October 19, 2008 -- Kathleen's Birthday

Today is Kathleen's birthday. Happy birthday Kathleen!!

In addition to Kathleen and I, Kathleen's mom, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and a friend of her nephew's are here at the lake for a couple of days.

Yesterday, I took my nephew Sean and his friend Stan fishing, and both caught walleyes. Sean's was 21" so it had to go back into the lake. Stan caught a 17" walleye which is below the 18-26" slot limit on Leech Lake, so he could keep his fish.

I cleaned Stan's fish today so when he and the Coyles leave tomorrow, he and Sean can cook it up when they get home. They are anxious to eat some fresh Leech Lake walleye.

It was very busy day. With a high temperature today of only 50 degrees, and shifting winds -- first at 5-10 mph from the SW and as the day progressed 8-12 mph from the north -- I readied the boat to come out of the water.

I got the trailer in place, unloaded a bunch of tackle and gear from the boat, and finally I pulled the boat out of the lift, around the dock and onto the trailer. Once secured, I got in the truck, pulled the boat up the ramp on onto shore. Another season of fishing in my boat had reached its end.

I have to say, having a boat ramp at the cabin sure makes putting my boat in the water in the Spring and pulling it out in the Autumn a breeze.


The boat ramp at the cabin.

Once the boat was on shore, I cleared the rest of the equipment out of it, pulled the drain plug so any remaining water would drain from the hull, and put the cover on it. My Lund Pro-V 1800 IFS was now ready to take into Bemidji to be stored until May 2009.

With the help of Sean and Stan, I removed the canopy from the boat lift, rinsed it off, and got it ready for winter storage.

With my boating chores complete, I turned my attention to making Kathleen's birthday dinner. We all enjoyed dinner and celebrating with Kathleen as she blew out the candles on her cake and opened her presents. It was really nice that her mom and brother could be here on her special day.

Once again Kathleen, happy birthday. I'm glad we could celebrate it together at Leech Lake.


The birthday girl.


Mike, Kathleen and their mom.

October 18, 2008 on Leech Lake

Kathleen's brother Mike, his wife Barb, their son Sean, Sean's friend Stan and Kathleen's mom all arrived today for a few day visit. After helping getting everyone settled in, and a little conversation, Sean, Stan and I decided to go fishing. The boys really wanted to try to catch a Leech Lake walleye

The temperature today was 52 degrees, the wind was fairly strong out of the SSW at 15 mph and the water temperature was 50 degrees.

Once we got the boat off the lift, I took us out to 12 feet of water directly in front of our house and let the wind push us northward toward shore. I put the drift sock in the water to slow the speed of the boat and to keep the boat from turning in the wind.

I got the boys set up with spinning reels and jigs tipped with live fatheads. I used the same set up outlined in my post titled October 17, 2008.

I immediately caught numerous perch, but no walleyes. The boys were having tougher luck and weren't catching anything. Eventually, Stan caught a medium-sized northern pike. Then Sean caught a beautiful 21" walleye. And to cap off the trip, Stan hooked a nice 17" walleye which we decided to keep so Sean and Stan could enjoy a Leech Lake fish fry.

We went to shore at 5:20 p.m so I could get started. I think the boys really enjoyed their time on Leech Lake.


My nephew Sean Coyle with a 21" Leech Lake walleye.

October 17, 2008 on Leech Lake

In this post I'd like to list the rod, reel, line and terminal tackle that I've used for most of my jig fishing this season on Leech Lake.

Rod: 5'6" St. Croix Premier PS56LF, light power, fast action
Reel: Shimano Saros 1000F spinning reel
Line: Berkley Fireline Crystal, 6lb. test
Jig: Northland Neon-Tone Gum-Ball jigs, 1/16 oz., 1/8 oz., 1/4 oz.
Bait: Berkley Gulp minnows, 3" in smelt, emerald shiner and black shad colors

This set up has varied over the past 4+ months -- I've added a silver Colorado spinner blade to the jig, I've used live fathead minnows and Gulp Alive minnows and leeches -- but the above was used during the majority of my time on the water.

Today was a beautiful Autumn day. The temperature was 57 degrees, the wind was calm to 5 mph out of the SSE and the water temperature was 50 degrees. The first time I fished today was from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. I drifted ever so slowly in the slight breeze in 8-10 feet of water along the weed line at the Birches. I caught several medium-sized perch and a fantastic 21 1/2" walleye. On 6lb. test line, a light power fast action rod and small 1000F reel, a 21 1/2" walleye feels very big. I enjoyed fighting the fish to the boat, admired its beauty, then released it unharmed back into Leech Lake.

Later, I made my second foray of the day onto Leech Lake. This time I concentrated my effort on trolling in 10-12 feet of water, at roughly 2.0 to 2.5 mph from Malay's cabin to just south of Second Duck Point. I started at 6:00 p.m. and was back on shore by 8:00 p.m. That, however, was enough time for me to hook two walleyes using a Rapala Minnow Rap. The first walleye measured 21" and second came in at 22".

Another wonderful day of fishing on Leech Lake.