June 30, 2009 -- Eight Years at Leech Lake

The temperature this morning at 9:00 a.m. was 48 degrees. The wind was strong again today at 20 mph out of the NW, and the sky was overcast and gray. The only thing that suggests it's summer is that the leaves on the trees are green. By all other indications, it could be early October.

The weather, however, is not that much different than it was eight years ago -- on the last day of June 2001. That was the day that Kathleen and I signed the papers at the title company in Walker, Minnesota and became the official owners of our house on Leech Lake.

That evening, Kathleen and I sat in lawn chairs out by the lake, bundled up in sweatshirts and coats trying to stay warm against the strong wind as we watched our first sunset over Leech Lake. It was a wonderful evening and the start of many happy years for us at Leech Lake.

Since I can't go fishing, at least safely, I decided to go into Bemidji. I had to run a number of errands including picking up my newly repaired boat trailer from Corner Sports. They replaced the coupling with new style that provides visual confirmation that the trailer is secured on the hitch, as well as new safety cables and brake cable. I had no problems with it driving back to the lake. Of course the real test will come in the Fall when I take my boat back to Corner Sports for winterizing and storage.

I mentioned the problem I had with my Verado motor sputtering and then stalling, and one of the mechanics said he's had to replace the fuel float on a couple of Verados this year. I made arrangements to have a new float installed next winter.

At 4:30 p.m. the sky is still overcast and gray, the wind is blowing at 20 mph out of the NNW and the temperature is 58 degrees.

After dinner I went over to the cabin and got a fire going in the fire pit. A short time later, John, Johnny and Greg Newman stopped by. We sat around the camp fire and talked for more than two hours. When the Newmans left I stayed at the fire for another half hour or so, and finally doused the fire with a pail of lake water and came home.

Although it was too windy to fish again tonight, we all had a very nice time on the shores of Leech Lake.

June 29, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Today was the third straight day of strong winds on Leech Lake. By its very nature and size, Leech Lake tends to be breezy and is often covered with a "walleye chop." But winds in excess of 20 mph for days only happens a few times per season, and we're in one of those periods now.

The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 55 degrees, the wind was out of the NW at 25 mph and the sky was overcast and gray. In fact, the sky was overcast and gray all day long. And the wind never let up either. The temperature did warm to 67 degrees at the hottest part of the day.

I saw no boats on Sucker Bay fishing today, and there was no way I was going to take my boat out.

Instead, I did some work around the house. Then at 1:30 p.m. I met up with John, Johnny and Greg Newman for some trail clearing and wood chopping in the woods across the street from our cabins.

Between John Newman and I, we own more than 30 acres of woods, and that property is adjacent to another neighbor who has an additional 17 acres. Our private land is surrounded by 100s of acres made up from the Chippewa National Forest and the Bowstring State Forest.

The woods are crossed with many trails, which we use for hiking, riding ATVs and snowmobiles, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. Throughout the year, trees and branches fall across many of the trails making them impassable. So today, with the wind keeping us off the lake, we made our way into the woods to open up the trails.

We wore long sleeve shirts, long pants and applied plenty of DEET-laden bug spray, but that did little to dissuade giant swarms of big mosquitoes from descending upon us. We were, however, undeterred by the flying blood suckers and spent nearly two hours clearing five different spots on several different trails. We used a variety of saws, axes, winches and muscles to remove tree trunks, limbs and branches from the trails.

After we had finished clearing the trails, we took a break to enjoy some cold malted beverages back at Newman's cabin. Once refreshed, I got back on my ATV, attached an old bed spring to the ATV's trailer hitch, and then made numerous passes on the various trails to knock down weeds and brush to further groom the trails.

I'll probably make similar runs on the trails in the next few days, based on the weather conditions. If the weather permits, I'll be spending my time fishing on Leech Lake.

The Early Summer Cycle

The Early Summer Cycle

June bugs, midges, dragonflies
Burst upon the scene
When the leaves turn green
Then each and every one, dies

Lacy ferns sprout and unfurl
Purple lilac blooms
Dark thunderstorm looms
In the wind the waves do curl

Bluegills, northern pike, walleye
Spawning beds they clear
Round patches, weeds near
A bald eagle fills the sky

Small green leaves grow to full size
Maples, ash, basswood
Neither bad nor good
Living again is the prize

-- June 29, 2009

June 28, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The rough water on Sucker Bay this evening

Today it is even windier than yesterday, with a WNW wind at 25-30 mph blowing all day long. The lake is churning with large waves and white caps. I don't remember seeing the lake this rough.

I saw a sailboat on the lake this morning, but by 11:00 a.m. it was too rough to sail. The wind kept the air feeling cooler than the 74 degrees which was today's high. The sky was filled with large white billowy clouds, but we never any rain today.

Tim and Jackson left for home by 1:15 p.m. I hung out and read the Sunday paper, then eventually made my way over to the Newman's where we ate beer-can chicken, baked beans and potato salad -- a real summertime feast.

