June 20, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

By 10:00 a.m. this morning it was already 70 degrees with the expected high by 2:00 p.m. to be in the low 80s. The wind was out of the north at 8-12 mph, with gusts up near 20 mph. The sky at 10:00 a.m. was clear, but by noon big white billowy clouds had blown in making the sky partly cloudy.

I went up to Birch Ridge Resort this morning to pick up a couple of scoops of fathead minnows. I've fished exclusively with spot-tail shiners since my arrival back on May 19, but at $5.99 a scoop I decided to try a live bait that was less "spendy." I've heard that the walleye are biting on fatheads too, but I'll have to find out for myself if that's the case.

By late morning I had once again filled in the cracks in our asphalt driveway and once again battled squadrons of mosquitoes during the process. I hope it doesn't rain for at least 24 hours giving the sealant time to set.

I discussed my driveway, and the shoddy workmanship of Anderson Brothers Construction, with my neighbor Tom Malay. He told me that the reason our driveways are so poorly constructed is that the asphalt was not hot enough when Anderson Brothers applied it.

Both Tom and I had our driveways repaved a couple of years ago by Anderson Brothers and at the time neither of us were happy with the work. Anderson Brothers did give me a discount on the work, but never came back out to fix my driveway or Tom's.

Here's my advice: NEVER USE ANDERSON BROTHERS CONSTURCTION (out of Brainerd, MN) FOR ANY ASPHALT JOB. VERY POOR WORK AND VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Just before 2:00 p.m. I went fishing with the guy who has a cabin next to our cabin, Don Poage. While I've known Don ever since we first came to Leech Lake in 2001, this is the first time he and I have gone fishing together.

Usually when Don is up here at the lake he has lots of family with him and he takes them out in his boat. This visit, however, he is here with just his wife Terry, and his boat is in the shop for repairs. That made it the ideal time to ask if he wanted to go fishing.

We started in about 12 feet of water in front our his place, with the wind out of the north, we drifted toward my house and shore. We used fathead minnows on our jigs and caught a few small perch. Don couldn't stay out long because had a number of things to take care of before he and Terry head home later this evening. At 3:15 p.m. we came ashore.

I stayed close to home for the rest of the afternoon and evening, opting to do laundry, make dinner and listen to "A Prairie Home Companion." Today, Garrison was broadcasting from just outside of Chicago and had as musical guests Elvin Bishop, Norton Buffalo, and Sarah Watkins; a fantastic line up.

At my usual time, 9:00 p.m., I went fishing. The temperature was a muggy 72 degrees, the wind was non-existent, and the mosquitoes and other flying insects were out in full force. I sprayed my hands, neck and ears with Ultra Muskol, which is basically 40% Deet, and yet the mosquitoes still swarmed all over me.

Despite the pesky little blood-suckers, I pressed on, enjoying the sunset, the calls of the loons and the fishing. I trolled The Alley using my #9 Rapala Minnow Rap in the hot steel color. I fished in 8-9.5 feet of water. Just after sunset a caught a medium-sized northern pike and two very big rock bass.

During my next pass, however, I felt the familar pull of a big walleye. I set the hook and kept constant pressure on the line as I reeled the fish closer to the boat. I reached over for the net, grabbed in my left hand and put it underneath the fish as it got close to the boat. In one quick motion I netted the fish and brought it into the boat.

The Grateful Dead's "Touch of Gray" was playing on the radio as I unhooked a very sturdy 22" walleye. I took the entire event as a good omen of things to come in the next few minutes, hours, days, weeks and months. Grateful Dead + catching walleye = good luck.

No sooner had I released the 22" walleye and put my Minnow Rap back in the water than I hooked another fish. I could tell right away it was smaller than the previous fish, but maybe it'd be the perfect size to keep and eat. It was indeed. I netted a very nice 17" walleye which went into the boat's live well.

