that feed on the suet in the yard, I often see ruby-throated humming birds, orioles, gold finches, belted kingfishers, terns, seagulls, pelicans, loons, a whole host of different kinds of ducks, Canadian geese, turkey vultures, ruffed grouse, crows, purple martins, swallows and bald eagles. And while they're not birds, there are also a lot of bats in the air at dusk eating mosquitoes.
Usually, Butch and his Peterson Excavating crew are here by 8:00 a.m. so I was surprised to have him call me at 8:45 a.m. Apparently the guy who supplies Peterson Excavating with cable didn't show up and without cable to tie the wall they weren't coming out to my place. So that pushed the operation back a day or two, maybe longer.
The other appointment I had scheduled today was with Merle's Carpet Cleaners out of Bemidji. The guy showed up on time and did a great job thoroughly steam cleaning the carpet. They look fantastic. I just hope I can keep them clean for the next 10 days until Kathleen arrives.
Later in the afternoon I hit the water for a couple of hours. The wind was strong out of the south at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph, but the way we're situated on Ottertail Peninsula a south wind has no affect along our shoreline. As a result, the water around the boat lift was totally calm; like glass. But once out a few hundreds yards from shore, the chop was at least 18 inches to 2 feet.
The water temperature had cooled to 65.8 degrees, the sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain; although it didn't while I was on the water.
I fished several locations, beginning in front of our house in 9 feet of water and drifting north toward the Malay's and out into the bay. I caught numerous small perch and a couple of rock bass on a 1/8 ounce Gumball jig tipped with fatheads. My goal was to catch a couple of nice eater-sized walleyes because my parents are coming to visit next week and my mother has specifically asked for a walleye dinner.
The pressure was on so I moved to a spot I know in front of Norm's cabin. I drifted there alternating between the Gumball jig and fatheads and a Mimic Minnow Spin. Again, I caught numerous small- to medium-sized perch.
I motored a little further north to the "Birches," and this time changed up the presentation to the Gumball jig tipped with a leech. In 11 feet of water I felt that familiar "weight" of a walleye and set the hook. I reeled to the boat a nice walleye, but it wasn't until I netted it and got it into the boat that I could measure it. Sure enough, a perfect 17 inches; a perfect eater! Into the livewell went the walleye and my search for another 17-incher continued.
Unfortunately all I could catch after that was more perch; although they were starting to get bigger. At last I decided to head home.
Once on shore I took a ride on the ATV, but my ride was cut short when it started to rain. I raced home but as typically happens, as soon as I got inside the rain stopped.
Although the weather seemed to be pretty stable this evening, I decided not to go out trolling. I already have a walleye in the basket and I'll try for another two tomorrow and the days to follow. Ideally I'd like three nice walleye so I can prepare a walleye dinner for my parents and Kathleen when we're all here at the lake together.
Nature Update: Crying fowl! The birds continue to be the center of attention here at Leech Lake. In addition to the many cedar waxwings, various woodpeckers, robins, redwing blackbirds and the like that feed on the suet in the yard, I often see ruby-throated humming birds, orioles, gold finches, belted kingfishers, terns, seagulls, pelicans, loons, a whole host of different kinds of ducks, Canadian geese, turkey vultures, ruffed grouse, crows, purple martins, swallows and bald eagles. And while they're not birds, there are also a lot of bats in the air at dusk eating mosquitoes.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
June 12, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 10:00 a.m. the wind was calm, the lake was like a mirror reflecting the mostly grey and white sky, and the temperature was 56 degrees. There were a handful of boats clustered together in front of our house in search of walleye or jumbo perch.
I needed a new phone, since I washed mine in the washing machine yesterday (no, not intentionally), so I drove into Bemidji this morning to the Verizon Wireless store. I ended up getting a new Motorola Droid X2. It's a lot like the original Droid but does not have the slide out keyboard, which I rarely used and only added extra weight.
I got home around 3:00 p.m. The temperature at that time was 69 degrees, it was still grey and overcast, and the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the south.
I decided to do a little fishing, so I grabbed the bucket of fatheads and backed the boat off the lift and onto Leech Lake. I motored out to 10 feet of water directly in front of our house and dropped the drift sock into the 66.6 degree water. The wind was out of the ESE at maybe 5-8 mph.
I caught numerous perch, although no jumbos, a rock bass and a northern; no walleye. After an hour on the water it started to sprinkle and because I was not wearing any rain gear I decided to go ashore because I didn't want to get caught on the water in a downpour. As it turns out, all it did was sprinkle for about 30 minutes then stop.
Nature Update: Yesterday the first of the mayfly hatches occurred and with it came the return of the cedar waxwings. Cedar waxwings are one of my favorite northwoods birds and they always arrive in flocks when the mayflies are around to eat. I'm sure with mayfly hatches taking place over the next week or so, the cedar waxwings will be around for awhile too.
This evening at 8:30 p.m. I lowered the boat into the water, fired up the Mercury Verado and started trolling. I pulled a Minnow Rap in 9-12 feet of water, in "the Alley" and out into "Duck Bay," but only had three "hit and misses."
The western sky stayed light until well after 10:00 p.m., which is when I came ashore, and with the moon at 88% waxing, there was a lot of light on the water tonight. The moonlight, coupled with a nice chop on the water due to the 8-12 mph wind from the south, should have made conditions ideal for walleye fishing. And who knows, the conditions might have been perfect. But I was unable to catch a single walleye, or any fish for that matter. I think that's the first time since I've been here that I haven't caught a single fish while out on the water.
Once on shore I read the Sunday paper, listened to music and decided to go to bed early. I'm expecting Peterson Excavating to be here first thing in the morning to continue work on the harbor restoration project. More on that tomorrow.
I needed a new phone, since I washed mine in the washing machine yesterday (no, not intentionally), so I drove into Bemidji this morning to the Verizon Wireless store. I ended up getting a new Motorola Droid X2. It's a lot like the original Droid but does not have the slide out keyboard, which I rarely used and only added extra weight.
I got home around 3:00 p.m. The temperature at that time was 69 degrees, it was still grey and overcast, and the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the south.
I decided to do a little fishing, so I grabbed the bucket of fatheads and backed the boat off the lift and onto Leech Lake. I motored out to 10 feet of water directly in front of our house and dropped the drift sock into the 66.6 degree water. The wind was out of the ESE at maybe 5-8 mph.
I caught numerous perch, although no jumbos, a rock bass and a northern; no walleye. After an hour on the water it started to sprinkle and because I was not wearing any rain gear I decided to go ashore because I didn't want to get caught on the water in a downpour. As it turns out, all it did was sprinkle for about 30 minutes then stop.
Nature Update: Yesterday the first of the mayfly hatches occurred and with it came the return of the cedar waxwings. Cedar waxwings are one of my favorite northwoods birds and they always arrive in flocks when the mayflies are around to eat. I'm sure with mayfly hatches taking place over the next week or so, the cedar waxwings will be around for awhile too.
This evening at 8:30 p.m. I lowered the boat into the water, fired up the Mercury Verado and started trolling. I pulled a Minnow Rap in 9-12 feet of water, in "the Alley" and out into "Duck Bay," but only had three "hit and misses."
The western sky stayed light until well after 10:00 p.m., which is when I came ashore, and with the moon at 88% waxing, there was a lot of light on the water tonight. The moonlight, coupled with a nice chop on the water due to the 8-12 mph wind from the south, should have made conditions ideal for walleye fishing. And who knows, the conditions might have been perfect. But I was unable to catch a single walleye, or any fish for that matter. I think that's the first time since I've been here that I haven't caught a single fish while out on the water.
Once on shore I read the Sunday paper, listened to music and decided to go to bed early. I'm expecting Peterson Excavating to be here first thing in the morning to continue work on the harbor restoration project. More on that tomorrow.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
June 11, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 50 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny with some big billowy clouds and there was virtually no wind. The flag is hanging limp and the lake looks like glass.
Within an hour, the wind had picked up and it was blowing about 10-15 mph out of the north. The temperature had also gone up to near 60 degrees. I did some work around the yard and while I was outside Tom Malay pulled his truck into the driveway.