I came home at 7:15 p.m. and sat on the dock watching the waves pound the shoreline. This is the fourth straight day I haven't been out on the lake fishing, and I'm getting antsy. I hear the wind is supposed to be blowing like crazy again tomorrow, so I may have to wait until Tuesday to do any walleye fishing.

Nonetheless, it's great to be on the shores of Leech Lake.

June 27, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I returned home from St. Cloud last evening. I had spent Thursday, June 25 and Friday, June 26 at my mother-in-law's (Marge) house. She and I had a very nice visit. On Thursday, we ran a bunch of errands around town. On Friday, in celebration of the 28th anniversary of me marrying Kathleen, Marge's daughter, Marge and I went to the Newman Center Catholic Church for a noon-time mass. I sure wish Kathleen could have been in Minnesota with me.

Mid-afternoon on Friday I went to the grocery store, loaded up on supplies and headed back to Leech Lake. The temperature in St. Cloud had been 89 degrees and humid, but by the time I got to Leech Lake at 7:00 p.m., the temperature had cooled to 80 degrees; although it was still humid.

Kathleen's brother Tim and his son Jackson arrived around 9:00 p.m. on Friday night. They plan to stay until mid-day Sunday. I hope the weather is good enough for us to go out fishing.

I awoke on Saturday morning to rain. The temperature 70 degrees, the air is humid and the sky is gray and rainy. The wind is out of the WSW at 8-12 mph. I don't think Tim and Jackson have rain gear, so unless they feel like getting soaking wet while fishing, we might have to wait until this storm passes to go fishing.

As the day progressed, the wind picked up, sometimes with gusts out of the west nearing 30 mph, and the sky darkened further and rain continued to fall. Finally, around 7:00 p.m. the sky began to clear, and the wind began to let up a little, but it was still too rough to go fishing comfortably.

After dinner, Tim, Jackson and I got a fire going in the fire pit at the cabin, played ping pong and pinball, and just hung out. John Newman joined us at the fire pit around 9:30 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., I doused the fire and everyone went home to bed.

Although we couldn't fish today because of the high winds, we all had a very pleasant day at Leech Lake.

June 24, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I was originally scheduled to fly back to California today. But plans changed and instead I'm still here at Leech Lake; and for that I am truly grateful.

I spent most of today cleaning -- specifically, I cleaned all of the bathrooms. Not a fun job to say the least, but one that must be done regularly. At about 3:30 p.m. I decided I had cleaned enough for one day and decided to go fishing.

The temperature today was in the mid-80s, the sky was mostly sunny, the air was humid and the wind was out of the WSW at 10-15 mph. The water temperature this afternoon was between 74.5 and 74.9 degrees.

I started fishing from in front of Newman's cabin and let the wind push me north toward Malay's. I was in 10 feet of water using an XPS jig in lime green/black tipped with fathead minnows. I caught numerous perch, but no jumbos or walleyes.

At 5:15 p.m. Lainey Malay called me on my cell phone and invited me over for a beer. Since the fishing was slow, I packed up my gear and took the boat back to the boat lift. The lift, by the way, seems to be working much better since Shore Brothers came out today and replaced the clutch plate.

I had a nice time chatting with Tom and Elaine Malay and finally made my way home around 7:00 p.m. After a quick dinner I decided I'd go out trolling.

I hit the water at 9:15 p.m. just as the sun was getting ready to set. The wind was still blowing out of the WSW but had slowed a bit to 8-12 mph. The sky was clear and the water temperature varied from 73.9 to 74.7 degrees depending on my location and depth.

I trolled from south of Second Duck Point to north of Malay's cabin using my #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel in 8-11 feet of water. I caught one small northern pike, 3 stupid rock bass and a very nice 21 3/4" walleye. Catching the walleye made battling the bugs on the lake worth the trip.

As I was getting ready to come ashore, I watched as the sliver of the 6 percent waxing moon set in the western sky. The sky still had some orange, pale green, blue, and purple color to it and the bright white of the moon really stood out in the darkening sky. In the east and overhead stars were becoming visible.

I pulled onto the boat lift and was met by swarms of mayflies and a host of other flying insects. It seems as if every night now some new insect is hatching in the water and making its way to the surface. I guess that's a sign that Leech Lake is alive and healthy.

Tomorrow I'm driving down to St. Cloud to visit Kathleen's mom. I may be able to report from there, but if not, I'll post again here on Friday night. Until then...

June 23, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The torential rain during the early-afternoon thunderstorm

It was near 80 degrees and the sun was shining at 9:00 a.m. this morning, but as the morning progressed it kept getting darker, and cooler. By noon, the sky was gray, overcast and was actually as dark as it is typically around 9:30 p.m. The temperature had dropped to 70 degrees.

I did a quick check of the weather on the NOAA marine station on my Uniden Atlantis 250 two-way VHF marine radio, and discovered that the National Weather Service had issued severe thunderstorm warning 497 for this part of northern Minnesota.

By 12:40 p.m. it started to rain, the wind out of the SW picked up to more than 20 mph, with gusts exceeding 30 mph according to the NOAA station. The storm was upon us. I could hear the near constant rumbling of thunder over the lake.