I trolled one more pass through The Alley with no other fish caught. I did record that the water temperature in 9 feet of water off Second Duck Point was 71.2 degrees and in 8.5 feet of water in front of our house it was a half degree warmer.

At 10:45 p.m. I guided my boat toward the boat lift. As I approached I noticed something sitting on one of the rails of the lift. When I got a little bit closer I could see it was a Common Goldeneye (duck) female. When she realized the boat was headed straight for her, she jumped off the lift, started quacking and was immediately followed by a number of ducklings away from the lift. I could hear her still quacking off in the distance as I raised the boat on the lift.

If a person were squeamish or otherwise bothered by great numbers of insects and bugs, then being on my boat as I secured it on my boat lift would have been a place to avoid. I glanced over at my Mercury Verado motor and it looked as if the entire thing was moving because it was literally covered in a vast quanity, and variety, of insects.

I transfered the 17" walleye from the boat's live well to a wire fish basket, put the basket into the lake, gathered up my few items and hustled back to the house, leaving the millions of flying and crawling bugs to themselves.

Despite the insects, tonight was another fantastic night on Leech Lake.

Cottonwood Tree

The leaves of the cottonwood tree

I drove up to Birch Ridge Resort this morning to pick up a couple of scoops of fathead minnows. On my way there and back, I noticed that the air was full of the white cottony hairs of the cottonwood tree. As I drove home this verse popped into my head.

Cottonwood Tree

Floating through air like a light summer snow
Drifting in the breeze with no one place to go
In the Leech Lake woods they’re everywhere to see
The white fluffy spawn of the cottonwood tree

June 19, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

An approaching storm on the south end of Sucker Bay

All of my work filling in the cracks in our asphalt driveway was washed away with the torrential rains we had last night. Since there is a very good chance of more thunderstorms later tonight, I'm going to wait until Saturday to refill the cracks -- and battle the humongous mosquitoes.

The temperature at noon today is 68 degrees, the wind is light at 5-8 mph out of the SW and the sky is gray and overcast. It looks as if it might rain, and there is indeed rain in the forecast.

Noel Hancock stopped by this morning for coffee and we had a nice visit. He's a great guy and a good neighbor. And speaking of good neighbors, Tom Malay and I are going to go fishing here in about a half an hour.

Tom and I first fished in front of our house in 10-12 feet of water. The water temperature today has warmed 67.5 degrees. With the slight SW wind, we drifted toward Tom's house. We caught a few perch, but no jumbos. I caught a small 12" walleye. After a couple of passes we decided to relocate to a spot Tom knows between Duck and Second Duck Points.

We motored there at 30 mph, and apparently my motor is back to working properly. Upon arriving at the designated spot we baited our jigs with shiners and dropped them into 8.5 feet of water. Again, the SW wind pushed us north, this time toward Second Duck Point. We caught a few perch but no walleye.

We repositioned ourselves yet again in 10 feet of water off Second Duck Point. As was the order of the day, we caught nothing but small perch.

Finally, we went back to where we started, in front of my house, for a couple last drifts. We caught a few more perch, but still no walleye. We decided to head home when we finally used up the last of our shiners. I dropped Tom off on the end of his dock and came home myself.

I did a quick pass around the cabin property to check on the evergreen trees and lilac bushes I planted week or two ago. I couldn't believe how much new growth there was on the Colorado spruce trees. The lilacs looked healthy and strong too. I guess all of this rain the past week has really helped them establish a foot hold. I hope they do well throughout the summer and live to be big, strong trees and bushes.

At 8:00 p.m., the wind picked up to about 10 mph out of the west and it looked as if a storm that had been off in the distance was rapidly heading my way. But as time passed, so did the storm. The primary force of the storm passed to the south and east of Sucker Bay, but we did get a tiny bit of rain from the trailing edge of the storm. The sky is now clear at 9:00 p.m., and I think I'll go out trolling.