Tom wanted to know if today would be a good day to help him and Ron Newstrand take down one of the dead elm trees on my property. Both Tom and Ron use wood to heat their houses during the winter and I was happy to contribute some wood to their stockpile.
We spent several hours using chain saws to cut the large tree into smaller sections, splitting the wood into even smaller, fireplace-sized pieces and the cleaning up all the smaller limbs and branches; many of which littered the road in front of the cabin. But at last we had the operation at a point where we could call it a day.
Tom went back to his place to stack a full trailer load of firewood, while I decided to go fishing and cool off. I only fished for an hour, and only caught a few perch, but it was nice to be on the water where the 10-mph north wind cooled me off. The water temperature had risen to 67.7 as a result of the air temperature being near 70 all day.
Within an hour, the wind had picked up and it was blowing about 10-15 mph out of the north. The temperature had also gone up to near 60 degrees. I did some work around the yard and while I was outside Tom Malay pulled his truck into the driveway.
Tom wanted to know if today would be a good day to help him and Ron Newstrand take down one of the dead elm trees on my property. Both Tom and Ron use wood to heat their houses during the winter and I was happy to contribute some wood to their stockpile.
We spent several hours using chain saws to cut the large tree into smaller sections, splitting the wood into even smaller, fireplace-sized pieces and the cleaning up all the smaller limbs and branches; many of which littered the road in front of the cabin. But at last we had the operation at a point where we could call it a day.
Tom went back to his place to stack a full trailer load of firewood, while I decided to go fishing and cool off. I only fished for an hour, and only caught a few perch, but it was nice to be on the water where the 10-mph north wind cooled me off. The water temperature had risen to 67.7 as a result of the air temperature being near 70 all day.
The FLW Walleye Tournament ended today with the winner bringing in more than 41 pounds of walleye over the three-day event and winning $63,000. Not a bad weekend's pay.
I came ashore at about 4:45 p.m. to get cleaned up, and accidentially ran my Motorola Droid smartphone through the wash. No amount of air drying could get it to even turn on again, so I'm going to have to go into Bemidji tomorrow to the Verizon Wireless store to get a replacement. Most of the calls I get are on my mobile phone and I can't afford to be without it.
I listened to A Prairire Home Companion, had some dinner, but did not go fishing in the evening. Instead, I stayed in, listened to music and read.
Friday, June 10, 2011
June 10, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
The morning I awoke to the sound of the furnace running. Yep, June 10 and the furnace is required. The temperature this morning was 42 degrees, the sky was mostly cloudy with some blue patches, and the wind was out of the north at 7-12 mph.
There is no work today on the harbor. The plan is that Peterson Excavating will be out on Monday with the big hoe to align the harbor wall. With no jackhammering I was able to enjoy my coffee on the back deck.
After a series of work calls, I decided to go fishing.
The wind on the lake seemed to be swirling. With the drift sock deployed I at first observed the wind to be coming out of west blowing the boat toward shore. Later, the wind came out of the NE and blew me south toward Second Duck Point. And just before I came in the wind was blowing out of the south pushing back toward the cabin. In all cases the wind was light at no more than 5-8 mph, regardless of direction.
The water temperature was 65.8 degrees, and I fished in water ranging from 9-12 feet deep. I used a Gumball jig, 1/8 ounce, tipped with a fathead. I caught numerous perch, a rock bass, a 13-inch walleye and the strangest catch of my current stay at Leech Lake, a 11-inch bullhead. I've only caught maybe 3 or 4 bullhead in the 10 years I've been fishing Leech Lake, so this was a surprise.
Hunger brought me ashore at 3:00 p.m.
Nature Update: For the past 3 or 4 days there has been an ongoing dragonfly hatch. There are literally millions of dragonflies on Ottertail Peninsula. On my regular ATV rides around the peninsula I've been hit in the throat, eye (thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses), shoulder, hand, leg and just about any other body part a flying insect fortress could hit. Now other than there being a million of them, dragonflies are not a nuisance. In fact, not only are they food for many species of birds, they are predators of mosquitoes, which makes them very valuable in my book.
At 8:45 p.m. I went fishing. The wind was 12-15 mph out of the north, creating a good chop to the lake. The moon was 69% waxing, the sun set at 9:14 p.m. the temperature was 48 degrees and the water temperature was a good deal warmer at 65 degrees.
I decided to fish a little bit further south than usual and spent most of my time trolling the flats of "Duck Bay" in 9-11 feet of water. I was using this year's favorite crankbait the Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color, fitted with a brand new front treble hook.
While trolling north into the wind at a ground speed at just under 2 mph, I hooked into two nice walleyes, the first 19 inches and the second a sturdy 23-inch, 4 1/2 pound eyeball. After those two fish I decided to head home.
I came ashore at 10:00 p.m. and spent the remainder of my waking hours reading newspapers and listening to music. Another great day at Leech Lake.
There is no work today on the harbor. The plan is that Peterson Excavating will be out on Monday with the big hoe to align the harbor wall. With no jackhammering I was able to enjoy my coffee on the back deck.
After a series of work calls, I decided to go fishing.
The wind on the lake seemed to be swirling. With the drift sock deployed I at first observed the wind to be coming out of west blowing the boat toward shore. Later, the wind came out of the NE and blew me south toward Second Duck Point. And just before I came in the wind was blowing out of the south pushing back toward the cabin. In all cases the wind was light at no more than 5-8 mph, regardless of direction.
The water temperature was 65.8 degrees, and I fished in water ranging from 9-12 feet deep. I used a Gumball jig, 1/8 ounce, tipped with a fathead. I caught numerous perch, a rock bass, a 13-inch walleye and the strangest catch of my current stay at Leech Lake, a 11-inch bullhead. I've only caught maybe 3 or 4 bullhead in the 10 years I've been fishing Leech Lake, so this was a surprise.
Hunger brought me ashore at 3:00 p.m.
Nature Update: For the past 3 or 4 days there has been an ongoing dragonfly hatch. There are literally millions of dragonflies on Ottertail Peninsula. On my regular ATV rides around the peninsula I've been hit in the throat, eye (thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses), shoulder, hand, leg and just about any other body part a flying insect fortress could hit. Now other than there being a million of them, dragonflies are not a nuisance. In fact, not only are they food for many species of birds, they are predators of mosquitoes, which makes them very valuable in my book.
At 8:45 p.m. I went fishing. The wind was 12-15 mph out of the north, creating a good chop to the lake. The moon was 69% waxing, the sun set at 9:14 p.m. the temperature was 48 degrees and the water temperature was a good deal warmer at 65 degrees.
I decided to fish a little bit further south than usual and spent most of my time trolling the flats of "Duck Bay" in 9-11 feet of water. I was using this year's favorite crankbait the Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color, fitted with a brand new front treble hook.
While trolling north into the wind at a ground speed at just under 2 mph, I hooked into two nice walleyes, the first 19 inches and the second a sturdy 23-inch, 4 1/2 pound eyeball. After those two fish I decided to head home.
I came ashore at 10:00 p.m. and spent the remainder of my waking hours reading newspapers and listening to music. Another great day at Leech Lake.
Thursday, June 09, 2011
June 9, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
It was another cool morning with the temperature of only 42 degees at 8:00 a.m. The sky was mostly cloudy, with only a spot of blue here and there, and a wind of 8-12 mph out of the NW.
Today is the first day of the FLW walleye tournament, but unlike the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament last week, when there were more than 35 boats in front of the house, there was surprisingly only one boat out front today.
The guys from Peterson Excavating showed up at 8:45 a.m. and were done removing the last portion of the walkway by 10:00 a.m. Butch showed up just as they were completing the demolition and after surveying the situation carefully informed me that he's going to need to bring in the big front hoe to pull back the harbor walls and to pound in big metal beams to which the harbor walls will be tied. When we first talked, Butch thought he could simply use cable jacks (known as come-alongs locally), but with all of the walkway removed he doesn't think that approach will be effective.
