May 15, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

At 8:00 a.m. this morning the temperature was already a relatively warm 42 degrees, the sky was perfectly clear, blue and sunny, and the wind was out of the NE at 10-15 mph. There were about a dozen boats scattered from Second Duck Point to our cabin, all trying to get the jump on an early Sunday morning walleye bite.

At 10:30 a.m. Tim, Jackson and I put on some jackets and warm clothes and made our way to the cabin in order to launch the boat and do some fishing of our own. The wind was still blowing around 15 mph, so the waves made it tricky to get the boat off the lift. I asked Tim and Jackson to help steady the boat as I lowered it into the water.

I didn't see exactly what happened, but when I looked up, Tim had his hands on the inside roof of the boat lift and his feet were on the gunwale of the boat as the boat was backing out of the lift. I expected Tim to let go of the lift, but instead he just kept getting stretched further and further until something had to give. What gave was Tim falling into the lake right in the middle of the boat lift saddle. He let out one little cry that indicted to me and Jackson that the water was very cold. And at 52 degrees, the water was indeed cold.

Luckily, Tim was not hurt, only wet and cold. I quickly got the boat back into the lift as Tim climbed onto the dock. All three of us made our way back to the house where I got Tim a towel and he stripped off his soaking wet, cold clothes.

After changing into dry, warm clothes, and taking the time to place his jacket and shoes on the deck to dry in the sun (the rest of his clothes went into the dryer), we once again tried launching the boat so we could go fishing.

This time everyone remained in the boat and we motored our way to the Birches, dropped in the drift sock, and let the 15 mph wind push the boat at about 3/4 mph toward Second Duck Point; where a flotilla of some 30 boats was gathered.

Tim caught several medium-sized perch, none of which we kept, I caught a couple of perch and northern, while on this trip Jackson was skunked. We went ashore around 1:30 p.m.

After a dinner of wild rice brats, corn and Cole slaw, we went back on the water to do some evening fishing; not trolling, however, just drifting and jigging.

The wind was still about 15 mph out of the north, the temperature was around 50 degrees, the sky was clear, the moon was 96 percent waxing (full moon officially on May 17), and the water temperature was 52.5 degrees.

We tipped our Northland Tackle eyeball jigs with shiners and made several drifts in and around a waypoint I'd set; I'd caught a 24-inch walleye last year at this particular spot so I marked it on my GPS.

We caught a few perch, I caught a 13-inch walleye (which immediately went back into the lake), and Tim hooked something -- probably a northern -- that snapped his line. We stayed on the water until about 9:00 p.m., just after sunset, then made our way ashore. We didn't keep any fish, but it was nice to catch the first walleye of the season; just one day after opener.

Tim, Jackson and I listened online to the end of the NHL Western Conference finals Game 1 between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, which the Canucks won 3-2. We then played some cards and went to bed.

It was another wonderful day on Leech Lake.