November 10, 2008

A few days ago Kathleen and I decided to pull up the thick green carpet that was in the bathroom at the cabin. When we did, we discovered that like the rest of the cabin, the floor in the bathroom was made from beautiful wood planks. The problem, however, was that whoever installed the carpet decided to use double-sided tape in addition to tack strips. Getting the carpet and tack strips out wasn't too hard, but getting the decades old tape off the floor without damaging the wood proved more challenging.

Kathleen worked very hard during the past several days to get the tape off the bathroom floor, and today, she completed the project.

While Kathleen was working on the bathroom floor at the cabin, I was helping Tom Malay take his 14-foot aluminum boat out of the lake. It has simply become too cold to leave the boat outside any longer.

It took some doing, but Tom and I chopped the ice off the boat lift and lowered the lift and boat into the water. Tom must have pulled the starter cord 20 times before the motor finally sputtered and started.

Tom then motored the boat next door to the cabin, where we had put the trailer in the water at the bottom of my boat ramp. We got Tom's boat out of the water, and took it back to Tom's cabin where he was going to winterize it. I guess this is really it, no more open-water fishing on Leech Lake this year. The last boat I was using to fish in is now out of the water for the winter.

After getting Tom's boat out of the lake, I dismantled the hammock and put it away until next Spring. The ritual of putting the hammock together in the Spring, and then taking it apart in the Fall, is something I've done every year since we've owned our property on Leech Lake.

The high temperature today was 24 degrees. The winds were calm and it was a day or two before a full moon.

This evening for dinner Kathleen and I had home-made soup and fish sandwiches from the leftover perch fillets from last night's dinner. We got a roaring fire going in the fireplace, listened to music and played dominoes and cribbage. We had another wonderful day at Leech Lake.


A view of Leech Lake from our living room.

November 9, 2008

Today was even colder than yesterday. The high temperature today hit only 20 degrees. And with a steady wind of 10-15 mph out of the WNW, gusting to 20+ mph, the wind chill was probably closer to zero.

The lake was choppy from the wind and ice had begun to form along the shoreline. I was worried about Tom's boat as it sat in my harbor, or more specifically, about the 10hp Mercury motor on the boat. The small Mercury is a 2-stroke motor, which means it has to pull water from the lake to cool the motor. Since some water is always inside the housing the motor, it was likely to freeze and possible crack the head of the motor or do other damage.

I pulled the motor out of the water, pulled the starter cord a number of times with the motor in the off position to drive any water from the inner workings of the motor. Then once all of the water had been expelled from the motor, I lowered the motor back into the water. At this point the water in the harbor was actually warmer than the air.

Once I had secured Tom's boat, I joined Kathleen in working around the yard. We cut back the hosta plants, trimmed other plants, and did other general yard work. It was cold, but it was fun working outside with Kathleen. I'm going to miss our time together working in the yard.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.

November 8, 2008 -- Deer Season Opener

Today we awoke to find the first dusting of snow on the ground. Today is also the first day of the 2008 deer hunting season in Minnesota. In Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin, the first day of deer season is almost a religious holiday. Millions of hunters will flood the woods of these three states during the next couple of weeks in search of a trophy buck, or maybe just a doe or two for the meat.

Our neighbor and good friend John Newman is up at the lake for that very reason. He is taking his son Greg hunting in the woods across the street from our houses. Joining him is Clancy, the man from whom we bought our Leech Lake house. Clancy was kind enough to give me a frozen elk steak from a hunt he was on in Washington state a month or so back. That'll make a tasty dinner.

The weather conditions for deer opener couldn't have been harsher. The temperature today hit a high of only 28 degrees, the wind was very strong at 25-35 mph out of the north, the sky was grey and there were snow flurries all day. The lake was covered with white caps and large swells. Even though Tom's small boat sat in my harbor, there was no way I was willing to risk taking it out onto the lake.

I am not a hunter. I own a couple of guns -- a shotgun and a rifle -- but I don't hunt; not for deer, grouse, bear or anything else. My focus is exclusively on fishing. That's why this is such a difficult time of year for me. The weather is too rough to take the little boat onto the big waters of Leech Lake, but the ice has yet to form, so ice angling is still a month or more away. I guess that's why many people hunt -- to fill in the time between open-water fishing and ice fishing.

This evening I fried up the perch fillets for dinner. Kathleen and I thoroughly enjoyed what would turn out to be our last fish fry of our 2008 stay at Leech Lake. I'm already preparing myself for the difficult transition from our simple, quiet Northwoods life style to that of the fast-paced, busy and noisy life in San Jose.

November 7, 2008

The temperature today hit a high of 44 degrees, but for much of the day it hovered just under 40. The today was stronger than yesterday at 15 mph out of the NW. The was covered in large swells and white caps. It rained hard all day.