Butch promises that the project will be minimally invasive -- that is, no trees will be removed or damaged -- but bringing such a big piece of construction machinery to the harbor will leave tracks on the lawn. Of course with rain, the grass growing and being cut, all evidence of the operation should be gone by later in the summer or early fall.
After breakfast and some work, I went fishing for a couple of hours. With the wind out of the NE at 8-15 mph I stopped the boat in front of Malay's in 9 feet of water, deployed the drift sock, and let the wind push me along at 1/2 mph south toward Second Duck Point and out into 12 feet of water. I noted the water temperature to be 65.8 degrees.
Using a 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped with fathead minnow I caught several perch, including one nice 10-incher (although that falls an inch short of qualifying for a jumbo by my definition) and a nice 15 1/2-inch walleye, which I put back into the lake. After three drifts I decided to come ashore and take of some work here.
After a light dinner I decided to go fishing again. I hit the water at 7:00 p.m. and drifted from right in front of the house out toward the middle of Sucker Bay being gently pushed along by a 10 mph NE breeze.
The water temperature this evening was slightly lower than this afternoon at 65.4 degrees, the moon was 50% waxing and the sunset was 9:12 p.m. CDT.
During my three drifts I caught several perch and a couple of rock bass using an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped alternately with fatheads and leeches.
At 8:45 p.m. I put turned on the boat lights, stowed my jigging rig and took out my Abu Garcia Ambassador baitcasting reel that I use for trolling crankbaits. As always during this current stay I used the Rapala Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color.
As I began to troll I noticed the wind was shifting from the NE to the SE and was increasing in speed to roughly 10-15 mph, creating a nice chop to the lake. I trolled in the usual "Alley" location in 9-11 feet of water.
I didn't even have a "hit and miss" for the first 45 minutes of trolling. Then at 9:30 p.m., just south of Second Duck Point on my way north, I had a good hit. I could tell it was a decent sized fish. When I got it close to the boat I slipped the net underneath it and hauled in a very sturdy 23-inch walleye that had to weigh close to 5 pounds. I quickly removed the lure from the fish and put it back into the water.
No sooner had I started trolling again, letting about about 60 feet of line, when I felt that familiar "thud" of a big fish. Right away I could tell that this fish was even bigger than the 23-incher that I just boated. I took my time bringing the fish to the boat, and just as it got close, it turned and headed to the bottom of the lake. I let the fish take out line, but continued to apply pressure so the fish wouldn't come unbuttoned.
The next time I got the fish to the surface I was able to slip the net under it and bring it into the boat. I could see this was a big fish. Unlike the first walleye of the night, this one had all three barbs of the front treble hook in its mouth. Rather than risk injuring the fish, I took out my wire cutters and snipped off all three barbs which enabled me to easily remove the hook. I did a quick measurement and found this big walleye to be every bit of 24 inches, a full two feet of fish. I didn't weigh the walleye but I've got to believe it was more than 5 1/2 pounds. I slowly released the big fish into the water to make sure it was in good condition. It got into the water, flipped its tail a couple of times and was quickly out of sight. Wow, what a fun fish to catch!
At that point my Minnow Rap needed a new front treble hook and I didn't feel like switching lures, so I decided to come ashore. After all, I had just caught 47-inches and 10 pounds of walleye with two fish in the span of maybe seven minutes.
Tomorrow should be another great day of fishing on Leech Lake. I'm going to try to get out onto the lake at least twice. Until then...
Today is the first day of the FLW walleye tournament, but unlike the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament last week, when there were more than 35 boats in front of the house, there was surprisingly only one boat out front today.
The guys from Peterson Excavating showed up at 8:45 a.m. and were done removing the last portion of the walkway by 10:00 a.m. Butch showed up just as they were completing the demolition and after surveying the situation carefully informed me that he's going to need to bring in the big front hoe to pull back the harbor walls and to pound in big metal beams to which the harbor walls will be tied. When we first talked, Butch thought he could simply use cable jacks (known as come-alongs locally), but with all of the walkway removed he doesn't think that approach will be effective.
Butch promises that the project will be minimally invasive -- that is, no trees will be removed or damaged -- but bringing such a big piece of construction machinery to the harbor will leave tracks on the lawn. Of course with rain, the grass growing and being cut, all evidence of the operation should be gone by later in the summer or early fall.
After breakfast and some work, I went fishing for a couple of hours. With the wind out of the NE at 8-15 mph I stopped the boat in front of Malay's in 9 feet of water, deployed the drift sock, and let the wind push me along at 1/2 mph south toward Second Duck Point and out into 12 feet of water. I noted the water temperature to be 65.8 degrees.
Using a 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped with fathead minnow I caught several perch, including one nice 10-incher (although that falls an inch short of qualifying for a jumbo by my definition) and a nice 15 1/2-inch walleye, which I put back into the lake. After three drifts I decided to come ashore and take of some work here.
After a light dinner I decided to go fishing again. I hit the water at 7:00 p.m. and drifted from right in front of the house out toward the middle of Sucker Bay being gently pushed along by a 10 mph NE breeze.
The water temperature this evening was slightly lower than this afternoon at 65.4 degrees, the moon was 50% waxing and the sunset was 9:12 p.m. CDT.
During my three drifts I caught several perch and a couple of rock bass using an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped alternately with fatheads and leeches.
At 8:45 p.m. I put turned on the boat lights, stowed my jigging rig and took out my Abu Garcia Ambassador baitcasting reel that I use for trolling crankbaits. As always during this current stay I used the Rapala Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color.
As I began to troll I noticed the wind was shifting from the NE to the SE and was increasing in speed to roughly 10-15 mph, creating a nice chop to the lake. I trolled in the usual "Alley" location in 9-11 feet of water.
I didn't even have a "hit and miss" for the first 45 minutes of trolling. Then at 9:30 p.m., just south of Second Duck Point on my way north, I had a good hit. I could tell it was a decent sized fish. When I got it close to the boat I slipped the net underneath it and hauled in a very sturdy 23-inch walleye that had to weigh close to 5 pounds. I quickly removed the lure from the fish and put it back into the water.
No sooner had I started trolling again, letting about about 60 feet of line, when I felt that familiar "thud" of a big fish. Right away I could tell that this fish was even bigger than the 23-incher that I just boated. I took my time bringing the fish to the boat, and just as it got close, it turned and headed to the bottom of the lake. I let the fish take out line, but continued to apply pressure so the fish wouldn't come unbuttoned.
The next time I got the fish to the surface I was able to slip the net under it and bring it into the boat. I could see this was a big fish. Unlike the first walleye of the night, this one had all three barbs of the front treble hook in its mouth. Rather than risk injuring the fish, I took out my wire cutters and snipped off all three barbs which enabled me to easily remove the hook. I did a quick measurement and found this big walleye to be every bit of 24 inches, a full two feet of fish. I didn't weigh the walleye but I've got to believe it was more than 5 1/2 pounds. I slowly released the big fish into the water to make sure it was in good condition. It got into the water, flipped its tail a couple of times and was quickly out of sight. Wow, what a fun fish to catch!
At that point my Minnow Rap needed a new front treble hook and I didn't feel like switching lures, so I decided to come ashore. After all, I had just caught 47-inches and 10 pounds of walleye with two fish in the span of maybe seven minutes.
Tomorrow should be another great day of fishing on Leech Lake. I'm going to try to get out onto the lake at least twice. Until then...
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
June 8, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was hot, muggy and sunny. Today at 7:15 a.m. the temperature was 48 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast and it was very windy, 15-20 mph out of the west, creating white caps on the lake.
At 8:00 a.m. the two kids from WC Peterson Excavating showed up and immediately fired up the jackhammer and cement saw. Maybe with the cooler weather today, and the experience of working on the walkway yesterday, they'll be able accomplish more of the demolition today than they did yesterday. It would be nice if they could wrap up the demolition today and move on to repairs during the balance of the week.
The FLW walleye tournament starts tomorrow on Leech Lake and runs through Saturday. That means I'll most likely awake tomorrow to dozens, if not more, boats in front of the house. I'm sure many of the pro fishermen are on the lake today pre-fishing in an attempt to identify good fishing spots. Despite the high winds and white caps, I see a couple of boats in front of the house now at 8:15 a.m.
