July 13, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The temperature at 9:00 a.m. was 66 degrees on a way to a high of 74 degrees. The water temperature had warmed to 72 degrees. The wind initially was out of the north at 8-12 mph, but shifted just after noon to the south at 5-8 mph. The skies fluctuated throughout the day from sunny to cloudy to hazy back to sunny.

At 2:00 p.m. I went out fishing with John Newman. We tried a few spots he knew of -- where earlier in the day he had caught three keeper-sized perch and a 17 3/4" walleye -- but we only caught some small perch.

We moved to a couple of spots I knew of, but again, caught only some small perch. I was using a Fire-Ball jig tipped with Leech Lake minnows (which John had caught while seining at the bottom of my boat ramp) and John was using a "beetle spin" like jig with no minnow. Neither approach seemed to be very effective today.

At 4:00 p.m. we had to come ashore because John was expecting a visit from an excavating company from Federal Dam which was coming out to assess some work John is contemplating for his harbor.

Tonight I went to the Ottertail Peninsula Community Center at 7:00 p.m. to speak to the Ottertail Peninsula Township board about the issue of water level in Leech Lake and the Army Corps of Engineers' plan to lower it. I stated my case and asked the board to join forces with the Leech Lake Association (LLA) and other area township boards in opposition to the Army Corps of Engineers plan. They agreed to do so.

The next steps are that I am going to contact the LLA (which has more "clout" that our township board, according to our township board) to determine its position on the issue and what, if anything, they plan to do about the Corps' plan.

If the LLA is opposed to the proposed drop in the water level in Leech Lake, which I know they will be, I will inform them that the Ottertail Peninsula Township will join them in their opposition, including any formal documentation or communication that would be sent to the St. Paul and Washington D.C. offices of the Army Corps of Engineers.

After performing my civic duty for the day, I came home and got ready for a night of trolling for walleye.

I pushed off my boat lift at 9:15 p.m. and made my way to 10 feet of water to begin trolling my hot steel colored #9 Minnow Rap. The wind this evening was slight, at 5 mph out of the south. The water temperature was 73 degrees, and the air temperature had dropped to the high 50s. The mosquitoes were out in full force.

There was an interesting sunset tonight. To the south of the setting sun the sky was slate gray. To the north of the sun the sky was bright pink. As the sun sank lower into the western sky, the sky over the lake split in two -- the southern half gray the northern half pink. Which reminded me of one of my favorite albums In The Land of Grey and Pink by Caravan.

Just before 10:00 p.m. I caught a beautiful 23" walleye, and it put up quite a fight. That would turn out to be the only walleye I would catch tonight, although I did catch a tiny rock bass (that was for you Rick).

I came ashore at 11:00 p.m. It was another peaceful night on Leech Lake.