I contemplated taking Tom Malay's 14-foot aluminum boat out fishing today, but as I stood on the shoreline, I realized that those waves were rougher than they had been the past couple of days, and I figured it was probably safer to stay off the water today.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.

November 6, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today's weather conditions were absolutely terrible for "comfortable" fishing -- the temperature hit a high of only 50 degrees, the wind was out of the ENE at 13 mph, the sky was grey and a cold, hard rain fell all day long. Miserable conditions. But because I could, I went fishing.

I took Tom Malay's 14-foot aluminum boat out onto the rough waters of Leech Lake to try to catch walleye and perch. Tom, because the weather was so poor, decided to stay on shore where he could be warm and dry in his cabin.

I motored the boat to the Birches, put a live fathead minnow on my 1/8 oz. Northland Neon-Tone Gum-Ball jig, dropped it 8-9 feet below the boat and immediately started catching perch. For the next several hours I caught more than 20 nice sized perch, including 2 jumbos. But since I had a bag of fresh perch fillets sitting in my refrigerator at home, all of the fish I caught were released back into Leech Lake.

As it turned out, today was my last day of open-water fishing on Leech Lake in 2008. I was able to fish a total of 98 days this season, and I fished later into the season -- Nov. 6 -- than ever before.

November 5, 2008 on Leech Lake

We woke up this morning to the news that Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.

The temperature today was 56 degrees and the wind was out of the ENE at 5-12 mph. After yesterday's experience, where Tom and I caught lots of fish at the Birches but caught only a couple of fish at Big Hardwood Point, Duck Point and Second Duck Point, we decided to focus exclusively on the Birches today.

We used jigs tipped with live fathead minnows and fished in approximately 10 feet of water along the edge of the weed line. It didn't take us long to start catching fish. Tom and I started fishing at 11:00 a.m. and stayed on the water until 4:45 p.m. During the nearly 6 hours on the water, we caught untold numbers of perch, Tom caught a 14" walleye, I also caught a walleye (a small 11" 'eye) and we each kept 6 jumbo perch.

Together with the perch we had caught on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, we had a total of 18 beautiful jumbo perch. Tom took it upon himself to clean all 18, and then we split the fillets. This will be more than enough for me and Kathleen to have a wonderful Leech Lake fish fry.

As it turned out, the walleye I caught today would be my last of the season. I caught 87 walleyes throughout the season, and probably more than 500 perch. It's been a great season of fishing on Leech Lake.

I hope I can get out a least a few more times before we have to pull Tom's small boat out of the water. I don't know how long that will be, however, since the temperature at night has been falling below freezing.

November 4, 2008 on Leech Lake -- Election Day

Today Tom Malay and I took his 14-foot aluminum boat on a fishing tour of Sucker Bay. We started at 12:30 p.m. and motored from my harbor to Big Hardwood Point. There were three other boats fishing Big Hardwood, which is always a good sign that there are walleyes present. Tom hooked one medium-sized northern pike, but that's all we could coax into the boat.

From Big Hardwood we motored across Sucker Bay to Duck Point. Using my Lindy Max Gap jig set up, I caught one very nice jumbo perch, which I kept. We then trolled Minnow Raps from Duck Point to Second Duck Point, and during that trip Tom hooked a nice 5 pound northern pike, which he released.

Finally we made our way to the Birches which is where the action really picked up. Tom and I both caught dozens of small- and medium-sized perch, Tom caught one nice jumbo perch, which he kept, and I caught three jumbo perch, which I kept. I was starting to amass enough jumbo perch for Kathleen and I to have one more fish fry before leaving the lake for our house in California.

Tom and I put the boat back in my boat lift at 5:00 p.m.

It was truly another fantastic day of fishing on Leech Lake.

NOTE: Late this evening it was projected that Barack Obama would win the presidency of the United States.

November 3, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today I fished in the morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The temperature was a very warm 63 degrees and the wind was a bit stronger than it's been the past few days at 8-12 mph out of the south.

Once again I used an 1/8 oz. Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with live fathead minnows while drifting in 8-10 feet of water from our house to the Birches.

I caught 7 small- to medium-sized perch, but no jumbos or walleye. All fish were released unharmed.

Today marked the 95th day this season I have fished on the open-water of Leech Lake; a new record for me.

November 2, 2008 on Leech Lake

The temperature today was 53 degrees, the wind was calm to 5 mph out of the SE then shifting to the NE. I was on the water from 12: 30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

I used the same set up as I did yesterday, an 1/8 oz. Lindy Max Gap jig in either sapphire blue or emerald shiner color tipped with live fathead minnows. I let the boat drift in the wind from in front of our house to the Birches. Then I'd fire up the little 10hp Mercury motor on Malay's 14-foot aluminum boat and motor back to our house. I'm estimating that I was fishing in 8-10 feet of water.