Despite the wind and cool temperatures I decided to go for a little bike ride. My intention was to do the entire "loop" but no sooner than I turned onto Ottertail Point Drive off of 26th than it started to sprinkle. Not wanting to get caught in a rain storm miles from the house, I turned around and rode home. The rain didn't come as I expected, but it did mist heavily for a half hour or more.
Right after I got home T&K Outdoors arrived to mow the lawns at the house and cabin. In addition to the jackhammer and cement saw, the loud roar of the riding lawn mower added to the din. Normally it's so very quiet at the lake, with the exception of the chirping of the many song birds, that today's noise is made that much more obvious.
At 1:15 p.m., Butch, the lead guy on the harbor project, showed up to check the progress the two kids were making. With Butch's help, they chipped away at the concrete almost to the end of the walkway and should be able to have all of the cement removed today. I don't know if they'll get to any other aspect of the project yet, but there is still a lot of daylight left.
I decided to run into Cass Lake for a couple of grocery items and to pick up a fresh scoop of fatheads from Froggy's. When I got back at 4:30 p.m., the guys from Peterson Excavating were gone, and the job of removing the cement walkway was not complete. I would estimate that there is another hour or two of jackhammering still to be done.
Daily Nature Update: Today was juvenile day. While on my daily ATV ride around the peninsula I came across an adult bald eagle and two juvenile eagles flying directly above me, no more than 25 feet up. They must have tracked me for 100 yards or more giving me a great look at these marvelous raptors on a family hunt. Later, on the same ride, I came across a female whitetail deer and her young offspring. It was no longer a fawn with the white spots, but a small deer with the same coloring as the adult. And later, after I was home looking out at the rough waters of Leech Lake, I spotted the Common Merganser pair that have been hanging around our harbor and dock for weeks, but they were now accompanied by 10 little ducklings. The young Mergansers couldn't be more than a week old, if that. I'm guessing their nest must have been on our property between the house and cabin somewhere. Again, another wonderful glimpse into the wildlife of Northern Minnesota.
By 9:00 p.m. the wind had calmed some to maybe 15 mph out of the north, but the lake was still very choppy with some white caps. The temperature was 44 degrees and the sky was dark and overcast. It wasn't a night I felt like venturing out onto the lake, so instead I stayed inside, listened to classical radio KCRB and read Thoreau.
At 8:00 a.m. the two kids from WC Peterson Excavating showed up and immediately fired up the jackhammer and cement saw. Maybe with the cooler weather today, and the experience of working on the walkway yesterday, they'll be able accomplish more of the demolition today than they did yesterday. It would be nice if they could wrap up the demolition today and move on to repairs during the balance of the week.
The FLW walleye tournament starts tomorrow on Leech Lake and runs through Saturday. That means I'll most likely awake tomorrow to dozens, if not more, boats in front of the house. I'm sure many of the pro fishermen are on the lake today pre-fishing in an attempt to identify good fishing spots. Despite the high winds and white caps, I see a couple of boats in front of the house now at 8:15 a.m.
Despite the wind and cool temperatures I decided to go for a little bike ride. My intention was to do the entire "loop" but no sooner than I turned onto Ottertail Point Drive off of 26th than it started to sprinkle. Not wanting to get caught in a rain storm miles from the house, I turned around and rode home. The rain didn't come as I expected, but it did mist heavily for a half hour or more.
Right after I got home T&K Outdoors arrived to mow the lawns at the house and cabin. In addition to the jackhammer and cement saw, the loud roar of the riding lawn mower added to the din. Normally it's so very quiet at the lake, with the exception of the chirping of the many song birds, that today's noise is made that much more obvious.
At 1:15 p.m., Butch, the lead guy on the harbor project, showed up to check the progress the two kids were making. With Butch's help, they chipped away at the concrete almost to the end of the walkway and should be able to have all of the cement removed today. I don't know if they'll get to any other aspect of the project yet, but there is still a lot of daylight left.
I decided to run into Cass Lake for a couple of grocery items and to pick up a fresh scoop of fatheads from Froggy's. When I got back at 4:30 p.m., the guys from Peterson Excavating were gone, and the job of removing the cement walkway was not complete. I would estimate that there is another hour or two of jackhammering still to be done.
Daily Nature Update: Today was juvenile day. While on my daily ATV ride around the peninsula I came across an adult bald eagle and two juvenile eagles flying directly above me, no more than 25 feet up. They must have tracked me for 100 yards or more giving me a great look at these marvelous raptors on a family hunt. Later, on the same ride, I came across a female whitetail deer and her young offspring. It was no longer a fawn with the white spots, but a small deer with the same coloring as the adult. And later, after I was home looking out at the rough waters of Leech Lake, I spotted the Common Merganser pair that have been hanging around our harbor and dock for weeks, but they were now accompanied by 10 little ducklings. The young Mergansers couldn't be more than a week old, if that. I'm guessing their nest must have been on our property between the house and cabin somewhere. Again, another wonderful glimpse into the wildlife of Northern Minnesota.
By 9:00 p.m. the wind had calmed some to maybe 15 mph out of the north, but the lake was still very choppy with some white caps. The temperature was 44 degrees and the sky was dark and overcast. It wasn't a night I felt like venturing out onto the lake, so instead I stayed inside, listened to classical radio KCRB and read Thoreau.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
June 7, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
At 9:00 a.m. this morning the guys from WC Peterson Excavating showed up, jackhammer in hand, and began tearing out the old cement walkway around the harbor. The plan is to remove all of the old cement and rebar that makes up the walkway, then put in a tile drain, sewer rock and finally gravel. That way the water from rain and snow melt will be able to drain into the harbor and not cause the walkway and the harbor walls to heave up and move when the water refreezes. It's amazing how much damage ice can do.
The temperature this morning is a cool 59 degrees and the wind is out of the north at 10-15 mph. There are some white caps on the lake, but it is by no means as rough as I've seen it during my stay here. In fact, I wrote about the incredibly strong winds we had a week or so ago, when I was worried that something might happen to the docks or boat lift, and it turns out I did have good cause to worry.
I realized yesterday that a corner section of the dock at our house was missing. After comparing notes with Mark from Shore Brothers, we determined that he and his crew had installed it in early May and that it must have been the storm that tore it free from the rest of the dock. I looked for the missing section along the shoreline from Poage's cabin down Newman's, but it was no where to be found. I'm afraid at this point it is lost somewhere in the lake.
The jackhammering continues as it approaches noon. The temperature has warmed to 65 degrees, and the wind has weakened to 8-12 mph eliminating the white caps that were on the lake earlier. I'd like to go fishing, but I also need to be here as the guys work on the harbor restoration. Maybe if they take a lunch break I can get out onto the lake for a little bit.
At 2:30 p.m. the wind had calmed down to a gentle breeze from the SE, the temperature had climbed to 80 degrees, it was muggy and the sky was hazy. The jackhammering of the harbor walkway continues, and I'd estimate that they aren't even 25% of the way through it. Butch, the lead guy on the project from WC Peterson Excavating, had told me at one point a couple of weeks ago that he thought the entire job would take no more than a day. Well, from the pace they're on, I'd guess it'll take them at least three days to remove the cement. Then they've got to put in a tile drain, straighten out the harbor walls, put in sewer rock and gravel, and rewire the lights. I don't see how this is going to be completed in a week's time.
When 3:30 p.m. rolled around the jackhammering stopped and the two young workers for Peterson Excavating got into their car and left. After taking care of few business issues here at the house, I got out onto the lake at just 4:30 p.m.
I motored out to 10 feet of water in a spot between our house and cabin and let the ENE wind push the boat out away from shore. There was only one other boat on the water at the time, a big sport fishing boat with about 6 guys on board, and to my dismay they shadowed me where ever I went. If I pulled in the drift sock and repositioned the boat, so did they. I don't understand why some fools can't figure out how and where to fish on their own.
