August 10, 2008 on Leech Lake

The winds today were relatively calm -- from 2 to 6 mph out of the SSW -- which meant that if I wanted to drift for panfish, all I had to do was pull the boat out of the lift, motor out to about 7 or 8 feet of water, turn the boat sideways, drop in the drift sock (to keep the boat from spinning rather than to slow the speed of the boat) and drop a jig into the water, which is exactly what I did.

I pulled the boat out of the lift at 1:45 p.m., with the temperature 78 degrees and the water temperature at 75.5 degrees. I used a small, 1/8 oz. white crappie jig tipped with a 3" Gulp silver pearl minnow. The slight breeze blew the boat from straight out in front of our house past Norm's on the way toward Schiebe's. Most of the fish I caught, however, came from the stretch of water from in front of our cabin north to Norm's.

I caught numerous perch, rock bass, bluegill and crappie. The highlight of the day was catching a crappie so big it can only be described as humongous. It was by far the largest crappie I've ever put in the boat. I also caught another giant crappie, not quite as big as the first one, but close, and monster bull bluegill. All of the fish were released unharmed.

At 5:00 p.m., after an enjoyable day on Leech Lake, I returned the boat to the lift and called it a day.