I got out onto the lake about a quarter past 9:00 p.m. Once on the lake I could see another storm front approaching from the south, but this one looked to be even further east than the one that preceded it so I figured it would miss Sucker Bay. The wind was out of the west at 8 mph, the air temperature was 70 degrees and the water temperature had warmed again to 68.7 degrees. As the evening wore on, the storm did move to the east and missed Sucker Bay.

I started trolling The Alley in 10 feet of water, and on my first pass, right in front of our house, I caught a 15” walleye. The fish was too small for me to keep for a meal (I will only keep fish between 16” and 17 1/2”) so I put it back into the lake.

During the next hour I watched the western sky turn from a brilliant orange to a pale cantaloupe color to finally a burnt sienna. Above the orange band was a very faint yellow streak and above it pale green line that quickly turned into a light blue. Above the light blue was bright blue band and finally a deep indigo, almost purple color, up above. I was struck by how easily I could make out every color in the rainbow. Another beautiful sunset over Leech Lake

Just as the stars were starting to show themselves in the fading light, the last of the five other boats sharing this section of Sucker Bay with me headed for home; leaving my boat as the only one in sight.

I decided to make one last past through The Alley and made a large arcing turn off Second Duck Point. About half way through my turn I felt a large pull on my line and immediately I set the hook. I could tell this fish was bigger by the way it pulled back as I reeled it to the boat.

With my St. Croix fishing rod in my right hand, I reached for my Frabill net with my left. I lowered the net into the water and underneath the fish and raised the rod bringing the fish into the net. I scooped up the fish and brought it into the boat. After removing the treble hook from its lip, I did a quick measurement – a beautiful 22” walleye. Like the 15” walleye before it, this one too went back into Leech Lake.

At 11:15 p.m. I put the boat onto the lift and came ashore. As I was walking from the boat lift back to the house I felt the breeze pick up. I think there may be another storm on the way. It would be nice to fall asleep tonight listening to the rain and far away thunder.

June 18, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Looking south on Sucker Bay toward Second Duck Point


A view from the inside of my boat toward our cabin and house

At 10 a.m. this morning the sky was gray and hazy, it looked as if it might rain, the wind a slight wind out of the SSE at maybe 5-8 mph and the temperature was 66 degrees. According to the weather reports, it might hit 79 degrees today, although there is a 50 percent chance of thunderstorms.

One of the many chores I need to complete before I leave for San Jose is filling the various cracks in our asphalt driveway. The harsh -30 degree winters and humid, hot 90 degree summers really do a number on asphalt. I filled one of the cracks as a test, and it seems to be acceptable, so I'm going to fill other cracks later this afternoon. But first, some fishing.

At 12:40 p.m. I took the boat out into 10 feet of water in front of our house. With the light 5 mph SSE blowing, it pushed the boat toward Malay's and out into deeper water. I made three such drifts and caught 3 big rock bass, a number of perch, including a couple of jumbos, and a 12" walleye. At 2:00 p.m. I came ashore because I needed to eat some lunch, and hadn't taken any food with me out onto the boat.

After I ate lunch I decided to fill in more of the cracks in our asphalt driveway. I managed to fill all of the major cracks, but it took all of my concentration and determination to do so because I was constantly surrounded by a large, buzzing cloud of mosquitoes.

Personally, I have never had so many of the blood-sucking insects around me at one time in my entire life. They were biting my hands, face, ears, neck, and nose and were even trying to get into my eyes. I tried not to let the miniature vampires affect me, but it was hard not to be distracted. It should be interesting to see just how well those cracks are filled in once the mosquitoes retreat.

I went out fishing at 3:30 p.m. Originally I had planned to do some walleye fishing in front of our house in 10-12 feet of water, but I changed my mind and motored down to Norm's to try to catch a "welcome bass." Usually, the first cast into the reeds in front of Norm's cabin produces a nice largemouth bass, thus we dubbed the experience a welcome bass. Unfortunately, my Senko Texas-rigged on a 3/0 hook brought no bass to welcome me.