The water temperature had cooled slightly to 68 degrees, most likely as a result of the 46 degree temperature we had last night and the rain from the overnight thunderstorm. The wind was at 12-15 mph out of the ENE with gusts up over 20 mph, and the sky was hazy.
I was using an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped with a fathead minnow and drifting. I caught numerous perch, including a couple in the 9-inch range, a northern, and a beautiful 23 1/2-inch walleye. It's so fun to catch a big, sturdy fish like that on 6lb test Fireline Crystal and a 5' 6" St. Croix rod.
As I reeled the big walleye toward the boat I had to fight the fish with one hand while reaching for the net with the other. I use a Frabill net with an extending handle so I had to extend the handle while trying to keep the walleye from coming unhooked. I managed to slip the net under the big fish just as it shook its head and spit the hook. The walleye dropped into the net and I was able to bring it on board to measure it. By most estimates, a 23 1/2 inch walleye weighs somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5 pounds. Like I said, a sturdy fish. I put the slot fish back into the water in the same place where I caught it, in 11 feet of water in a spot directly between the house and cabin.
By 5:30 p.m. I was on shore and having a beer with my neighbors John and Karen Newman. We had a nice chat and then parted ways so we could each make dinner. After I ate, I took and ATV ride around the "loop" and again encountered the local animals, including a painted turtle, ruffed grouse and a white tail deer, not to mention a plethora of native song birds.
At 8:45 p.m. the temperature is still a very warm 74 degrees, but I can feel it cooling off. The wind has shifted to the SW and picked up to around 20-25 mph so there are white caps rolling across the lake once again, and the sky remained hazy. I walked over to the cabin to raise the boat in the lift a little more since the waves were large and ran into our local mink neighbor. It was scurrying about near the boat landing and when is saw me it darted into the big rocks along the shoreline.
Oh, and one other update. Before I went over to the Newman's this evening, all three of the Newman men -- John, Johnny and Greg -- were in the lake to cool off. I had mentioned losing the corner section of the dock, so while in the water the Newman's donned face masks and looked for the missing part of the dock. And wouldn't you know it, John found it right underneath a section of our dock; where it was not visible from above the water. I now have the missing section, but will need some hardware and a specially sized board to reattach it. Nonetheless, a great find.
I did not go fishing tonight because the wind picked up so much and was creating white caps. I love fishing, but I don't need to venture out on a night like tonight. Maybe tomorrow...
The temperature this morning is a cool 59 degrees and the wind is out of the north at 10-15 mph. There are some white caps on the lake, but it is by no means as rough as I've seen it during my stay here. In fact, I wrote about the incredibly strong winds we had a week or so ago, when I was worried that something might happen to the docks or boat lift, and it turns out I did have good cause to worry.
I realized yesterday that a corner section of the dock at our house was missing. After comparing notes with Mark from Shore Brothers, we determined that he and his crew had installed it in early May and that it must have been the storm that tore it free from the rest of the dock. I looked for the missing section along the shoreline from Poage's cabin down Newman's, but it was no where to be found. I'm afraid at this point it is lost somewhere in the lake.
The jackhammering continues as it approaches noon. The temperature has warmed to 65 degrees, and the wind has weakened to 8-12 mph eliminating the white caps that were on the lake earlier. I'd like to go fishing, but I also need to be here as the guys work on the harbor restoration. Maybe if they take a lunch break I can get out onto the lake for a little bit.
At 2:30 p.m. the wind had calmed down to a gentle breeze from the SE, the temperature had climbed to 80 degrees, it was muggy and the sky was hazy. The jackhammering of the harbor walkway continues, and I'd estimate that they aren't even 25% of the way through it. Butch, the lead guy on the project from WC Peterson Excavating, had told me at one point a couple of weeks ago that he thought the entire job would take no more than a day. Well, from the pace they're on, I'd guess it'll take them at least three days to remove the cement. Then they've got to put in a tile drain, straighten out the harbor walls, put in sewer rock and gravel, and rewire the lights. I don't see how this is going to be completed in a week's time.
When 3:30 p.m. rolled around the jackhammering stopped and the two young workers for Peterson Excavating got into their car and left. After taking care of few business issues here at the house, I got out onto the lake at just 4:30 p.m.
I motored out to 10 feet of water in a spot between our house and cabin and let the ENE wind push the boat out away from shore. There was only one other boat on the water at the time, a big sport fishing boat with about 6 guys on board, and to my dismay they shadowed me where ever I went. If I pulled in the drift sock and repositioned the boat, so did they. I don't understand why some fools can't figure out how and where to fish on their own.
The water temperature had cooled slightly to 68 degrees, most likely as a result of the 46 degree temperature we had last night and the rain from the overnight thunderstorm. The wind was at 12-15 mph out of the ENE with gusts up over 20 mph, and the sky was hazy.
I was using an 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig tipped with a fathead minnow and drifting. I caught numerous perch, including a couple in the 9-inch range, a northern, and a beautiful 23 1/2-inch walleye. It's so fun to catch a big, sturdy fish like that on 6lb test Fireline Crystal and a 5' 6" St. Croix rod.
As I reeled the big walleye toward the boat I had to fight the fish with one hand while reaching for the net with the other. I use a Frabill net with an extending handle so I had to extend the handle while trying to keep the walleye from coming unhooked. I managed to slip the net under the big fish just as it shook its head and spit the hook. The walleye dropped into the net and I was able to bring it on board to measure it. By most estimates, a 23 1/2 inch walleye weighs somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5 pounds. Like I said, a sturdy fish. I put the slot fish back into the water in the same place where I caught it, in 11 feet of water in a spot directly between the house and cabin.
By 5:30 p.m. I was on shore and having a beer with my neighbors John and Karen Newman. We had a nice chat and then parted ways so we could each make dinner. After I ate, I took and ATV ride around the "loop" and again encountered the local animals, including a painted turtle, ruffed grouse and a white tail deer, not to mention a plethora of native song birds.
At 8:45 p.m. the temperature is still a very warm 74 degrees, but I can feel it cooling off. The wind has shifted to the SW and picked up to around 20-25 mph so there are white caps rolling across the lake once again, and the sky remained hazy. I walked over to the cabin to raise the boat in the lift a little more since the waves were large and ran into our local mink neighbor. It was scurrying about near the boat landing and when is saw me it darted into the big rocks along the shoreline.
Oh, and one other update. Before I went over to the Newman's this evening, all three of the Newman men -- John, Johnny and Greg -- were in the lake to cool off. I had mentioned losing the corner section of the dock, so while in the water the Newman's donned face masks and looked for the missing part of the dock. And wouldn't you know it, John found it right underneath a section of our dock; where it was not visible from above the water. I now have the missing section, but will need some hardware and a specially sized board to reattach it. Nonetheless, a great find.
I did not go fishing tonight because the wind picked up so much and was creating white caps. I love fishing, but I don't need to venture out on a night like tonight. Maybe tomorrow...
Monday, June 06, 2011
June 6, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
For the first time since I've been here at Leech Lake I awoke to warm temperatures. This morning at 9:00 a.m. it was 65 degrees, sunny, and just a light breeze out of the south at 5 mph; the lake is nearly flat calm.
It is also one of the few days since I've been here that I am by myself. For the first two days I was here back in May, I was busy getting the boat from Corner Sports, putting it in the water, opening up the house and cabin, etc., so although I was by myself, the time flew by quickly and I didn't even notice the solitude I had.
Then Tim and Jackson were here with me for the weekend of walleye opener. On the day they left Kathleen arrived (and I always welcome any time I can spend with her), and before she went back to St. Cloud Rick arrived from Australia. He just left yesterday so today I'm here by myself.
But I have a lot of work to do around the properties, and the guys from WC Peterson Excavating may be here today or tomorrow to begin restoration work on the harbor, so I'm sure I will have plenty to keep my very busy.
Another quick nature update: After doing some work around the properties today I was hot and decided to cool off with an ATV ride. Along my ride I saw another painted turtle and a couple of ruffed grouse. I've heard that ruffed grouse are fun to hunt and even better to eat. Maybe some day I'll take up grouse hunting; I know that there are a lot of them here on Ottertail Peninsula.
