June 29, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Today was the third straight day of strong winds on Leech Lake. By its very nature and size, Leech Lake tends to be breezy and is often covered with a "walleye chop." But winds in excess of 20 mph for days only happens a few times per season, and we're in one of those periods now.

The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 55 degrees, the wind was out of the NW at 25 mph and the sky was overcast and gray. In fact, the sky was overcast and gray all day long. And the wind never let up either. The temperature did warm to 67 degrees at the hottest part of the day.

I saw no boats on Sucker Bay fishing today, and there was no way I was going to take my boat out.

Instead, I did some work around the house. Then at 1:30 p.m. I met up with John, Johnny and Greg Newman for some trail clearing and wood chopping in the woods across the street from our cabins.

Between John Newman and I, we own more than 30 acres of woods, and that property is adjacent to another neighbor who has an additional 17 acres. Our private land is surrounded by 100s of acres made up from the Chippewa National Forest and the Bowstring State Forest.

The woods are crossed with many trails, which we use for hiking, riding ATVs and snowmobiles, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. Throughout the year, trees and branches fall across many of the trails making them impassable. So today, with the wind keeping us off the lake, we made our way into the woods to open up the trails.

We wore long sleeve shirts, long pants and applied plenty of DEET-laden bug spray, but that did little to dissuade giant swarms of big mosquitoes from descending upon us. We were, however, undeterred by the flying blood suckers and spent nearly two hours clearing five different spots on several different trails. We used a variety of saws, axes, winches and muscles to remove tree trunks, limbs and branches from the trails.

After we had finished clearing the trails, we took a break to enjoy some cold malted beverages back at Newman's cabin. Once refreshed, I got back on my ATV, attached an old bed spring to the ATV's trailer hitch, and then made numerous passes on the various trails to knock down weeds and brush to further groom the trails.

I'll probably make similar runs on the trails in the next few days, based on the weather conditions. If the weather permits, I'll be spending my time fishing on Leech Lake.

The Early Summer Cycle

The Early Summer Cycle

June bugs, midges, dragonflies
Burst upon the scene
When the leaves turn green
Then each and every one, dies

Lacy ferns sprout and unfurl
Purple lilac blooms
Dark thunderstorm looms
In the wind the waves do curl

Bluegills, northern pike, walleye
Spawning beds they clear
Round patches, weeds near
A bald eagle fills the sky

Small green leaves grow to full size
Maples, ash, basswood
Neither bad nor good
Living again is the prize

-- June 29, 2009