I moved to Bass Bay right in front of the harbor and began throwing a spinner bait. I moved around for some time and caught only one small rock bass. With my bass fishing not producing fish I decided to go back to "plan A" and fish for walleye in front of our house. I fired up the Mercury Verado and started on my way at 35 mph.

But about half way to our house from Bass Bay the big Verado coughed a couple of times and then stopped altogether. I tried starting it three or four times, but it simply wouldn't turn over. Luckily, I still have "Little E," my trusty Honda 8.8hp kicker motor. I started up the Honda and slowly motored back to the boat lift.

Once the boat was on the lift, I raised the boat just enough so that the boat was secure but the Verado was in the water. I turned off the power to everything, then switched it back on. I then tried to start the Verado and this time it turned over on the first try and sounded like it was running normally.

With the Verado still running, I lowered the boat back in the water and took the boat out for a test drive. The Verado seemed to work fine at slow speeds so I opened it up and got it up to 35-40 mph. Again, the motor seemed to run fine, just as it always has. I was getting ready to take the boat back to the boat lift, when I changed my mind and decided to do a little walleye fishing as I had planned before my motor troubles started.

I put a shiner on my lime green/black XPS jig and dropped it into the 11 feet of 65 degree water. I jigged for about a half an hour with no success, so I decided to go ashore. I was anxious to see if the Verado would start; but no worries, it turned over and started on the first try. I took the boat in and put it on the boat lift.

As I was getting out of the boat I noticed 30-40 largemouth bass swimming under the dock and boat lift. They were joined with some absolutely jumbo perch and monster blue gills. I quickly got back in the boat, got out a light tackle rod and reel set up with a tiny jig, spinner and soft plastic.

I made about 10 short casts just beyond the boat lift, but while scores of bass followed my lure, I could only coax one into biting. So as it turns out, I caught more largemouth bass right off my dock than I did at Norm's (normally a hot bed for largemouth activity) or up in Bass Bay.

Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to go into Bemidji either tomorrow or on Saturday to get my boat trailer, which apparently has been repaired with a new coupling, in case I have additional motor problems and need to take the boat out of the water and into Corner Sports for repairs.

At 9:00 p.m. this evening the temperature was a very muggy 68 degrees, the air was heavy and foreboding with strong thunderstorms looming to the south. I contemplated going fishing, and was even as far as the end of the dock getting into the boat, when those dark threatening skies suggested to me to stay in tonight.

By the time I went back to the house, put my things away and walked out onto the end of the dock at the house, the storm had moved nearly on top of me. The sky, which is usually light until 10:30 p.m. is now pitch black at 9:15 p.m. The rain is starting to fall. The wind is starting to blow hard. There is lightening and thunder. The storm is upon us!!

I’m going to stay in tonight, watch the storm, listen to classical music on KCRB and maybe watch a movie. I think that will be a nice way to complete another great day at Leech Lake.

June 17, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The spot in front of our house where I caught the 22" walleye this afternoon.

Second Duck Point on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake.

At 9:00 a.m. this morning the sky was overcast and grey, the temperature was 59 degrees, the wind was calm and it looked like rain. By 10:00 a.m. a light rain started to fall. It's not raining as hard as it was most of the day yesterday, but it's once again wet outside.

Yesterday I used the last of my shiners during my second trip out on the water so I'll need to go up to Birch Ridge Resort this morning to buy a couple of scoops. I'll do that as soon as I straighten out my Northwest flight reservation from Minneapolis to San Jose next week.

Originally, I was scheduled to fly direct from MSP to SJC, but apparently that flight was canceled so I now go through Salt Lake City. The problem is is that NWA left me only 30 minutes between arriving in Salt Lake City and departing for San Jose.

Knowing the airlines, there is no way to make a flight with only 30 minutes between flights. So far, I've been dropped from my call after waiting on hold for 15 minutes, talked to a representative who had to transfer me to someone else -- during the transfer I was again dropped from the call. I called back, waited 15 minutes once again, was transferred to some other person and again was dropped from the call. I'm not sure NWA could be more inept.

