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.