I decided to go fishing at 4:30 p.m., and was only on the water for an hour because I simply got too hot! Imagine that, too hot. The temperature was 80 degrees, the wind was calm, the sky was clear, so out on the water with the sun beating down on me it was just to hot to fish comfortably.
I did catch numerous perch, including some good sized ones, but no walleye. I was using an 1/8 ounce Northland jig tipped with a fathead minnow. The water temperature had risen to 70.7 degrees, up from the mid-60 degree mark just a day earlier. That's what a hot day will do to the water temperature.
At 5:30 p.m. I came ashore, cleaned up, had some dinner and then watched as a huge thunderstorm cloud passed over head. As it did, the wind picked up and shifted from a south wind to a north wind and the temperature dropped several degrees. Although I heard thunder, it never did rain, at least not until well after midnight.
Until tomorrow...
It is also one of the few days since I've been here that I am by myself. For the first two days I was here back in May, I was busy getting the boat from Corner Sports, putting it in the water, opening up the house and cabin, etc., so although I was by myself, the time flew by quickly and I didn't even notice the solitude I had.
Then Tim and Jackson were here with me for the weekend of walleye opener. On the day they left Kathleen arrived (and I always welcome any time I can spend with her), and before she went back to St. Cloud Rick arrived from Australia. He just left yesterday so today I'm here by myself.
But I have a lot of work to do around the properties, and the guys from WC Peterson Excavating may be here today or tomorrow to begin restoration work on the harbor, so I'm sure I will have plenty to keep my very busy.
Another quick nature update: After doing some work around the properties today I was hot and decided to cool off with an ATV ride. Along my ride I saw another painted turtle and a couple of ruffed grouse. I've heard that ruffed grouse are fun to hunt and even better to eat. Maybe some day I'll take up grouse hunting; I know that there are a lot of them here on Ottertail Peninsula.
I decided to go fishing at 4:30 p.m., and was only on the water for an hour because I simply got too hot! Imagine that, too hot. The temperature was 80 degrees, the wind was calm, the sky was clear, so out on the water with the sun beating down on me it was just to hot to fish comfortably.
I did catch numerous perch, including some good sized ones, but no walleye. I was using an 1/8 ounce Northland jig tipped with a fathead minnow. The water temperature had risen to 70.7 degrees, up from the mid-60 degree mark just a day earlier. That's what a hot day will do to the water temperature.
At 5:30 p.m. I came ashore, cleaned up, had some dinner and then watched as a huge thunderstorm cloud passed over head. As it did, the wind picked up and shifted from a south wind to a north wind and the temperature dropped several degrees. Although I heard thunder, it never did rain, at least not until well after midnight.
Until tomorrow...
Sunday, June 05, 2011
June 5, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning I was up and on the road to Bemidji by 5:30 a.m. The temperature at the time was 44 degrees, the sky was clear and the wind was light at 7-10 mph out of the SW.
As a dim light turned into morning, I drove Rick from our house on Leech Lake to the airport in Bemidji. He was catching a 6:50 a.m. flight to Minneapolis and from there he was flying to Orlando. It was good seeing Rick again and hopefully he enjoyed his visit.
After dropping off Rick, I went to Corner Sports to pick up a couple of spark plugs for my Honda 8hp kicker motor. Corner Sports is closed today, but they were kind enough to leave the spark plugs in a place where I could easily find them; I'll pay for them when I next go into town. I can't imagine that kind of trust and service from a boat shop in San Jose, California. But this is the northwoods and that's the kind of people that live up here.
I ate an early breakfast at Perkin's and by 7:00 a.m. was doing to some grocery shopping at Luekin's Village Foods. At 9:00 a.m. I was back at the lake and had installed the spark plugs in the kicker motor. Since it is day two of the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament there were close to 20 boats in front of the house so rather than test out the kicker motor at the moment, I decided to wait until later in the day.
[NOTE: Here's a link to the day one results of the LLWT. Leaders caught six fish for a weight of 13.87 pounds.]
I spent most of the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning, etc., but at 4:30 p.m. I decided to go fishing. Most of the tournament fishermen had left, leaving only 4 or 5 boats in front of the house.
I used the Mercury Verado to motor out to 10 feet of water then I turned off the big motor, put the Honda 8hp kicker motor in the water and fired it up. It started right up, thanks to the new spark plugs, but as soon as I put it in gear it stalled. I tried a second time and this time the Honda not only fired up, but ran when I put it in gear. I spent maybe five minutes or so running the kicker motor just to give it some gas and let it warm up. I guess the new spark plugs did the trick. Then I shut it off and began fishing.
I drifted from 10 feet of water in front of the house to about 14 feet of water in front of Malays and along the way caught numerous perch -- including an 11-inch perch, which by my definition is the start of being a jumbo; a jumbo being 11-14 inches; I defy anyone to show me a 14-inch plus perch out of Leech Lake -- and a northern. I then decided to head to shore at 5:45 p.m.
A brief nature update: Yesterday while riding on the ATV, I saw a female painted turtle laying her eggs along side of Ottertail Point Rd., between Two Points Rd. and 26th Ave. The road graters had been through the day earlier and apparently the soft dirt along the edge of the road was just what the turtle was looking for to lay her eggs. I hope they survive. Then this afternoon while sitting in the living room a small animal caught my eye. I quickly fixed the binoculars on it and discovered it was a mink, sniffing its way from the harbor to the fish house. Then it turned, and ran behind the fish house and I lost sight of it. Again, I continue to be thankful for the opportunity to witness such animals in the wild.
Although the wind was calm, maybe 5-7 mph out of the north, and the temperature in the mid-60s I decided to just stay inside and watch the sunset and not go fishing. As the sun set, the clouds rolled in and it looked like a thunderstorm might follow, but none did.
Getting up at 5:00 a.m. wore me down early tonight, so I am going to call it a night.
As a dim light turned into morning, I drove Rick from our house on Leech Lake to the airport in Bemidji. He was catching a 6:50 a.m. flight to Minneapolis and from there he was flying to Orlando. It was good seeing Rick again and hopefully he enjoyed his visit.
After dropping off Rick, I went to Corner Sports to pick up a couple of spark plugs for my Honda 8hp kicker motor. Corner Sports is closed today, but they were kind enough to leave the spark plugs in a place where I could easily find them; I'll pay for them when I next go into town. I can't imagine that kind of trust and service from a boat shop in San Jose, California. But this is the northwoods and that's the kind of people that live up here.
I ate an early breakfast at Perkin's and by 7:00 a.m. was doing to some grocery shopping at Luekin's Village Foods. At 9:00 a.m. I was back at the lake and had installed the spark plugs in the kicker motor. Since it is day two of the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament there were close to 20 boats in front of the house so rather than test out the kicker motor at the moment, I decided to wait until later in the day.
[NOTE: Here's a link to the day one results of the LLWT. Leaders caught six fish for a weight of 13.87 pounds.]
I spent most of the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning, etc., but at 4:30 p.m. I decided to go fishing. Most of the tournament fishermen had left, leaving only 4 or 5 boats in front of the house.
I used the Mercury Verado to motor out to 10 feet of water then I turned off the big motor, put the Honda 8hp kicker motor in the water and fired it up. It started right up, thanks to the new spark plugs, but as soon as I put it in gear it stalled. I tried a second time and this time the Honda not only fired up, but ran when I put it in gear. I spent maybe five minutes or so running the kicker motor just to give it some gas and let it warm up. I guess the new spark plugs did the trick. Then I shut it off and began fishing.
I drifted from 10 feet of water in front of the house to about 14 feet of water in front of Malays and along the way caught numerous perch -- including an 11-inch perch, which by my definition is the start of being a jumbo; a jumbo being 11-14 inches; I defy anyone to show me a 14-inch plus perch out of Leech Lake -- and a northern. I then decided to head to shore at 5:45 p.m.