I guess I'm insane, because I'm trying yet again to get through to someone at NWA and I'm expecting a different result. Finally at 1:30 p.m., I decided to quit dealing with the airline and go fishing.

Earlier in the day I had taken a break from my airline mess and had gone up to Birch Ridge Resort to buy a couple of scoops of shiners. With my bucket of shiners in hand, I got the boat in the water and motored out to depth of 10 feet off Second Duck Point. The wind was out of the south at 10 mph, thus pushing the boat north and progressively further out into Sucker Bay. The water temperature was 64 degrees.

I used a 1/8 oz. lime green/black Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler jig tipped with a lively shiner. I caught numerous perch on the two or three passes I made from Second Duck Point to in front of our house. I decided to reposition the boat and so rather than starting at Second Duck Point and drifting to our house, I'd start in front of our house and drift to Malay's cabin.

Just as I was repositioning the boat, John Newman called my cell and asked if he could join me on the water. I said sure, and arranged to pick him up at my dock in 10 minutes. After putting away my cell phone, I dropped my jig into the water and immediately hooked into something big. I battled it for a few minutes and eventually netted a very healthy 22", five pound plus, walleye.

After I picked up John we fished in the same location, my house to Malay's, for several passes and we caught lots of medium and large perch. We contemplated keeping some of the jumbo perch, but eventually all of the fish went back into the lake. We came ashore at 4:30 p.m.

John came back over to our lake house at 7:30 p.m. this evening to share a couple of cold malted-beverages and listen to some music. At 9:00 p.m. John and I took my boat out to troll #9 Minnow Raps in 8-11 feet of water in The Alley.

The water temperature this evening was 64.7 degrees, the air temperature was 64 degrees and there was a slight wind out of the south at 5 mph; a perfect night to fish for walleye on Leech Lake. There was an added benefit that we were the only boat in the area.

John had the "hot stick" tonight and caught two northern pike as well as a 15" walleye and a 19 3/4" walleye. I went fishless. Nonetheless, the conversation was lively and the weather was ideal.

John leaves for home tomorrow and I'm not sure when I'll see him again, since I'm not sure when I'll be back at the lake after June 24. But for the next week, I'm going to enjoy every minute here and get out fishing for walleye as much as possible on Leech Lake.

June 16, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The gang's all here, l-r, Tom M., Duane P., John N. Clarence T. and Jerry S.

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 60 degrees, the wind was calm and the sky was grey and overcast with a steady rain falling. By 1:00 p.m. the rain was still falling, and had not let up a bit. We need the rain in Northern Minnesota to fill the lakes and ease the drought, and I'm happy because it will provide much needed moisture for the trees and bushes I planted a couple of days ago.

Mark from Shore Brothers stopped by at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the problem with my boat lift. Mark's son Ben was here yesterday looking at the boat lift motor and gear mechanism and determined that the clutch plate was probably wearing out. Mark concurred with his son's assessment and said he would order a new one for me. Mark said he'd come out in the next week or so to install the new clutch plate.

I received word today that some business meetings that have been discussed for the past several weeks are indeed happening during the final week of June in California. That means that I will be flying back to San Jose on Wednesday, June 24. I can't believe that in 8 days from now I'll be back in California. What a dramatic, and not altogether pleasant, thought.

I really love being at Leech Lake, and the transition back to city life is always a hard one to make. I'm not sure when I'll be back to our cabin in the Northwoods, but I'm hoping it will be around Labor Day (if not sooner). If I can swing it, I'd like to stay six or seven weeks -- from Labor Day to the third week in October.

If that indeed happens, I would be here for the great walleye fishing in September and October, as well as the Otter Tail Peninsula potluck dinner in mid-October. That's also the time I'd pull my boat out of the water. Here it is not even officially summer yet and I'm already planning the time to pull my boat out of the water. That's what going back to "civilization" does to me; it makes me plan months into the future rather than loving and experiencing the moment.