A large blue heron flew by with purpose, possibly on her way back to the nest to check on the safety of her chicks. The trees contorted in the wind and the white caps lashed at the rocky shoreline. Another Northwoods thunderstorm was here.

By 2:00 p.m. the sky had cleared, a gentle 8-12 mph wind was blowing from the SW and the temperature had once again warmed to 80 degrees. I heard that in the southern part of Minnesota the temperatures were in the 90s and in some parts of the state the heat index (which is the opposite of wind chill) was 115 degrees. Heat advisories had been issued in many cities in southern Minnesota.

At 3:30 p.m I decided to go fishing. I started in a spot between Duck and Second Duck Points in 8-11 feet of water. I used a jig and a fathead minnow, but caught only a couple of small perch. I relocated to Second Duck Point, but again caught only a couple of small perch.

I ended up in front of our house, and while more and bigger perch were biting, I still didn't hook any jumbos or walleyes. At 5:00 p.m. I came ashore to get dinner started.

Evening Fishing Data:

Time -- 9:15 - 10:45 p.m.
Temperature -- 70 degrees
Wind -- 8-15 mph WSW
Water temperature -- 72.9 -73.1 degrees
Locations -- Malay's to south of Second Duck Point
Water depth -- 8-10 feet
Lure -- #9 Rapala Minnow Rap
Ground speed -- 2.15 - 2.55 mph
RPM --570 - 600
Fish caught -- four rock bass, one perch, 15" walleye

Good night from Leech Lake.

June 22, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Today was hot and humid. Temperature at mid-day was near 80 degrees and the humidity was probably close to 90 percent. There was little to no wind, and the sky was mostly sunny with some big white billowy clouds.

Due to a variety of circumstances, my stay at Leech Lake has been extended. Instead of leaving on Wednesday, June 24, I will now be staying at the lake until the end of July -- very welcome news from my perspective. I only wish Kathleen could join me. But she will be busy with work back in California. I miss her and can't wait until we can be together here at the lake; maybe this Fall.

Since I had planned on leaving in two days, most of my day was spent cleaning the house. I vacuumed throughout the house, did laundry, changed the bed linens, etc., before learning that I would be able to stay longer. As a result of doing my chores, I did not go fishing this afternoon. I may go out trolling later tonight however.

Tom and Lainey Malay invited me to stop by to have a beer this evening, so I did. Ron and Sandy Neustrand were there as well, and the five us had a nice chat.

This evening at 9:15 p.m. I did go fishing. The air was heavy with 95 percent humidity, there was no wind and the temperature was a muggy 69 degrees. The bugs were out in full force led by swarms of mosquitoes. The water temperature varied from 72.7 to 73 degrees.

I was joined on the water by four other boats. Two were camped out in front of our house and the other two were using their electric trolling motors to maneuver between our cabin and Newman's cabin. I opted to troll The Alley at 570 rpm, or roughly 2.35 mph ground speed, in 8-9.5 feet of water. I was using my favorite #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel.

At 9:45 p.m. I caught a 3-4 lb. northern pike, which I immediately released. Then between 10:05 and 10:30 p.m. I caught an 18 1/2" walleye and a 21" walleye. Even if they hadn't been in the slot I would have released them. I had a nice walleye dinner last night and I'm not a FIB meat-hunter who keeps every fish he catches.

I made one last pass from Second Duck Point to our house with no fish on. At that point I'd had enough of the mosquitoes and other flying and biting bugs so I decided to come ashore.

I had a very nice day at Leech Lake, and best of all, I learned I will be able to stay here a little longer.

June 21, 2009 -- Father's Day and Summer Solstice

Happy Father's Day dad, and to all you fathers out there.

Today is also the summer solstice. Officially summer arrived at 12:45 a.m. CDT (5:45 a.m. UTC). Solstice is from the Latin, the sun stands still. At the solstices the sun's apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator. On the summer solstice, the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer.

At 11:00 a.m. here at Leech Lake on Father's Day and the summer solstice the temperature was 80 degrees. The wind was out of the south at 8-12 mph, with gusts up to 15-20 mph. The sky was overcast, gray and threatening to rain.

I ate a quick breakfast of yogurt and coffee, then went out for a long ride on the ATV. I rode all the way to the end of Otter Tail Point Dr., went to the boardwalk at Duck Point Woods, rode out to Two Points, and eventually to the Community Center and home. The entire trip took me about an hour and a half. It was a great ride, and it was the first time I'd made that trip during this visit.

On my way home I stopped in to see the Malays, but Tom was getting ready to up to Birch Ridge Resort to help Frank mow the grass, so it was a short visit. I came home, had a quick bite of lunch, and then went out fishing.

I fished both in front of our house in 8-12 feet of water and off Second Duck Point, and while the perch were biting, the walleye weren't. I was using fathead minnows on a jig in the 69 degree water of Sucker Bay.

I came in at 3:30 p.m. because it started to rain. It wasn't raining hard, but I wasn't wearing any rain gear and I didn't feel like getting soaked. Later this evening I'll clean that 17" walleye I caught last night and enjoy it for my Father's Day dinner. Depending on the weather I may go fishing later tonight.

