When I did roll out of bed at 10:00 a.m., the temperature was 32 degrees, the sky was overcast and the wind was about 8-10 mph out of the SSW and there was a heavy fog so thick that I couldn't see the shoreline across the lake.
As the day wore on, and more and more of the people on our compound got out of bed, the fog burned off, although the sky remained gray.
By mid-afternoon, Sean was ready to go fishing and I asked John Newman if he'd like to join us. Since he was heading south on Sunday morning, and his boat was already out of the water, he jumped at the chance to go fishing. As he said, this might be the last time he holds a fishing rod in his hands until ice fishing season.
We bundled up in warm clothes, got into the boat and backed off the lift onto Leech Lake. We started fishing at The Birches; where John and I had caught numerous fish earlier in the week. We all used variations of a jig and minnow set up, but none of us were getting any bites.
I had a northern hit my jig and bite right through the line forcing me to retie another jig onto my line. A few minutes later I caught a small perch, which turned out to be the only fish any of us caught all day.
We moved to two other locations, but no one caught any fish. While we were out on the water the wind picked up to 18-22 mph out of the SSW which created large swells and white caps on the lake.
We came ashore around 3:45 p.m. and it took all three of us to battle the waves to get the boat securely onto the boat lift.
Once I was back in the house I got ready for the Ottertail Peninsula Association annual potluck dinner at the Community Center. I can't believe this will be my ninth straight potluck. Time sure flies (we bought our place in July, 2001).
Turnout at the potluck was light this year compared to years past, with somewhere between 30-40 people in attendance. There have been some years where there have been more than 70 people at the potluck.
It was nice to chat with my friends and neighbors, but I left right as the event was winding down so I could come home and help get dinner ready for Kathleen and her family.
We had a nice dinner with Kathleen's mom, brother and his family, and we topped things off with a birthday cake for Kathleen; her birthday is Monday, Oct. 19.
After dinner we decided to get to bed early since we had had two late nights in a row. So by 11:30 p.m. or midnight, everyone was in bed. Hey, when you consider we'd gotten to bed after 2:00 a.m. the previous two nights, midnight is early.
It was another wonderful day at Leech Lake.
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