I caught 8 medium-sized perch, which I released, and 2 jumbo perch, which I kept.

I saw two adult bald eagles perched in a tree near the Birches. Occasionally one of them would fly out over the lake, looking for food I suppose, then circle back to its perch in the tree. I love the beauty of nature at Leech Lake.

This evening Kathleen and I hosted Tom and Elaine Malay for a lasagna dinner.

November 1, 2008 on Leech Lake

From 1:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. I was out fishing and I was in heaven. Each day I make it out onto the water it becomes the latest in the year that I've ever been open-water fishing on Leech Lake.

The temperature today was 48 degrees and the wind was out of the SSW at 5-8 mph, the perfect speed to push Malay's little aluminum boat without the use of the motor. I positioned the boat in front of our house in roughly 10 feet of water, so I would drift toward Norm's cabin. That would put me along the edge of the weed line, if any of the weeds were still green.

I used an 1/8 oz. Lindy Max Gap in both sapphire blue and emerald shiner colors, a silver Colorado blade spinner, and tipped the jig with live fathead minnows.

I caught nearly a dozen medium-sized perch, one medium-sized northern pike and 4 jumbo perch. All fish were released into the lake unharmed.

Once I was back on shore, I wished I would have kept the jumbo perch. I would like to have one more fish fry before Kathleen and I go back to California, and those jumbos would have been perfect. I guess I'll just have to go out fishing again tomorrow.

October 31, 2008 on Leech Lake -- Halloween

Tom came over to the house this afternoon just before 3:00 p.m. and we took his small aluminum boat onto Leech Lake for some late-season fishing.

Tom had picked up some live fathead minnows so we decided to drift in the boat, using jigs tipped with minnows, to fish for perch and walleye. We didn't catch a ton of fish, but we had fun. Tom caught one medium-sized perch and I caught 4 perch roughly the same size.

We also trolled for a while, but that technique yielded no fish. By 5:45 p.m. we were on shore.

The temperature today was 45 degrees, the wind was 5-10 mph out of the NNW, and I no longer have a way to measure the temperature of the water. I'm guessing it is in the mid-40s.

Our Leech Lake house is 23 miles from the nearest town (Cass Lake, pop. 938) so we didn't expect anyone to stop for "tricks or treats" tonight; and no one did.

October 30, 2008 on Leech Lake

The big news today was that I was back on Leech Lake fishing!

Tom Malay and I put his small boat -- a 14-foot aluminum boat with a 10hp Mercury outboard -- in the water and stored in on my boat lift in the harbor at our house. Tom said I was free to use it any time, so I took him up on his offer and went fishing this afternoon.

I trolled a Minnow Rap behind the boat and had one good hit, but it broke off. It was probably a walleye, they are notoriously light bitters that often hold a lure in their mouth for a moment only to spit it out once they realize it's not a real fish.

I also tried drifting using a jig tipped with a Gulp Alive 3" leech, but caught no fish. That didn't matter to me though, I was back on the water.

This is the latest date that I've ever fished open water on Leech Lake.

October 29, 2008

The temperature today was near 50 degrees, the warmest it's been in a while. The wind was calm to 5-8 mph out of the SE, and the sky was sunny and clear blue.

After spending about 4 hours blowing leaves with a leaf-blower at the cabin, I took a break so I could go on a walk in the woods with Kathleen. It was a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful time on our walk.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall, the beauty of Leech Lake and the surrounding woods is unmatched.

No fishing again today.

October 28, 2008

A few weeks back my neighbor's boy, and a friend of his, went back onto my wooded property and maliciously cut down three healthy trees -- two basswood and one maple. The boy's parents couldn't have handled the situation better, including part of the boy's punishment -- to chop the felled trees into firewood for me.

This past weekend the boy and his friend spent the better part of an entire day chopping the trees into firewood. Per my instructions, the boys left the chopped wood in two large piles. Today, Tom Malay and I went out and repeatedly loaded the wood into a trailer pulled by his ATV (all-terrain vehicle).

I ended up with 4 or 5 good loads of firewood for the house and cabin, and I gave Tom two big loads of firewood as well.

After our firewood chore was complete, I helped Tom load his 1998 snowmobile onto a trailer so he could take it into Bemidji tomorrow to sell. Apparently Tom found a guy willing to pay $500 for it.

The temperature today was 42 degrees, the sky was sunny and clear blue, and the wind was out of the west at 8-12 mph.

No fishing today.

October 27, 2008 -- Venison Stew

My ongoing yard work continued today with the clearing of leaves out by the gas tank. I also cut back the red stem dogwood plants that surround the harbor at the house. The temperature today was near 40 degrees, the sky was sunny and the wind was out of the west at 10-15 mph.

