September 17, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

The sunset this evening over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

This morning the temperature at 8:00 a.m. was 63 degrees on it's way to a high of 80 degrees later in the day. The sky was foggy early, but by 9:00 a.m. the sun was out and the sky was clear. The wind today was light, maybe 5-8 mph out of the SSE.

I went into Walker this morning to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to volunteer at the MN DNR Fisheries office. Twice per year, the department puts out gill nets in various locations on Leech Lake to trap (and kill) a variety of fish. The fish are measured, recorded, and a variety of samples are taken from the fish.

For instance, all fish have two little "stones" (otoliths) at the base of their brains the fish depend on for balance in the water. These stones calcify, and much like rings in a tree trunk, provide DNR fish biologists with information about the age and health of the fish.

Stocked fish, when they are only days old fry, are put into a vat of a special chemical that marks their "stones" enabling biologists to tell the difference between stocked fish and native fish. This process is only one of several that the MN DNR biologists were doing today while I was there.

My job was to pull the dead fish out of the gill nets and stack them according to the size of the net mesh in which they were trapped. For example, the bigger fish such as walleye and northern pike were trapped in 2" mesh, while smaller fish such as tulibee and perch were trapped in the 1" mesh.

It was an interesting experience and one I'd consider doing next year if I'm at the lake during the gill netting process.

After taking care of a little business in Walker I came home.

At 3:15 p.m. I went out on the lake to do some fishing. The temperature had risen all the way to 80 degrees by this point and sky was clear blue. Needless to say, it was hot out on the lake. The water temperature had warmed as well to 74.4 degrees.

I used a VMC jig head with a Northland Tackle Slurpie Swin'N Grub in a silver color. On my third cast of the day I hooked a 24" northern pike. Unfortunately that was the only fish I caught using the jig. I decided to change tactics and troll with a Cotton Cordell Grappler Shad in a glory green color.

I trolled from The Birches south past Second Duck Point in 9-11 feet of water, but caught nothing. At 5:30 p.m. I motored back to the boat lift. The Mercury Verado motor, by the way, seems to be working fine after the new fuel switch was installed.

I went down to the Malays to say hi to them for about an hour or so, then headed back to the house.

John Newman arrived tonight and I'm sure he and I will find a way to go fishing tomorrow in preparation of the annual Zimmerman Walleye Classic tournament that we're going to fish on Saturday. I hope by then I've figured out where the walleye are hiding.