A brief nature update: Yesterday while riding on the ATV, I saw a female painted turtle laying her eggs along side of Ottertail Point Rd., between Two Points Rd. and 26th Ave. The road graters had been through the day earlier and apparently the soft dirt along the edge of the road was just what the turtle was looking for to lay her eggs. I hope they survive. Then this afternoon while sitting in the living room a small animal caught my eye. I quickly fixed the binoculars on it and discovered it was a mink, sniffing its way from the harbor to the fish house. Then it turned, and ran behind the fish house and I lost sight of it. Again, I continue to be thankful for the opportunity to witness such animals in the wild.
Although the wind was calm, maybe 5-7 mph out of the north, and the temperature in the mid-60s I decided to just stay inside and watch the sunset and not go fishing. As the sun set, the clouds rolled in and it looked like a thunderstorm might follow, but none did.
Getting up at 5:00 a.m. wore me down early tonight, so I am going to call it a night.
Saturday, June 04, 2011
June 4, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
At 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 56 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny with half of the sky filled big billowy clouds, and the wind was 10-15 mph out of the west. There were also 38 boats already in front of our house.
It's a little ridiculous when there are so many boats in such a small area, especially on a lake that is 113,000 acres big. However, I can attest that there are walleye in the spot where the boats are fishing, and that's the name of the game. Oh, and I just realized, today is the start of the two-day Leech Lake Walleye Tournament, so of course there are going to be more serious fishermen than usual on the lake today.
We didn't want to join the crowd in front of our house, so instead Rick and I headed down to Bass Bay for some bass fishing. We each threw spinner baits and made our way from the harbor to the old Hancock place. I was able to boat three chunky largemouth bass, and Rick added one of his own.
As the afternoon progressed, the wind began to pick up and by 3:00 p.m. when we came ashore it was blowing at close to 20 mph out of the WNW creating white caps that rolled toward our shore. The temperature was 69 degrees.
Since tonight is Rick's last night at the lake, I was hoping that the weather would permit us one last chance to get out on the water together. And for once, the weather cooperated.
By 8:45 p.m. the wind had slowed to 8-10 mph out of the WNW making conditions perfect for trolling crankbaits. I set the Mercury SmartCraft controls for 550 rpm, which is about 2-2.25 mph ground speed, getting our crankbaits down to 8-10 feet with 50-60 feet of line let out.
I had the rare experience of catching four different fish species while trolling -- perch, northern pike, rock bass and walleye. The walleye was a healthy 16-inch fish which most people probably would have kept, but I put it back into the lake. All other fish also were returned to the lake.
Rick unfortunately caught only one northern, no walleye. We came ashore at 10:00 p.m. since we have to leave the house at 5:20 a.m. tomorrow so Rick can catch his early morning flight out of Bemidji.
Overall, today was a good day on Leech Lake -- largemouth bass in the afternoon, pike and walleye in the evening.
It's a little ridiculous when there are so many boats in such a small area, especially on a lake that is 113,000 acres big. However, I can attest that there are walleye in the spot where the boats are fishing, and that's the name of the game. Oh, and I just realized, today is the start of the two-day Leech Lake Walleye Tournament, so of course there are going to be more serious fishermen than usual on the lake today.
We didn't want to join the crowd in front of our house, so instead Rick and I headed down to Bass Bay for some bass fishing. We each threw spinner baits and made our way from the harbor to the old Hancock place. I was able to boat three chunky largemouth bass, and Rick added one of his own.
As the afternoon progressed, the wind began to pick up and by 3:00 p.m. when we came ashore it was blowing at close to 20 mph out of the WNW creating white caps that rolled toward our shore. The temperature was 69 degrees.
Since tonight is Rick's last night at the lake, I was hoping that the weather would permit us one last chance to get out on the water together. And for once, the weather cooperated.
By 8:45 p.m. the wind had slowed to 8-10 mph out of the WNW making conditions perfect for trolling crankbaits. I set the Mercury SmartCraft controls for 550 rpm, which is about 2-2.25 mph ground speed, getting our crankbaits down to 8-10 feet with 50-60 feet of line let out.
I had the rare experience of catching four different fish species while trolling -- perch, northern pike, rock bass and walleye. The walleye was a healthy 16-inch fish which most people probably would have kept, but I put it back into the lake. All other fish also were returned to the lake.
Rick unfortunately caught only one northern, no walleye. We came ashore at 10:00 p.m. since we have to leave the house at 5:20 a.m. tomorrow so Rick can catch his early morning flight out of Bemidji.
Overall, today was a good day on Leech Lake -- largemouth bass in the afternoon, pike and walleye in the evening.
Friday, June 03, 2011
June 3, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 10:00 a.m. the sky was overcast and a kind of greyish orange in color, it looks like it could rain or thunderstorm (both of which are forecast) and the temperature was a balmy 64 degress. It feels humid. The wind is light at 10 mph out of the SE.
It's Friday of the week after Memorial Day, so all of those tourists that came up for the holiday week are all taking advantage of the good fishing and calm water. There are roughly 20 boats in front of our house in search of walleye.
Despite the crowd, Rick and I went fishing from 1:00 p.m. to roughly 3:00 p.m. We fished in front of the house and cabin, as well as at the Birches. Rick used a slip bobber with a fathead or leech, while I used a Northland jig with a fathead. We caught a few perch, some rock bass and a northern or two.
It's Friday of the week after Memorial Day, so all of those tourists that came up for the holiday week are all taking advantage of the good fishing and calm water. There are roughly 20 boats in front of our house in search of walleye.
Despite the crowd, Rick and I went fishing from 1:00 p.m. to roughly 3:00 p.m. We fished in front of the house and cabin, as well as at the Birches. Rick used a slip bobber with a fathead or leech, while I used a Northland jig with a fathead. We caught a few perch, some rock bass and a northern or two.
After dinner we went fishing again. By this time the temperature had cooled slightly from a high today of 76 degrees (and very humid) down to 66 degrees which was very comfortable. There was practically no wind, and what little breeze did blow was from the SW. The water temperature had risen to 61.7 degrees. The sky was clear and there was just a tiny sliver a moon that set just after sunset.
Using Minnow Raps we trolled from Malay's to the north to a spot between Second Duck and Duck Points. Since there was virtually no wind to contend with, I could set the Mercury SmartCraft controls to 550 rpm, the lowest speed, which kept the boat moving at a ground speed of roughly 2.15 mph.
We fished from 8:45 p.m. until 10:45 p.m., and in addition to catching a few northerns and rock bass, Rick caught a 16-inch and a 19-inch walleye. I boated a very nice 23-inch walleye. When we came ashore there were still four other boats out on Sucker Bay.
Thursday, June 02, 2011
June 2, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
The sky this morning was grey and overcast with a threatening look to it, but no rain present. The temperature was 52 on its way to a high of around 63 degrees. The wind was strong at between 20 and 25 mph, but it was out of the ESE so the water along our shoreline was relatively calm. But about 200 yards off shore the waves started and you could really feel the strength of the wind.
After some calls and a late breakfast, Rick and I decided to go fishing. We didn't have to go far. I pulled the boat in front of our house in 9 feet of water, dropped in the drift sock and then started fishing.
To start, both Rick and I were using slip bobber rigs with small hooks tipped with leeches. This was the method that Rick used last evening when he boated three walleye. Unfortunately, this method did not prove effective and we had to switch gears.
I moved to a small 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig in a chartreuse/green color tipped with a fathead. Almost immediately I caught a perch.
We made several drifts from about 9 feet of water outward toward the center of Sucker Bay where the deepest water we fished was 14 feet. Most of our action came in 10-12 feet of water.
During the next two hours I caught numerous perch, including some pretty big ones (although not jumbos), as well as a 13-inch and a 21-inch walleye. As is often the case, when one guy has the hot stick the other guy in the boat often struggles. Last night Rick hooked three walleye while I was catching nothing but rock bass. Today I was catching perch and walleye, and Rick could only hook into a couple of small perch. That's fishing.
We came ashore at 3:00 p.m. because a mechanic from New Leech Lake Campground, Mark Ashe, was supposed to come by to work on my Honda 8hp kicker motor, which isn't running right. As of 4:30 p.m., he had not shown up.
