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.