July 20, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today was one of those days when I fished on Leech Lake several times throughout the day and used different fishing techniques.

I first went out onto the water around 1:15 p.m. under ominous skies. It looked like a storm was brewing, but at the time, the wind was calm with just a hint of breeze from the NW. The temperature was a warm 78 degrees, the air was heavy and the water temperature was 72 degrees.

I started out in front of Jerry Schiebe's cabin in 8-10 feet of water throwing a Northland jig tipped with Northland Slurpies Swim'n Grub in firetiger cutworm color. I caught a few decent perch, but no walleyes. I noticed that the dark skies were moving south down Sucker Bay, and while the storm was still off in the distance, I figured I had only an hour or two before it hit our place. I decided to move a little closer to home and switched tactics, baits and targeted fish species.

I motored my Lund 1800 IFS to right in front Norm's cabin in about 4 feet of water where I started throwing a double-bladed white spinner bait into the reeds and grass trying to scare up a big largemouth bass. Many people don't realize it, but many Minnesota lakes are fantastic bass waters, including Leech Lake, with big fish growing in excess of 24" and 6 lbs. Sure enough, I caught a couple of very nice bass; one roughly 18" the other over 20".

By this time the storm, which was moving faster than I had originally estimated, was nearly on top of me. The air was very heavy, the temperature was dropping quickly, the wind had really picked up and was now blowing quite strong out of the NW. I fired up my Mercury Verado, quickly headed home, got the boat onto the boat lift, gathered up my things, and went ashore.

I decided to go sit on the end of the dock and watch the approaching storm. The wind by this time was very strong and the lake was covered in white caps. A boat heading from south to north motored by the dock fighting against the wind and waves and I couldn't help but thinking that the two guys in the boat were probably from out of town, were staying at Birch Ridge Resort on the north end of Sucker Bay, and were not experienced enough to read the weather and get off the lake before it became dangerous. Every year or two I read about some Leech Lake boater who gets caught on the water during a storm, ends up in the lake and drowns. That's why I keep a constant eye on the weather, and know when to head home. I love fishing, but not so much that I'd risk my life to do it.

The storm hit with a vengeance. Heavy rain, wind and hail blasted our house and cabin for the better part of an hour. The storm finally ran out of gas, the clouds parted and the sun came out! I figured with the change in weather, I'd go fishing after dinner.

From 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Joe and I trolled from Norm's cabin to Second Duck Point using our usual Minnow Raps in hot steel and purpledescent colors. We each caught several northern pike, and Joe caught a very solid 17" walleye, which we kept for a future fish fry.

Another great day on Leech Lake.