This evening Kathleen and I hosted Rome and Noel for dinner, where I served venison stew made from the venison Noel had given some weeks earlier. We had a wonderful time conversing with our very entertaining and intelligent Leech Lake neighbors.

No fishing today.

October 26, 2008

Another day of yard work and another day not on the water. It was a week ago that I pulled my boat out of the water, signaling the end of another open-water fishing season for me, but it seems more like months ago.

The high temperature today was only 38 degrees -- winter comes early to the Northwoods of Minnesota. There was a wind advisory issued for Leech Lake with winds of 20-30 mph out of the west. The lake was covered in white caps. The sky was grey and it was spitting snow for most of the day.

It was a good day to stay inside, have a nice fire in the fireplace and listen to Minnesota Public Radio.

No fishing on Leech Lake.

October 25, 2008

More yard work today. The temperature was 45 degrees, the wind was 12-20 mph out of the west, creating large swells and white caps on the lake.

It's my Uncle Frank's birthday today, so we gave him a call.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.

October 24, 2008

I spent most of today outside blowing leaves at either our house or cabin. When you live in the Northwoods of Minnesota, clearing the leaves from your yard is a necessary and time consuming chore. But when you can do it while looking at the beauty of Leech Lake, the chore becomes more like a joy.

The temperature today was in the high 40s for most of the day, although it peaked at 50 degrees. The wind was out of the SSW at 10-12 mph.

Later this evening Kathleen and I had home-made Friday-night pizza, then enjoyed some music and fire in the fireplace.

No fishing today.

October 23, 2008 -- Neighbor's Day

Today was one of those days where I seemed to encounter more of my neighbors in a single day than I had in the previous month. Maybe because it was such a beautiful Autumn day that everyone elected to be outside, and we all ran into each other in the course of our activities.

The temperature today was near 50 degrees, it was a sunny day with clear blue skies and the winds were calm. A perfect day for outside chores. And in the Northwoods of Minnesota, there is always plenty of work to be done outside.

The day started when Clancy, the man from whom we bought our Leech Lake house, stopped by. Clancy and I went into the woods across the street so I could show him the trees that our neighbor's kid cut down. While we were identifying the type of tree it was (basswood), a neighbor of mine, Noel, showed up. He is somewhat of an expert on the trees in the area and confirmed it was indeed a basswood.

I invited Noel to dinner to try some of the venison stew I made a week or so ago, then froze. I also invited another neighbor, Rome, to join us.

I spent a good portion of the day blowing leaves off of the driveway. Being outside all day was great, and gave me a chance to see other Otter Tail Peninsula neighbors -- Duane Paulsen, Jerry Schiebe, Norm Hanson and my good friend Tom Malay.

No fishing today, but a great day chatting with our Leech Lake neighbors.


The leaves on the driveway before I cleared them away.

October 22, 2008

Today was the day that Kathleen and I were scheduled to fly back to San Jose, but we decided to extend our stay at Leech Lake until November 19.

It was overcast and rainy all day, with a temperature of no more than 40 degrees.

This morning I did one final check of the boat to make sure it was ready to go into storage. With it secure on the trailer, the cover on the boat, the transom saver in place and all straps firmly tied down, I hooked the trailer to the truck. Kathleen and I then drove into Bemidji where I dropped off the boat and trailer at Corner Sports, where they will winterize my boat and then put it in covered storage for the winter.

We then drove on to the small town of Fosston, MN, which is the closest location I could find a Verizon dealer. A few days back I accidently left my cell phone in my pants when they went into the washing machine. I realized it too late, so my phone had been thoroughly soaked and was no longer working. Since I have Verizon service, the best place for me to get a phone was at one of their dealers, so the 45 minute drive to Fosston from Bemidji.

Kathleen and I had a great time together today, just driving in the truck, talking and laughly, and exploring a part of Minnesota we hadn't seen before.

We got back to the lake at 9:00 p.m. No fishing today.


My Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD parked in front of our Leech Lake house.

October 21, 2008

Sometime during the night my food poisoning kicked in. I was up from 2:00 a.m. until sunrise. I won't go into the details, other than to say it was not pretty.

Yet at 9:00 a.m., I some how managed to pull myself out of bed to go outside to help Shore Brothers remove my docks and boat lift from Leech Lake. I then helped Tom Malay, and Shore Brothers, pull Tom's boat out of the water using my boat ramp. By 10:30 a.m., my boat lift, my docks, and Tom's boat were out of the water. It was time for me to go back to bed.

The low this morning was 29 degrees, it was around 35 degrees while we were removing the boat lift and docks, and warmed to a high of just under 50 degrees by mid-afternoon. I was too wiped out from the food poisoning to record the wind temperature or anything else about today.