I did in fact clean and eat the 17" walleye. Well, I ate one of the two fillets. I have the other fillet tomorrow for lunch.

At 9:00 p.m., with a steady rain falling, I decided to go fishing. I leave for California on Wednesday, so I'm trying to get in as much fishing at possible, regardless of the weather.

I started trolling in front of Malay's cabin in 9.5 feet of water. The water temperature had cooled to 68 degrees. The air temperature was 60 degrees, but it felt cooler because of the 12 mph SSE wind.

I pulled my hot steel colored #9 Minnow Rap to Second Duck Point, then back to Malay's. I then did one additional pass through The Alley, but tonight, I caught no fish at all. No rock bass. No northern pike. And no walleye.

I was also the only boat on the water. I guess most people would rather sit at home in front of the TV on a Sunday night than get pelted by a cold rain on a charcoal colored lake. For me, however, being rocked back and forth by the waves on the dark water was a perfect way to wrap up Father's Day at Leech Lake.

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.

June 12, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

At 10 a.m. today the sun was shining, but the sky was a bit hazy, the wind was out of the SW at 8-12 mph and the temperature was 62 degrees. I heard on the radio last night that the high temperature today was going to be 72 degrees. If that were the case, today would be the warmest it's been in more than two weeks. Maybe summer is finally arriving in the Northwoods.

Today is Rick's last full day at Leech Lake. Tomorrow I take him to the airport where he flies from Bemidji to Minneapolis to Washington D.C. After his conference ends in D.C., he's flying to Colorado to visit his sister before making the long trip home to Brisbane, Australia. I hope it's been a good visit/vacation for him.

After the pot of coffee was brewed the morning, I poured a cup and made my way out onto the dock to survey the lake. I was greeted by a flotilla of 24 fishing boats. Apparently the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tournament is being held on Leech Lake from June 10-13 and a number of the professional anglers decided that the stretch in front of my cabin is productive water (which of course it is).

I see that the leader of the tournament, a Chevy pro from Wisconsin, has a two-day weight of more than 34 lbs. for his 10 fish. That's not a bad weight at all for 10 fish. The tournament runs through Saturday afternoon, so I'm sure I'll have a number of boats in front of my house again tomorrow morning.

At 1:20 p.m. Rick and I took the boat out into 12-18 mph SW winds that created a decent chop on the lake. We started in 9-11 feet of water off Second Duck Point using jigs and shiners. Both Rick and I were using 1/4 oz. Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler Jig Heads in lime green and lime green/black tipped with spot-tail shiners (which we purchased at Froggy's Sports in Cass Lake and at Birch Ridge Resort on Leech Lake's Sucker Bay).

During the next two hours, and at least three different bouts with rain, we caught 8 small walleye between us ranging from 10" to 15", and numerous perch. All fish were released. With yet another storm front moving toward us, and this one showing some lightening and thunder, we headed to shore.

In about 30 minutes I'm going to go over to the cabin to clean the 17" walleye that's been in the basket for the past several days. I'm going to make pan-fried walleye for Rick's last dinner at Leech Lake during this visit.

As of 5:00 p.m., the wind has calmed somewhat to maybe 10 mph out of the SW and the temperature is 70 degrees. The water temperature was 62 degrees.

After our walleye dinner, Rick and I went out for one last troll for walleye before Rick leaves for Washington D.C. We got on the water around 8:45 p.m. and watched a beautiful sunset. The wind picked up during the next hour or so, and ended up at about 15 mph out of the SW. The water temperature had warmed just slightly to 62.5 degrees and the air temperature was 60 degrees.

In the north there was a very large thunderstorm system that kept us entertained all evening with spectacular lightening shows. There was a smaller thunderstorm system to the west that was also producing lightening. But directly overhead the sky was clear and stars were visible.

Unfortunately, the fishing wasn't nearly as entertaining as the lightening. We trolled #9 Minnow Raps in 8-10 feet of water from Malay's to Second Duck Point (newly dubbed "The Alley") but caught only 3 rock bass and one 16 3/4" walleye that hit Rick's purpledescent lure. At 10:45 p.m. we called it a night.

Despite the lack of walleye action, it was another beautiful night on Leech Lake.

June 11, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

At 10:00 a.m. this morning, the wind was at 8-12 mph out of the west, the sky was mostly sunny, with just a few big white fluffy billowy clouds, and the temperature is 54 degrees. If the local weather report can be believed, it's supposed to warm to 65 degrees by the middle of the afternoon.

Since my ATV has been in the shop since my arrival here at Leech Lake, I've yet to take a ride around the peninsula. I think after breakfast I'll take the ATV for a ride, and maybe stop in to say hi to a couple of neighbors I've yet to see. I'm also sure that sometime later today, probably no later than noon or 1:00 p.m., Rick and I will go fishing.

There are already a number of boats out on the water. As I look through the binoculars at the boat licences of the handful of boats right in front of our dock, I see boats from Iowa (FIBs), Nebraska, South Dakota and Missouri. In the past few days, I've also spotted boats from Kansas, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, as well as Minnesota.

