July 3, 2008

Today was one of those days where multiple fishing trips were the order of the day. Joe decided he didn't want to go with me during the mid-afternoon sojourn, instead opting for the evening trip onto the water.

I left the boat lift at 12:15 p.m. under mostly sunny skies, a temperature of 72 degrees and light winds of 3-5 mph out of the SSW. A completely opposite day of weather from a day ago.

I decided I'd do some bass fishing this afternoon, so I started at Norm's house, which is the beginning of a long stretch of reeds and grass that span several thousand feet of shoreline from Norm's north to Paulsen's. I was using a white safety-pin styled spinner bait tipped with a 3" chartreuse trailer.

Using my MinnKota electric trolling motor I slowly made my way north from Norm's along the shoreline, casting the spinner bait back into the reeds and grass. During my slow, leisurely trek, I hooked two very nice largemouth bass -- both roughly 18" -- and a small northern pike. After a couple of hours of enjoying the warm afternoon sun, I motored back to the cabin to store the boat for our evening adventure.

At 8:30 p.m., Joe and I embarked for an evening of trolling for walleye. The moon was nearly new -- 1% waxing -- and the temperature had dropped only slightly to the high 60s. The water temperature was a steady 72 degrees, and the winds were nearly calm.

Joe was using his favorite Minnow Rap color, purpledescent, while used my old standby, the hot steel-colored Minnow Rap. We took our usual route from Malays past Second Duck Point in 8-12 feet of water. We only fished for an hour or so because the mosquitoes were so thick, but during that time we caught a few nice pike, although no walleye.

Joe hooked a 26" northern that absolutely inhaled his lure. I had to use the wire cutters to snip off the hooks rather than risk injuring the fish. After my little hardware modifications to the Rapala, the fish was released in good shape and it quickly swam off into the depths of Leech Lake.

I hooked two pike just as the sun was setting, a 24" and 28" fish.

The highlight of the evening occurred right at sunset when Joe and I watched a beautiful bald eagle circle overhead just off Second Duck Point before plunging into the water and emerging with a foot-long walleye in its talons. We couldn't hook a walleye, but Mr. Eagle did. A fantastic sight in Minnesota's Northwoods.

July 2, 2008

We woke up this morning to temperatures in the mid-60s and very strong winds of 25+ mph out of the north. The lake was covered with large waves and white caps. We decided to stay on shore today, so no fishing.