At 3:00 p.m. this afternoon I'm going to my neighbor John Newman's cabin for an early BBQ with a bunch of guys from the Peninsula. In addition to John, others who have said they'd be in attendance include Clancy (the man from whom we bought our Leech Lake house), Jerry Schiebe (the current OPA president), Tom Malay (my long-time friend, neighbor and VP of the OPA), Noel Hancock and possibly Norm Hansen (unofficial Peninsula historian and past OPA president). It should be an entertaining time with such an august assembly.

Despite the steady rain, I decided to go fishing at 2:10 p.m. this afternoon. I donned my Cabela's GORE-TEX Guidewear jacket and bib overalls, grabbed the bucket of shiners and took the boat to 9 feet of water off Second Duck Point. I caught a number of small- to medium-sized perch, but no walleye. At 3:00 p.m. I headed for shore so I could get over to Newman's for the BBQ.

When I arrived at John's cabin Jerry Schiebe, Duane Paulsen, Clancy T., and Tom Malay were already there. (Noel and Norm were no-shows). We hung out for about an hour drinking beer and sharing tall tales while John grilled up some brats and burgers. While we ate, Clancy continued to entertain us with an endless stream of stories about Otter Tail Peninsula and the characters long ago who inhabited this part of Leech Lake.

After dinner, and a little more chat, the party broke up and we all headed home. When I got home, I decided to feed my last 5 shiners to the perch and walleye. At 6:40 p.m. I went out onto the lake. The water temperature was 64.5 degrees, the air temperature was 61 degrees, the wind was slight at maybe 3-5 mph from the NE and the sky was overcast, grey and drizzly. The steady rain had stopped, but the air was still heavy with moisture and it felt like it could start raining again at any minute.

I started fishing in 9-12 feet of water off Second Duck Point, but quickly moved to directly in front of our house in 9 feet of water. At the latter location I caught a few perch and a 13" walleye. All fish went back into the lake.

Around 7:40 p.m. the last of my shiners was picked off my Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler jig, so I decided to go home. John had mentioned that he'd like to go out trolling for walleye tonight, and if he doesn't mind sitting in the rain, I'll be happy to take him out. He leaves for Mahtomedi sometime tomorrow late morning, and since I leave in a week, this may be the last time we get to fish together for months.

As I sit at my computer writing this blog entry I can look out onto Leech Lake (a wonderful sight). It's 8:20 p.m. and I just saw John Newman pull out onto the lake in his boat. I don't know if he's planning to come back to do some trolling or not. Regardless, I'm going out fishing at 9:00 p.m.

I did indeed go out fishing at 9:00 p.m. I trolled a hot steel colored #9 Minnow Rap in 8-10 feet of 64.2 degree water in The Alley. Just as the light was leaving the overcast sky, I caught two rock bass (aka Charlie Brown fish, Indiana walleye, Iowa wall-hangers).

During a slow turn out into the lake off Second Duck Point I hooked a very sturdy 15" walleye. Then on my next pass through The Alley I hooked a beefy 21 1/2" walleye. I made another pass, but caught no more fish. At 11:15 p.m. I came ashore.

I went fishing three different times today. I plan to go fishing as many times each day as possible during my remaining week here. I love being here at Leech Lake and plan to enjoy each and every moment.

June 15, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The sunset over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake; taken from the boat

Today was the warmest it's been since my arrival in Minnesota back on May 19; the temperature hit 82 degrees. The wind was calm, with a slight breeze now and then from the south. The sky was hazy -- there were high clouds, but at the same time the sun was shining enough to where there were shadows.

At 10:30 a.m. my new refrigerator was delivered. I spent the morning cleaning it out with baking soda, per Kathleen's instructions, and then moving the food from the cabin back to the house. I still have a few more items to transfer, but I'll get to those tomorrow.

