May 20, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

This morning at 10:00 a.m. Jerry Schiebe and Butch Bader (from Peterson Excavating) stopped by to look at the harbor wall to see how we can make repairs. Water has seeped in behind the wall and has pushed it out toward the harbor and in the process has heaved the cement walkway upward. From what Butch tells me, it should be a fairly simple thing to fix once we bust up the cement and have it removed. I need to figure out if Rick and I will do that, if I'll have Mark from Shore Brothers do that, or if I'll just have Peterson's do the entire thing.

The temperature at noon is 65 degrees, the sky is grey and overcast, the wind is light at 5-8 mph out of the east, it's a bit humid and feels like it might rain. There is a 50% chance of rain today.

Kathleen is wrapping up some phone calls relating to the care of her Mom, but after that I think we're going to go on a bike ride. And later today, at just before 11:00 p.m., my friend Rick, from Australia, will be arriving at the Bemidji airport for a couple of week stay. I'll leave here around 10:00 p.m. to pick him up.

We went on a bike ride doing the "loop" from W. Shores Rd. to Sucker Bay Rd. to Ottertail Point Rd. to 26th and then back home. Along the way we had a couple of "stop and chats," one with Ron Geppart and his wife and the second with Rome Von Rossum. It's always nice to catch up with our peninsula neighbors.

Once home I decided to go fishing while Kathleen ate some lunch and took care of many more emails and phone calls.

The weather was grey and overcast as I pushed off the boat lift, and no sooner did I start up the motor than it started to sprinkle. The water temperature was 60 degrees and the air temp was around 68. The wind was still out of the ESE at 8-12 mph, with occasional gusts up around 20 mph.

I started near Second Duck Point using a Northland Mimic Minnow spin, and caught nothing. I went around the point near the weeds and shoreline, but again came up empty. After an hour of no fish, and on-again off-again rain, I went home.

After dinner Kathleen and I listened to the Sharks vs. Canucks Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals online, but after the 2nd period I had to leave to pick up Rick at the airport.

On my way to the Bemidji airport Kathleen called to tell me that the Sharks beat the Canucks 4-3 to now trail in the series 2-1. Game 4 is on Sunday.

I picked Rick up at the airport and we drove back to the lake, arriving at just after midnight. We stayed up for an hour or so, and then we all went to bed. More from Leech Lake tomorrow.