Mark did show up at 5:00 p.m. and determined that I needed new spark plugs. I'll go into town sometime early next week and pick up a couple of new plugs and according to Mark, that should get my motor running great again. I'll report back on it.
Rick and I went out again at 7:15 p.m. and fished for about an hour, but the only fish we caught were the few perch I boated. No walleye.
We ate dinner late, after 9:00 p.m., as the rain was falling. As of 10:30 p.m. there is only a very light rain and winds at 20 mph out of the SE. Until tomorrow...
After some calls and a late breakfast, Rick and I decided to go fishing. We didn't have to go far. I pulled the boat in front of our house in 9 feet of water, dropped in the drift sock and then started fishing.
To start, both Rick and I were using slip bobber rigs with small hooks tipped with leeches. This was the method that Rick used last evening when he boated three walleye. Unfortunately, this method did not prove effective and we had to switch gears.
I moved to a small 1/8 ounce Northland Gumball jig in a chartreuse/green color tipped with a fathead. Almost immediately I caught a perch.
We made several drifts from about 9 feet of water outward toward the center of Sucker Bay where the deepest water we fished was 14 feet. Most of our action came in 10-12 feet of water.
During the next two hours I caught numerous perch, including some pretty big ones (although not jumbos), as well as a 13-inch and a 21-inch walleye. As is often the case, when one guy has the hot stick the other guy in the boat often struggles. Last night Rick hooked three walleye while I was catching nothing but rock bass. Today I was catching perch and walleye, and Rick could only hook into a couple of small perch. That's fishing.
We came ashore at 3:00 p.m. because a mechanic from New Leech Lake Campground, Mark Ashe, was supposed to come by to work on my Honda 8hp kicker motor, which isn't running right. As of 4:30 p.m., he had not shown up.
Mark did show up at 5:00 p.m. and determined that I needed new spark plugs. I'll go into town sometime early next week and pick up a couple of new plugs and according to Mark, that should get my motor running great again. I'll report back on it.
Rick and I went out again at 7:15 p.m. and fished for about an hour, but the only fish we caught were the few perch I boated. No walleye.
We ate dinner late, after 9:00 p.m., as the rain was falling. As of 10:30 p.m. there is only a very light rain and winds at 20 mph out of the SE. Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
June 1, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
Last night, or more precisely, early this morning, I awoke to howling winds and a beeping noise. The 35-45 mph winds had obviously blown down a power line because we were without electricity and the carbon monoxide sensors I have plugged into the wall were beeping to alert me that the power was out and the batteries were low. Great.
So at 3:05 a.m. I was up pulling batteries out of shreiking sensors. Welcome to June.
At 9:00 a.m., the temperature was a chilly 44 degrees, the wind was out of the west at 17-25 mph, the sky was mostly sunny and the lake was rolling with white caps.
As a result of the fairly strong wind for most of the day, Rick and I took care of many chores on land. While I was on a business call, Rick took out a small "junk" tree that was growing outside my bedroom window and while he was off doing other chores I planted the new flowering crabapple tree that I picked up in town yesterday.
Later in the day we stopped by Jerry Schiebe's to see the Bobcat and John Deere tractor that are part of the Hancock estate. Both are old and neither are worth much. Rick spoke to Noel's son Jeff today and the ball is just starting to roll regarding Rick's interest in buying the old place. Both parties have some homework to do before they talk again.
By 4:30 p.m. the wind had calmed to around 15 mph out of the NW and it is supposed to weaken even more as the afternoon melts into evening. That should provide us with waters safe enough to do some after-dinner trolling for walleye.
For dinner I filleted the walleye I caught the other night and then fried it up in a Shore Lunch beer batter, along with French fries (with malt vinegar of course) and salad. It was, as always, a very tasty affair.
By the time we finished dinner the wind had died down to near calm. What breeze there was came out of the NW at maybe 3-5 mph. The sky was clear and the temperature was a pleasant 62 degrees. The water temperature has warmed just slightly to 60.7 degrees.
We started fishing directly in front of our house using my MinnKota electric trolling motor. I was using an 1/8 ounce chartreuse Northland jig, while Rick was using a much heavier 1/2 ounce shiner jig in a pink color. We both tipped the jigs with leeeches.
After a few minutes Rick decided to add a classic red and white snap bobber to his line to keep the jig about a foot off the bottom. I continued to use the standard jigging method with no float.
Well, apparently the bobber was the preferred method because Rick caught walleyes of 14-, 18-, and 20-inches; all were returned to the lake. I wasn't skunked, I managed to catch a northern pike and six, count them six, rock bass. Not exactly my favorite fish.
At 9:30 p.m., under clear skies, falling temperatures to about 54 degrees, and a breeze that was starting to pick up to about 7-10 mph out of the NW, we put away our jigging rigs and decided to troll "the Alley."
As usual we both were pulling Minnow Raps (Rick used one in purpledescent, while I used a Tennessee shad color) about 50-60 feet behind the boat at a ground speed of 2.25 mph in 9-11 feet of water.
Trolling seemed to work better for me than jigging this night, because in addition to a northern pike I caught two 15 1/2-inch walleye, both were put back into the lake. Rick didn't catch anything while trolling. At 10:30 p.m. we came ashore.
The final tally was 5 walleye boated in about 2 1/2 hours. Not a bad night of fishing on Leech Lake.
So at 3:05 a.m. I was up pulling batteries out of shreiking sensors. Welcome to June.
At 9:00 a.m., the temperature was a chilly 44 degrees, the wind was out of the west at 17-25 mph, the sky was mostly sunny and the lake was rolling with white caps.
As a result of the fairly strong wind for most of the day, Rick and I took care of many chores on land. While I was on a business call, Rick took out a small "junk" tree that was growing outside my bedroom window and while he was off doing other chores I planted the new flowering crabapple tree that I picked up in town yesterday.
Later in the day we stopped by Jerry Schiebe's to see the Bobcat and John Deere tractor that are part of the Hancock estate. Both are old and neither are worth much. Rick spoke to Noel's son Jeff today and the ball is just starting to roll regarding Rick's interest in buying the old place. Both parties have some homework to do before they talk again.
By 4:30 p.m. the wind had calmed to around 15 mph out of the NW and it is supposed to weaken even more as the afternoon melts into evening. That should provide us with waters safe enough to do some after-dinner trolling for walleye.
For dinner I filleted the walleye I caught the other night and then fried it up in a Shore Lunch beer batter, along with French fries (with malt vinegar of course) and salad. It was, as always, a very tasty affair.
By the time we finished dinner the wind had died down to near calm. What breeze there was came out of the NW at maybe 3-5 mph. The sky was clear and the temperature was a pleasant 62 degrees. The water temperature has warmed just slightly to 60.7 degrees.
We started fishing directly in front of our house using my MinnKota electric trolling motor. I was using an 1/8 ounce chartreuse Northland jig, while Rick was using a much heavier 1/2 ounce shiner jig in a pink color. We both tipped the jigs with leeeches.
After a few minutes Rick decided to add a classic red and white snap bobber to his line to keep the jig about a foot off the bottom. I continued to use the standard jigging method with no float.
Well, apparently the bobber was the preferred method because Rick caught walleyes of 14-, 18-, and 20-inches; all were returned to the lake. I wasn't skunked, I managed to catch a northern pike and six, count them six, rock bass. Not exactly my favorite fish.
At 9:30 p.m., under clear skies, falling temperatures to about 54 degrees, and a breeze that was starting to pick up to about 7-10 mph out of the NW, we put away our jigging rigs and decided to troll "the Alley."
As usual we both were pulling Minnow Raps (Rick used one in purpledescent, while I used a Tennessee shad color) about 50-60 feet behind the boat at a ground speed of 2.25 mph in 9-11 feet of water.
Trolling seemed to work better for me than jigging this night, because in addition to a northern pike I caught two 15 1/2-inch walleye, both were put back into the lake. Rick didn't catch anything while trolling. At 10:30 p.m. we came ashore.
The final tally was 5 walleye boated in about 2 1/2 hours. Not a bad night of fishing on Leech Lake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
