September 16, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

Yes, on Leech Lake, not at Leech Lake. Today I got my boat repaired and was able to make it out onto the lake to fish for the first time since the end of July.

I awoke this morning to temperatures of 59 degrees at 7:00 a.m. under heavy cloudy skies and a slight wind of 8-12 mph from the east. After a quick breakfast, I took my boat to Corner Sports in Bemidji for repairs. I arrived at the shop at 8:35 a.m., and by 8:45 a.m. my boat was in the shop hooked up to the computer for a complete diagnostic.

As suspected, the problem with my Mercury Verado motor was a faulty fuel switch. The mechanic at Corner Sports told me that he's fixed maybe three or four fuel switches in Verados this year and about the same number last year. He added that the new switches are much better and I shouldn't have any problems with the motor getting enough fuel again.

My motor was under warranty so the repairs didn't cost me anything, but the privilege of being moved the front of the line during a particularly busy time of season cost me a case of beer. I offered to buy the service guys any beer they wanted, and they selected Busch Light. Go figure.

The boat was out of the shop by 11:00 a.m. and just shortly after noon, my boat was once again perched proudly upon the boat lift at the cabin.

I took care of a few chores around the house and then at 2:15 p.m. I set out for my first day of fishing during this trip. The air temperature had risen to just around 80 degrees, the wind had increased to 12-15 mph out of the east and the water temperature varied from 72.5 to 73.9 degrees depending on the depth and location I was fishing.

I started out in 9-13 feet of water off Second Duck Point using a Northland Slurpie jig head and a Gulp Alive minnow. I caught nothing. I moved to in front of our house, but still was unable to hook into any fish.

I finally switched to a VMC jig head with a Northland Swim'N Grub and moved to the Birches and that's when I started to catch fish. I caught numerous perch, a rock bass, and I hooked into something big but was unable to land it. On my subsequent cast, I caught a medium sized perch and as I reeled it back to the boat a small muskie, no bigger than 30-32 inches, followed the perch right to the side of the boat.

Although I didn't catch any walleyes today it was still a great day on Leech Lake.

Tomorrow I'm going into Walker to volunteer with the MN DNR to help count fish from the organization's netting program. A couple of times each season the Department of Natural Resources does a survey of the fish in Leech Lake by placing nets at various locations around the lake. By counting the fish netted, the DNR can extrapolate the number, and size, of fish species in Leech Lake. I look forward to participating in this season's netting program.

More tomorrow.