Apparently the ongoing stream of articles about the great walleye fishing at Leech Lake keep a steady flow of out-of-staters coming to our little slice of Northwoods paradise. Unfortunately these "meat hunters" insist on keeping almost any fish they catch including 5-lb largemouth bass, small perch and bluegill, and even rock bass.

According to Frank at Birch Ridge Resort, a number of his guests also try to keep slot-walleyes, that is, walleyes from 18-26" which by Minnesota law must be returned to the lake. I've also heard reports that Mark, the local MN DNR officer, has handed out many citations to fishermen who keep illegal-sized walleye. Go home FIBs.

Rick and I went fishing at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. We started at "The Hole," and while we caught several perch while jigging shiners in 13-15 feet of water, and even a "Charlie Brown," we didn't catch any walleye. The water temperature at the north end of Sucker Bay was 62 degrees. We decided to move to Second Duck Point, but upon arrival there we found 8 boats already camped on that spot so we kept motoring south to Otter Tail Point.

We jigged shiners for about 20 minutes, but when that method produced no bites we switched to trolling Minnow Raps. We made a couple of passes off the Point in 13-15 feet of water, but didn't catch anything. At 4:15 p.m. we made our way back to shore.

We're going to have BBQ'd pork ribs for dinner tonight, and will then go trolling in our usual evening spot -- Malay's to the north and Second Duck Point to the south in 8-12 feet of water.

Rick and I hit the water at 9:10 p.m. and there was only one other boat within sight; and by 9:30 p.m. that boat took off for the resort leaving us alone on the water. The water tonight was as still as is possible as a result of no wind; the water temperature was 63 degrees. The air temperature was 50 degrees.

About 9:45 p.m., just off Second Duck Point, Rick caught a 23" walleye while trolling a purpledescent #9 Minnow Rap. Shortly thereafter, I caught a nice 17" eater-sized walleye, but with a fish already in the basket for tomorrow's dinner, we let it go.

Then on a single pass from Malay's to Second Duck Point, in 8.5 feet of water, Rick caught a 20 1/2" walleye, a 21 1/2" eyeball and a massive 25 3/4" walleye (a personal best for Rick). Then, as quickly as the bite turned on, it turned off again. We made two complete passes from Malay's to Second Duck Point without so much as a tap and a miss, so we decided to come ashore.

It was beautiful, and productive, night on Leech Lake.

June 10, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The female common goldeneye

The sky is filled with large billowy clouds with little patches of blue peeking through here and there. The wind is 8-12 mph out of the west and the temperature at 11:30 a.m. is 56 degrees.

This morning as I sat in the living room enjoying my coffee, I spotted a female common goldeneye swimming just outside our harbor surrounded by 6 little ducklings no bigger than my fist. As they swam, they would dunk their heads below the surface of the water looking for something to eat. They paddled north along the shoreline before disappearing out of sight.

At 12:35 p.m. Rick and I left the boat lift to do some afternoon fishing. We started in 8 feet of water off Second Duck Point using jigs and shiners. We caught a couple of perch, but the action was slow. About a quarter past 1:00 p.m., I took us north on Sucker Bay to "The Hole."

Again we used jigs and shiners in 13-15 feet of water. The water temperature was 59 degrees. During the next 2 1/2 hours I caught dozens of perch, including a couple of good sized fish, and three walleye measuring 15", 14" and 15". The second 15" fish was already showing some girth. Next year that will be a perfect eating fish. Rick had tougher luck, but still managed to catch a number of perch.

At about 5:30 p.m. Tom Malay stopped by with my ATV. Tom was in Bemidji and while driving by Bemidji Sports he decided to stop in to see if my 4-wheeler was ready (it had been in for service). It was indeed ready, so Tom brought it home with him.

Tom told me and Rick that he had heard from Frank at Birch Ridge Resort that someone caught a 28 1/2" walleye the other day. That's a nice fish, but both Rick and I are targeting the elusive 30" walleye. So far, it's proven to be very elusive since neither one of us has caught a fish of that size.

Rick and I hit the water tonight at 9:05 p.m. The wind was out of the north at 8-12 mph, but as the night wore on the wind died down completely. By 11:30 p.m when we called it quits, the lake was calm.

We started trolling Minnow Raps in 8-11 feet of water. Throughout the night I caught 3 northern pike and walleyes measuring 15", 18 1/2" and 15".

Allow me a slight digression here. Remember the old "Peanuts" comic strip with Charlie Brown? Well, on Halloween Charlie Brown and the other kids from his neighborhood -- Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Violet, etc. -- would go trick or treating. The unfortunate joke on hapless Charlie Brown was that while the other kids all got candy and treats, he got nothing but rocks.

In fishing, the rock bass is the equivalent of Charlie Brown's trick or treat rocks. This evening, I had the unfortunate luck of catching three "Charlie Browns," or "Chucks," i.e., rock bass. One I managed to hook in the top of the head.

Rick, on the other hand, got a bag full of candy. That is, Rick caught six beautiful walleyes measuring 15" (2), 17 1/2", 18", 20 1/2" and a very hefty 24".

