July 6, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The temperature today was a near perfect 75 degrees, the wind varied from 8-15 mph from the north, the sky was mostly sunny and the water temperature fluctuated between 73 and 74 degrees depending on location and depth.

I had some business calls from morning until early afternoon, and then I spent most of the rest of the afternoon washing the windows in our living room. We have wonderful floor to ceiling windows that look out onto Leech Lake, but they are a chore to clean.

I wrapped up cleaning around 4:00 p.m. and hit the water soon after. I used the minnows I had captured during my seining expedition yesterday on the hook end of a Northland Fireball jig in parakeet color. I fished in front of Malay's in 14 feet of water and drifted south toward Second Duck Point.

There is a spot between Malay's cabin and our house in 14-15 feet of water where the floor of the lake comes up a couple of feet creating an underwater point that extends some 200 yards north to south. I've found that fish congregate on either side of the point, so that's where I fished.

I caught numerous small- to medium-sized perch but no walleye. I came in for dinner around 5:45 p.m.

At 9:00 p.m. I went out trolling. The wind had died down and was very slight out of the north. The water temperature was 74 degrees.

I was on the water for no more than 15 minutes when my cell phone rang. It was Tom Malay asking if he could join me. I told him sure, and swung by his dock to pick him up.

For the next hour and a half we trolled The Alley in 8-12 feet of water. I was using a #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel, and Tom was using a #7 Minnow Rap in the same color. The moon was full tonight, so just as the sunlight began to fade, the bright light of the moon illuminated the lake.

A half an hour after moon rise I caught a small northern pike. Then at 10:15 p.m. I felt the pull of something much bigger. I put the motor in neutral and began reeling the fish toward the boat. Just as the fish came up along side the boat it made a run for deeper water. I let the fish pull off a good amount of line and then began reeling it back in again.

Tom grabbed the net, and when I got the fish to the surface, Tom slid the net under the fish and got it into the boat. It was a big walleye. After removing the trailing treble hook from its lip, I measured the big 'eye and it was a full 25" long. The fish was healthy and had a good girth to it. Tom and I marveled at the big fish for a minute or two before I released it back into the dark water.

On the last pass of the night through The Alley, I hooked an 18" walleye which was just a little too big to keep. My ideal fish to keep and eat is between 16 1/2" and 17 1/2". Of course on Leech Lake, all walleye between 18" and 26" must be immediately released back into the lake according to MN DNR regulations.

At 11:15 p.m. we put the boat on the lift and came ashore. It was another great night of fishing on Leech Lake.