October 6, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 40 degrees (maybe my thermometer is stuck there), the sky was dark and gray and there was a light rain falling. The wind is again out of the north at 8-12 mph.

By noon, the wind had picked up a bit because the flag was flapping straight out and the lake had a smattering of white caps across the surface. This cool weather -- down into the 30s at night -- has the leaves changing colors quickly now.

I did a quick check of the forecast for the Cass Lake/Leech Lake area, and the temperature at night for the rest of the week is supposed to be in the mid-30s tonight and then dropping to below 30 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with high temperature in only the low 40s during the day.

With the weather getting colder and the very low water levels in the lake, I think it's getting time to pull the boat out of the water. I'll leave it in this weekend, because Kathleen's brother Mike, along with his wife Barb and son Sean will be visiting our cabin and Sean likes to go walleye fishing with me. But the following weekend, MEA weekend in Minnesota, is when I'll likely take the boat out of the water and into Bemidji for storage for the winter.

At just after 1:00 p.m. the rain started to fall again. The wind is constant at about 8-10 mph out of the north, and the temperature is still 40 degrees. I think I'll clean the bathrooms this afternoon, and do some more work online.

At 3:30 p.m. I went fishing. I motored out to my usual spot in front of the Malay's cabin in 12 feet of water and dropped my VMC jig tipped with a fathead into the 51.5 degree water. I fished for more than 90 minutes and the only bite I got was a toothy critter that bit right through my Fireline. I retied but never got another bite, although I was marking lots of fish on my Lowrance LCX-28c.

I came ashore at 5:15 p.m. under a steady rain, cold temperatures and a wind of 10-15 mph that was shifting from the north to the NNW.

Once on shore I got a fire going in the fireplace to warm up the house. The wind was howling and the rain continued to fall. It was an absolutely perfect day at Leech Lake.

October 5, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

The trees starting to change color along Sucker Bay Road

Today the wind was lighter than it's been the past few days at just 8-12 mph out of the north. But it was a cold breeze. The temperature all day long was a consistent 40 degrees. The sky was gray and it looked like rain, but none fell.

I had business calls to attend to until early afternoon, then had to go into Cass Lake to pick up a few groceries as well as a new scoop of fathead minnows from Froggy's.

On my way into town, on Sucker Bay Road, I saw a number of bald eagles eating some sort of carrion on the side of the road and as I drove past them, they took to the air and flew along side my truck on either side. One mature bald eagle and one immature eagle flying right next to my truck window on either side. What a sight! They are big when you get up close to one. Eventually they banked off to the woods, and I'm sure back to their meal.

Once I was home and got the groceries put away I decided to go fishing. At 4:00 p.m. I motored out to 12 feet of water in front of the Malay's cabin and let the light wind push my boat south toward Second Duck Point. The water temperature was now at 52.6 degrees.

I used a VMC jig in orange and yellow color tipped with a fathead. I caught a couple of small perch, but that was it. I saw Tom Malay on the water. He was trolling, which is his usual method of fishing during all times of day throughout the open-water season. Tom said he hadn't even had a bite.

I repositioned to The Birches, and again caught only a few small perch.

While I was fishing by The Birches I saw another mature bald eagle. This one took flight from a tree at the edge of the water, flew out over the bay, before I lost sight of it. A minute or two later it returned, and it may have had a fish in its talons. When it got close to its tree, I heard the screeches of young eagles in a nest. Obviously the mature eagle was returning to the tree to feed its young.

It certainly was a day for eagles.

At 6:00 p.m., I returned home. Two hours on the lake with wet hands, a north wind and a temperature of 40 degrees had my hands near frozen. I looked forward to warming them up.

After dinner I had a fire in the fireplace, read the newspaper and listened to music. No trolling tonight on Leech Lake.