There were some clouds in the sky this evening, but it turned out to be a mostly clear night with millions of stars visible from the lake. It was yet another beautiful night of fishing on Leech Lake.

June 9, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

"The Hole" in front of the old Bay Shore Resort

The sky was mostly cloudy, with just moments of sun here and there, the wind was calm to 5 mph from the south and the temperature was a cool 46 degrees when Rick and I went fishing today at 12:15 p.m.

We started by jigging shiners off Second Duck Point in 8-10 feet of water. The water temperature was 58 degrees. No sooner had Rick lower his jig into the water when he had a hit and called for the net. I grabbed the net and scooped up a nice 20 1/2" walleye. Not bad for 5 minutes on the water.

Unfortunately, the next hour in that spot proved less fruitful. We caught several small- to medium-sized perch, but no walleyes. So we decided to move to a new spot. I motored the boat slowly along the shoreline until finally stopping in front of Norm's cabin in 9-feet of water.

We jigged shiners in this spot for about 30-45 minutes, but again caught only small perch. So we decided to move yet again. I fired up the Verado and quickly got us north on Sucker Bay to "The Hole" in front of the old Bay Shore Resort.

Rick and I both put shiners on our jigs and lowered them into 14-16 feet of water. Almost instantly I hooked a 14" walleye. We caught dozens of perch, and I had the unfortunate luck of catching 3 small northern pike.

During the next 2 hours we caught lots of perch and I caught another 14" walleye as well as a nice 15" walleye. All fish were released. At 3:45 p.m. we came ashore in preparation for a tasty seafood pasta dinner tonight. I'm sure after dinner we'll make our way onto the lake for some night trolling for walleye.

Rick and I went out onto Leech Lake at 8:55 p.m. tonight. The wind at the time was roughly 10 mph from the NNW, the sky was mostly cloudy, the temperature was 54 degrees and the water temperature was 58 degrees.

I took the boat straight out from the lift to 10 feet of water and we began trolling #9 Minnows Raps -- Rick using one a purpledescent color, while I used my favorite hot steel. I immediately caught a small pike, and shortly after a 3" perch. How it got the Minnow Rap in it's mouth I have no idea.

As the night progressed and darkness came, the walleye bite picked up. From 10:00 to 11:00 p.m., I caught two 14" walleye and a 15" walleye. Rick caught a 14", a 22 1/2" and a 17" walleye. We kept the 17" walleye, and will most likely enjoy that fish for dinner Friday night.

During both of our fishing trips today we boated a total of 10 walleyes. Another good day of fishing on Leech Lake.

June 8, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

9:45 a.m.

It is grey and overcast and a steady rain is falling. The weather reports say we should receive 1/2" of rain during the course of the day. The temperature at the moment is 42 degrees, and the wind is calm.

I've got some things to do around the house this morning, but Rick and I may go into Bemidji sometime in the early afternoon. If for no other reason, we're out of shiners (and I need groceries too).

8:30 p.m.

Rick and I went into Bemidji today. We picked up materials to finish the stairs and repair the track lights at the cabin, as well as groceries and other supplies, including shiners, which we picked up at Froggy's Sports in Cass Lake.

The high temperature today was 49 degrees, and it rained on and off all day. The sky at the moment is grey and overcast and it looks like it might rain again. The wind, however, is calm. We're going to take the boat out in about 15 minutes to do some trolling for walleyes on Sucker Bay. I'll report later how we do.

11:30 p.m.

I just got in from trolling crankbaits with Rick on Sucker Bay. The sky was overcast and threatening to rain, but no rain fell. Just before dark, around 9:45 p.m., the walleye started to bite. We were fishing in 8-11 feet of 57.1 degree water. Rick was pulling a #9 Minnow Rap in purpledescent color and I was using a #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel.

Rick started the action with a couple small walleyes, a 13" and a 14" fish, then I added a 14" walleye of my own.

Rick continued his evening with walleye measuring 18 1/4", 19 1/2", and 15"; and a very chunky 23 1/2". I added a 19" before we called it a night.

Another beautiful night of walleye fishing on Leech Lake.

June 7, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I got up around 8:30 a.m. this morning since I had stayed up to nearly 2:00 a.m. last night. After getting dressed I made my way to the kitchen for coffee and a check of the fishing conditions, i.e., the weather.

The sky was overcast and grey and the wind blew from the NE at 5-10 mph. It looked like it was going to rain again today, but by 1:00 p.m. when Rick and I hit the water, no rain had fallen.

We started drifting in about 8-10 feet of water straight out in front of our house moving in the wind toward Second Duck Point. We were using jigs and shiners and caught a handful of medium-sized perch, all of which went back into the water.

I then fired up the 150hp Mercury Verado and piloted my Lund Pro-V 1800 IFS north on Sucker Bay toward the old Bay Shore Resort. There is a hole up there that is more than 200 yards long, 100 yards wide and drops to 18 feet. In the past, I've had pretty good luck up there catching big perch and walleye.

