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...