My recent President's Day visit to Leech Lake can be captured in one word -- COLD. As you can see from the photo, the temps were often 25 degrees below zero or colder!Unfortunately, the fishing was about as cold as the weather. Reports from my neighbors for most of the hard-water season had been about the same -- slow, a few jumbo perch every few days, the occasional 3-4 lbs. northern pike, every so often (mostly at dusk) a slot-limit walleye and even one eelpout. My experience was the same. I caught dozens of 5-8" perch and several small northern pike, but no jumbos and not one walleye. I did see a small "eyeball" swim by while peering down a hole in the ice, but couldn't hook a single one. My neighbors Tom and John didn't have much better luck. John did take a ride over to the "government cabin" area of Sucker Bay where he picked up a couple of nice jumbos. But in our usual spots, the fishing was very slow.
That's not to say we didn't have some excitement on the lake. On Tuesday, Tom, Ron Neustrand and I were out fishing in Tom's fish house. It was a slow fishing day, but we thought if we stayed out until dark we might nab a walleye or two. Darkness descended on Sucker Bay and we still couldn't catch a walleye so we decided to drive back to shore. Tom and Ron had both driven their trucks out to the fish house so we planned to caravan back to land. During our hours in the fish house, the wind had been blowing very hard; upwards of 25-30 mph. The wind, coupled with the recent snow fall made for some very big drifts. The wind also brought the temperature -- which was hovering around 20 below zero -- to wind chills of around 45 below zero. Packing up the trucks and securing the fish house for the night was a cold affair indeed. But it wasn't until Tom got his truck stuck in a snow drift that we really learned how cold it was out on the frozen lake that night.
Both Ron and I tried to shovel the snow out from Tom's truck, while Tom intermittently tried rocking the truck forward and back in four-wheel drive trying to break free from the snow drift. When we were unsuccessful at digging Tom's truck free, we decided to use a strap attached to Ron's truck to pull Tom's truck out of the drift. But as Ron backed his truck closer to Tom's truck so we could attach the strap, Ron's truck also got stuck in the drift. At this point we were all nearly frozen and had to take a break in the trucks to warm our frozen hands, feet and faces. After digging the snow away from Ron's truck, Ron put the vehicle in four-wheel drive low, and then Tom and I began pushing. At last we got Ron's truck free. We then repositioned Ron's truck on the side of the drift and just close enough to Tom's truck to attach the towing strap.
By this time nearly an hour had elapsed and not only were the three of us nearly frozen solid, but our wives on shore had become very concerned. They could see the truck lights out on the ice, but couldn't figure out what we were doing. I used Ron's cell phone to call Kathleen to let her know we were stuck, but that we were working on the problem ourselves and there was no need to call for back up, yet.
With frozen fingers crossed, Ron put his truck and drive and hit the gas. Tom was in his truck and began gunning his engine as well. With both trucks in four-wheel drive low, and strapped together, we finally got Tom's truck free from the drift.
I don't think any of us realized just how cold we were until we got inside our respective houses. Sixty-eight degrees inside was more than a 100 degree difference from the weather we were just battling outside. That's quite a delta. I think my face, back and hands were cold for an hour before I finally began to warm up.
When I wasn't out on the ice fishing, I was usually inside enjoying the company of my beautiful wife Kathleen. We made food together, enjoyed watching a little TV and had our best times near the warmth of the fireplace. Yes, it was cold during my recent visit to Leech Lake, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it for all of the 70-degree days here in California.
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