No sooner did Rick and I drop in our jigs tipped with shiners than we started to catch some small perch. About 15 minutes later Rick caught a healthy 14" walleye, which he released. We ran out of shiners about 30 minutes later, so which switched tactics and began trolling crankbaits from one end of "The Hole" to the other. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything.

At 3:30 p.m. we motored back to the house, read the paper, checked email and just hung out. We have now finished dinner and will most likely go trolling at 9:00 p.m. tonight.

We did indeed go out at 9:00 p.m. We were joined by 6 other boats right in front of our house, but soon after dark all of them left. We probably should have as well as the fish just weren't biting. The wind was out of the NE at about 10-15 mph and that made conditions unfavorable.

Rick did manage to catch a small hammer handle and a 14" and 15" walleye. I, on the other hand, got skunked.

We'll try again tomorrow.

June 6, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The high today did hit 50 degrees, but the low was once again in the mid-30s. I had a fire going most of the day to take the chill out of the air. The sky was overcast and grey and it sprinkled rain throughout the day. Yep, June in Northern Minnesota. Luckily, the wind was relatively light at 8-12 mph from the NW, or it would have felt even colder.

Rick and I went fishing from noon to 2:00 p.m. As we do most of the time during the day, we used jigs and shiners off Second Duck Point and the Birches trying to tempt a walleye into biting. We caught several perch, but no walleye.

We went out trolling at 9:00 p.m., and no sooner did we hit the water than it started to rain. At first it was just a light rain, but within an hour it was coming down hard. We were undeterred and continued to troll our Minnow Raps in 8-12 feet of water. There was a full moon tonight, but we could not see it through the very black rain clouds overhead.

Rick caught only one 12" walleye, although he had several hits that went unhooked. I caught a 12", a 13" and a 21 1/2" walleye and also had several other hits that didn't hook.

We came in around 11:15 p.m. I showered, got into some warm sweats since the temperature had dropped into the high 30s, and watched the movie "For Your Consideration."

Another great day at Leech Lake.

June 5, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

It's as if Northern Minnesota has decided to go from spring directly to autumn without a summer. The high temperature today was 46 degrees with a low of 34. The winds were very strong most of the day ranging from 15-20 mph from the NW. The wind, coupled with the low temperatures, made the wind-chill somewhere in the mid-30s all day long.

Last November, during the opening weekend of deer hunting season, the man who used to live in our house stopped by to say hi. Whenever Clancy is in the area, visiting one of his old neighbors, he likes to stop by and check out his old house. During this particular visit, Clancy was kind enough to give me a couple of very nice elk surlion steaks from a elk he took while hunting in Washington state. Anyway, those steaks had sat in my freezer until tonight.

I decided to BBQ the elk steaks on the grill and share them with Rick, since he had never had elk. We both enjoyed the elk meat very much.

By the time we finished dinner and had cleaned up, the wind had begun to die down. By 9:00 p.m. the wind was only at 8 mph out of the NW -- time to go trolling.

Rick and I got into the boat and immediately got our Minnow Raps in the water. We trolled in 8-12 feet of water from Malay's to the north to between Duck and Second Duck Points in the south. Rick caught five small walleyes around 13" and one 17 1/2" walleye which he released. I caught 14", 13" and 19" walleyes. The moon tonight was 96 percent waxing, just about a day from being full.

Although it was too windy to fish most of the day, we did get in some good walleye fishing on Leech Lake this evening.

June 4, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

New stairs on the side of the cabin.

The temperature today was a little warmer, it hit a high of 68 degrees. The low was near 40. The skies were dark and threatening all day and the wind was strong at 15-25 mph out of the SW, with gusts well over 30 mph. The lake was covered in white caps and I only saw one or two boats on Sucker Bay all day.

It was a good day for projects around the property, and with master-builder Rick on hand we quickly found a project. On the north side of the cabin the wrap-around decks ends, but there are no stairs to get to the ground. It's only 3 feet up, but not everyone wants to jump to the ground, so we decided to build some stairs.

There were some old stairs stashed out behind the game room, I'm not sure what they were for originally, so Rick and I decided to use those. After some modifications, the stairs were ready to attach. Rick did a great job securing the stairs to the deck and extending the railing to tie in with the existing deck railing.

All that's left to do is get some paint when we go into town next and the new stairs will match the rest of the deck. Thanks Rick!

June 3, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I felt much better today so Rick and I decided to go out fishing at 10:30 a.m. The temperature hit a high of 65 degrees today, the sky was partly sunny and the wind was calm to 8 mph out of the south. The water temperature was 63 degrees.

We drifted off Second Duck Point in 7-12 feet of water using jigs and shiners and caught numerous perch and a couple of rock bass, but no walleye. At 12:15 p.m. we went back to the cabin for lunch.

We went out on the lake again at 2:30 p.m. and this time we drifted in the south breeze from Norm's cabin to the Birches. Using jigs and shiners we again caught numerous perch, although this time Rick added a nice 15" walleye, which we released.

After fishing for walleye for about an hour I motored the big 150hp Mercury Verado to the Harbor (also known as Third Duck Point) where we deployed the MinnKota electric trolling motor and started throwing spinner baits in 3 feet of water for largemouth bass.

