Wednesday, May 30, 2012

At Leech Lake -- May 29, 2012

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was a cool 48 degrees, the skies were varied with periods of complete cloud cover to times of broken clouds with even a bit of sunshine, and the wind was very strong at 25+ out of the WNW. The lake was covered in white caps.

Throughout the morning we saw a bit of rain, some very heavy mist, and times of bright sun. It seemed to change every 20 minutes or so. But what didn't change was the wind; it remained windy all morning long.

I did a quick survey of the properties this morning and during my walk I saw only one boat on Sucker Bay. That guy must really have a strong desire to go fishing; although with the wind the way it is, I'm betting that the fishing was poor to nonexistent.

As the day progressed the weather stayed static, that is, it continued to be very windy, cloudy and grey, with periods of heavy mist and light rain. The temperature hovered at the 60 degree mark. Rick and I spent a good couple of hours outside filling in some smallish sink holes with gravel and dirt -- which I then seeded with grass -- and other little odd chores around the properties.

By 3:00 p.m. the wind had moved a bit westward and was blowing almost directly from the west. It was still strong at 20-25 mph. The sky remained grey, the lake churning with white caps and a mist in the air. The National Weather Service has issued a frost warning for most of northern Minnesota including the Leech Lake area. With temperatures expected to dip down to near freezing, it may kill off many of the mosquitoes that were just now hatching.

A couple of brave boats have strayed periodically in front of our house, but within 20 minutes or so they move on, probably back to the resort or to the warmth of their cabins.

Throughout the late afternoon and then into the evening and night the wind continue to blow in excess of 20 mph, keeping the lake too rough to venture out onto. So Rick and I stayed inside and watched the Rob Reiner film, Spinal Tap. Sure, we've each seen it a half a dozen times or more, but it's still really funny; "I don't know, what are the hours?"

After the movie we called it a night. No fishing on Leech Lake today. Maybe tomorrow; it's supposed to be chilly, but at least the wind is forecast to be fairly light. Until then, good night.