After lunch I stained the door frame on the game room side of the new door that Rick installed during his recent visit. I was going to paint it white, but I found some white cedar stain that looks much better than the white paint in my estimation.

Once the door frame was stained I moved outside to paint the stairs on the side of the cabin. I had picked up some deck stain during my last trip into Bemidji, and completed that chore in about an hour or so. At this point I was dripping sweat and being eaten alive by hummingbird-sized Minnesota mosquitoes, so I decided to cool off and escape the mosquitoes with one activity -- a fast ride on the ATV.

During my ride I drove by Jerry Schiebe's place and came across quite an operation. Jerry had received a DNR permit to dredge his harbor, so there was a large front-loading shovel and dump truck removing and dumping the muck from the harbor. I stopped in to observe the work and saw Norm Hansen who was there doing the same thing. The three of us had a nice chat and then I left to continue on my ATV ride.

No sooner had I pulled out from Jerry's than I came across Noel Hancock who was driving his truck down to Schiebe's to check out the action. Heck, Jerry should have sold tickets with as many people that there were stopping by. Noel and I talked a while and I think he's going to stop by for coffee on Wednesday or Thursday.

At last I finished my ATV ride and went into the house to clean up and make some dinner. The sky is dark and it looks like it could rain, but the wind is calm and it's still warm out, so maybe later this evening I'll go trolling for walleye. I haven't been out fishing today and I have the urge to get out onto Leech Lake. I think I'll call John Newman to see if he'd like to join me on the lake.

It is 8:45 p.m. and John and I will be going out trolling in about 15 minutes. The wind is still calm, the temperature is a warm 70 degrees and the sky, while filled with clouds, does not look threatening, as if it were going to rain. It should be a beautiful sunset over Leech Lake this evening. I'll provide a full fish report when I get in later tonight.

John and I made several passes through The Alley pulling Minnow Raps in 8-11 feet of 67 degree water, but the only fish hooked were a small perch by John and a 12" walleye that I caught. Despite it being a beautiful night on the water, the walleye on this part of Sucker Bay were not biting. I'll try again tomorrow.

As was the case last night, the loons were in full voice tonight as we put the boat on the lift and came ashore. It was as if they were saying, "good night, see you again tomorrow."

June 14, 2009 -- Flag Day At Leech Lake

Old Glory at Leech Lake -- Flag Day 2009

Today is Flag Day, and as always, I have the American flag flying on the flag pole at the end of our dock. Although today the flag is hanging limp because the wind is calm with maybe a slight breeze from the south. The temperature at noon was 70 degrees. A perfect day at Leech Lake.

This morning at 10 a.m. I counted 18 boats directly in front of our house. The word is definitely out that this is a good place to fish for walleye and good-sized perch. I may go fishing later this afternoon, but before I do I want to plant the Colorado blue spruce trees and lilac bushes I bought when I was in Bemidji yesterday. I also want to fill in the nail holes of the door frame in the game room in preparation for painting.

I spent most of the afternoon planting trees and bushes, and transplanting ferns, but finished up in time to do some late-afternoon fishing. I got on the water just after 4:00 p.m. and stayed out until just before 6:00 p.m. The temperature had climbed to the mid- or even high-70s, and with little to no wind, it was hot on the lake. The water temperature had warmed too, and was 66.6 degrees while I was out this afternoon.

I started in 9 feet of water and let the gentle south breeze push the boat to 12 feet of water off Second Duck Point. I made this drift 3 or 4 times, and although I caught numerous perch, I was unable to boat a walleye.

I am now going to go prep for dinner. I may go out fishing tonight, but it'll really depend on when I finish eating.

At 8:30 p.m. I was done eating my very tasty steak dinner and had already talked to my neighbor John Newman about doing some night trolling for walleye. By 9:10 p.m. we were on the lake with our Minnow Raps in the water. I was using an orange colored Minnow Rap, having lost my favorite Tennessee Shad colored lure to the mystery lunker from last night. John was using the same Tennessee Shad color.