Rick caught 4 nice largemouth and I added 3 more bucketmouths to the tally. At one point, in about 5 feet of water near Scheibe's cabin, something very big followed Rick's spinnerbait to the boat. I could only see it for a moment, but it was either a very large pike or decent sized muskie. At 5:00 p.m. we made our way home for dinner.

Later that evening, at around 9:00 p.m., we went out fishing yet again. As is our typical method of evening and night fishing, we trolled crankbaits; or more specifically, Rapala Minnow Raps.

With the winds having died down to near calm and clear skies, the 85-percent waxing moon filled the night with light. We trolled from Malay's in the north to between Duck and Second Duck Points in the south. Rick caught walleyes measuring 18", 11" and 16", while I caught one 15 1/2" walleye.

I caught another walleye, my biggest of the season, but Rick had trouble netting the lunker and it came unbuttoned right at the boat's edge. Both Rick and I got a very good look at the fish and we both estimated it to be at least 25", maybe bigger.

Another great day of fishing on Leech Lake.

June 2, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I woke up this morning not feeling well and spent most of the day either in bed or taking it easy around the house.

Rick finished up the trim work on the door in the game room and replaced a broken window in the cabin.

The weather today was not conducive to fishing anyway, with winds from the NW at 15-25 mph, with gusts up over 30 mph. The lake was covered in big waves and white caps. The high temperature today just hit 60 degrees.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.

June 1, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The high temperature today hit 60 degrees with a low of only 37. The winds were relatively calm to 5-8 mph out of the ESE. The water temperature was 60 degrees.

Using jigs and shiners, Rick and I drifted the boat off Second Duck point in 8-12 feet of water and caught several perch, including a few nice jumbos. All were released.

We then came back on shore to finish hanging the door in the game room. With that chore mostly complete -- some trim work still needed to be finished -- I cleaned and cooked the 16 3/4" walleye from the other night for dinner.

After dinner, from 9:00 -- 10:20 p.m., Rick and I again trolled Minnow Raps for walleye. We fished in 8-12 feet of water from Malay's to the north to between Duck and Second Duck Points to the south.

Rick caught two small 12" walleyes and I didn't catch anything. Nonetheless, it was good to be out on Leech Lake.

May 31, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Rick and I went out fishing on Leech Lake today on two separate occasions. The first time we went out from 1:00 - 3:45 p.m. and used jigs and shiners as we drifted off Second Duck Point in 7-10 feet of water. We caught a few perch but no walleye.

The temperature today was a cool 52 degrees, the wind was 5-15 mph from the ESE, the sky was overcast and grey and it rained off and on all day.

After dinner, we went out again, this time from 8:00 - 11:15 p.m. We trolled Rapala Minnow Raps in 8-12 feet of water with the Mercury Smartcraft gauge set at 570 rpm. With this method we did much better than we did earlier in the day.

Rick caught a 23" and 12" walleye and I caught walleyes of 16 3/4" and 18 1/2". We kept the 16 3/4" fish for dinner. As we headed back to the boat lift we caught two more walleye at the same time, a doubleheader! The first time Rick and I have hooked walleyes at the same time.

Rick reeled in a nice 22" eyeball and my fish measured 17 1/4". Both were released.

Another great day of fishing on Leech Lake.

May 30, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

New door leading from the game room to the garage

It was very windy all day today. The winds were out of the WNW at 15-25 mph with gusts over 30 mph. The lake was covered with large waves and white caps. The high temperature today was 64 degrees with a low of around 40.

Rick and I went into town today to pick up a pre-hung door to go between the game room and the garage at the cabin. In addition to being an engineer, Rick both enjoys and is very good at any type of home repair or building project. Last year he repaired the deck at the cabin, this year it was the new door in the game room.

We picked up other supplies in town as well, and made it home around 4:00 p.m. -- just as it started to rain.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.

May 29, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Rick with a 23 1/2-inch Leech Lake walleye; off Second Duck Point.

Today was Rick's first day on Leech Lake since September 2008 and he was happy to be back on it. We started fishing today jigging with shiners at the Birches. We caught a couple of small perch but no walleye. Then we motored across Sucker Bay to Big Hardwood Point where we joined about 8 other boats. We again jigged for walleyes with shiners and again were skunked.

We then motored back across the bay to Second Duck Point where we decided to fore go jigging and start trolling crankbaits. That was the ticket.

Using #9 Rapala Minnow Raps -- Rick's in purpledescent color and me with a bleeding hot olive colored lure -- we started to catch fish.

I caught several perch, a rock bass and a small northern (generally disappointing), but Rick did much better. He caught a perch, a small 9" walleye, as well as a 22" and 23 1/2" walleye.

The temperature today was a pleasant 66 degrees as a high, with a low of 42. The water temperature was 61 degrees. The wind while we were out fishing was 6 mph from the south, but by evening it had picked up to 15-25 mph from the NW so we didn't go out trolling tonight. The wind finally died down to around 5-10 mph from the west around 10 p.m.

A very good day on Leech Lake.