On Leech Lake -- October 22, 2010

The temperature this morning at 8:30 a.m. was just 30 degrees. The sky was sunny and the wind was out of the west at 7-10 mph. The forecast called for the temperatures to climb to 60 degrees by 3:00 p.m., and sure enough, it was just about 60 degrees by mid-afternoon.

Tim, Jackson and I started fishing today at just before 11:00 a.m. I had a work call at 1:00 p.m., so I wanted to be back on shore by 12:30 p.m. That gave us a good 1 1/2 hours on the water.

The water temperature was 50.1 degrees and the air temperature was in the low 40s when we backed the boat off the lift and onto the water. I motored the boat toward Second Duck Point in 13 feet of water. With the drift sock deployed, the boat drifted toward our house and slightly toward shore. This path kept us fishing in 10-12 feet of water.

Almost as soon as I dropped my Bass Pro Shops XPS 1/4-oz. walleye jig tipped with a fathead into the water I felt that familiar "weight" at the end of line that typically indicates that a walleye is interested in my lure. I let the fish hold the minnow in its mouth for a moment before setting the hook. Sure enough, I had a good walleye on the line. Jackson manned the net and we brought on board a nice 21 1/2" walleye, although it had some weird growth on it's side. I unhooked the fish and put it back into the water.

We made several drifts before having to back to shore. We caught numerous perch, but no more walleye. And again, Jackson did not boat a fish of any kind.

After my call, some lunch, and some general work around the house and cabin, Tim, Jackson and I went out on the water a second time; this time at 3:30 p.m.

By this time the air temperature had warmed to near 60 degrees and the wind had died down to barely 3-5 mph out of the west.

I again positioned the boat in 13 feet of water just north of Second Duck Point, and again we fished with jigs and fatheads. But with the winds barely blowing, the fishing had tapered off as well. We did manage to catch a few perch, and Jackson finally caught a fish when he hooked into a 20" northern pike. But by in large, the fishing in this spot had turned cold. So we moved.

I took us down to "The Birches" where in 9-10 feet of water we caught a few more perch. Just before we decided to go ashore because of the poor fishing, Tim hooked into something with some weight to it. At first, we thought it was a big walleye, but it turned out to be an eelpout in excess of 20 inches. I'm estimating its weight at between 3-4 pounds. A good sized 'pout, but like all of the burbot I catch, this one went back into the lake.

We came ashore just at sunset, about 6:15 p.m. As we were motoring toward the lift we saw the full moon rising over the eastern horizon, down by Bass Bay. What a beautiful sight.

Sometime around 7:30 p.m. I started dinner. Tonight we had a classic Leech Lake fish fry consisting of batter fried walleye fillets, French fries (with malt vinegar, of course), and Cole slaw. Ummm. Tasty.

After dinner we hung out, talked, and watched a DVD. Another great day at Leech Lake.