October 22, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

Tonight's spectacular sunset over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

At 10:00 a.m. the temperature is 30 degrees, the sun is out for the first time in days with just a few clouds hovering over the western shore of Sucker Bay, and the wind is light at 5-8 mph out of the NNW.

I got a call from Shore Brothers this morning letting me know that they would be out here either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week to pull the docks and boat lift out of the water. This Saturday the weather is supposed to be sunny with light winds out of the east, making it an ideal to get the canopy off my boat lift and the boat out of the water. Tom Malay offered to lend me a hand in both operations. I'll check with him later today to see what time he might be available on Saturday to help me.

Kathleen went to Bemidji this afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. meeting with various people from the Bemidji Hospital regarding physical therapy jobs at the hospital. We've often talked about moving here full-time, and if we do, Kathleen would like to continue working and the only logical place for her to do that would be the hospital in Bemidji.

While Kathleen was in town, I took down the screens from the windows and doors at the cabin and replaced them with storm windows. When I was done with the storm windows I decided to go fishing.

I hit the water at just after 3:00 p.m. under partly sunny skies, light winds at 5-8 mph out of the ENE, a temperature of 40 degrees and a water temperature of 42.7 degrees.

I started fishing at The Birches in 9 feet of water. I used my usual set up of a jig and fathead. The breeze was such that it pushed the boat away from shore and slightly south toward Malay's.

I caught a few perch including one that measured close to a foot long. All fish went back into the water.

At 4:30 p.m. I motored back to the cabin and realized how cold I really was. Kathleen had just gotten home and asked if I could give her a ride on the ATV so she could see the Peninsula.

We went down W. Shores to 26th the south on Ottertail Point Rd. We explored the new housing development at Duck Point, checked out the lots for sale along Ottertail Point Rd. and eventually made it home. When we got home we took a nice walk in the woods.

By the time we got inside I was freezing. I had been outside for several hours and my head in particular was very cold. Despite the cold, we went out onto the dock at 6:15 p.m. to enjoy the amazing sunset over Sucker Bay.

I decided not to go fishing this evening even though I don't have much time left with my boat in the water. I opted to stay inside and hang out with Kathleen. We made dinner, had a fire, and just hung out.

It's supposed to be cloudy and possibly rain tomorrow, but since it may be the last day I have my boat in the water this year, I'm going to try to get to do some fishing on Leech Lake.