The wind was still calm, the temperature a very pleasant 65 degrees and the water temperature was still 66.6 degrees. Within a half an hour I had a very big hit, and something -- a big pike, or possibly a walleye -- bit through my Fireline taking my lure. That's the second Minnow Rap I've lost in as many days. I went the entire season last year without losing a single crankbait, and now this.

I tied on a new #9 Minnow Rap, this one in hot steel color, and got back to the business at hand -- catching walleye. We made several passes in The Alley before we started to catch fish.

On our fourth pass through The Alley, I hooked an 18" and a 20" walleye and John had an 18" and a 20 1/2" walleye. Almost identical fish.

The two 20-inchers were a doubleheader. John said he had a fish on, so I began to rapidly reel in my lure so I could get the net ready to land John's fish. But as I was speedily retrieving my lure, a walleye hit it. We now had two fish on at the same time. John was able to reach over the side of the boat and use his hand to pull his fish into the boat, while I used the net to land my fish on the other side of the boat. It's always fun to boat two fish at the same time.

As we walked up the dock to shore at 11:15 p.m., we could hear the lonesome cry of the loons on the lake and the croaking of the frogs on shore. Wonderful sounds to hear at the end of a great night of walleye fishing on Leech Lake.

June 13, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Rick and I left the house at 9:10 a.m. this morning for the Bemidji airport. The sky was grey, overcast and a light rain was falling. The wind was out of the west at 8 mph and the temperature was 65 degrees.

After 16 days at Leech Lake it was time for Rick to go to his work conference in Washington D.C. and eventually home to Brisbane, Australia. I want to again thank Rick for putting in a door in our game room and for building the stairs on the north side of our cabin deck.

From the airport I ran a bunch of errands in Bemidji before heading back to the cabin on Leech Lake. After I unloading the truck and having some lunch, I decided to go fishing at 3:00 p.m. There were a number of boats off Second Duck Point, which is where I wanted to fish, so I motored to the north part of Sucker Bay to "The Hole."

I jigged shiners in 13-15 feet of water, which was 62 degrees, but only caught a couple of perch. After 45 minutes or so I decided to go to Second Duck Point regardless of how many boats may be there. I arrived to fine only a handful of boats in the area, much to my delight.

I put a shiner on my 1/4 oz. Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler jig in lime green/black and immediately caught a perch. I caught several more perch as well as a 12" walleye. Just before 5:00 p.m. I decided to go ashore to listen to "A Prairie Home Companion" on KCRB out of Bemidji. I enjoy listening to Garrison Keillor on Saturday evenings when I'm in Minnesota. He's in Cincinnati tonight.

I haven't decided if I'll go fishing tonight or not; my decision will be based primarily on the weather. Thunderstorms are predicted for tonight, but as of 6:20 p.m., the wind is calm, the temperature is 70 degrees and the sky is mostly cloudy. No rain or storms at the moment.

I decided to go out at 9:15 p.m. The wind was calm, the water temperature was 64 degrees, and the air temperature was 60 degrees. I trolled "The Alley" with a #9 Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color and caught three walleyes measuring 12", 15" and 18", in addition to a "Chuck."

Then at 10:45 p.m. I hooked into something big. I fought it for more than 15 minutes before it finally broke free. I'm guessing it was a muskie and I just couldn't horse it to the boat and land it by myself. Rick, I'm sure you're enjoying a nice meal in D.C., but I could have used your help. The fish brought free, taking my Minnow Rap with it. I'll never know how big a fish was hooked, but I know it was a big fish.

After that battle with the phantom fish I decided to come ashore. It's now 11:15 p.m. and I'm done fishing for the day.

Tomorrow I'll spend the day planting some lilac bushes and spruce trees. As for today, it was another great day of fishing on Leech Lake.