This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 38 degrees, the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the WSW and the sky was overcast and grey with a light rain falling.
I puttered around the house this morning, making coffee, checking ESPN.com for sports scores, and calling my parents to see how they were doing. Then around 11:00 a.m. I got a call from John Newman asking if I wanted to join him on the water for a little fishing.
With a light, cold rain falling, temperatures hovering around 40 degrees and the wind at 8-12 mph out of the SW most people would have been content to stay inside their warm, dry houses sipping coffee and reading the Sunday paper, but I donned my Cabela's Guidewear rain gear and walked out to the end of my dock.
John was already on the water fishing, and if fact was directly in front of my house, so he easily spotted me and then brought the boat to the end of the dock where I got in. We then motored out to 11 feet of 47-degree water in front of John's cabin and let the wind push the boat toward shore and north toward Malay's.
On our very first pass something hit my jig and minnow hard and bit it right off. I tied on a new jig, tipped it with a fresh minnow and continued fishing. We had a few bites, but were unable to boat any perch or walleye.
We made a total of four passes and during one of them John hooked into a nice perch, which he added to his total of jumbos in the basket, and I caught a whitefish, which I kept and will deliver to my neighbor Ken Lichttenegger who nets whitefish and then smokes them in a smokehouse. Ken gave me one of his smoked whitefish last year and I shared it with my brother-in-law Tim and my nephew Jackson and all three of us loved it.
We came ashore at 1:20 p.m. at which time I ate a very late brunch, cleaned up a bit and then I took the whitefish down to Lichttenegger's. Well, it turns out that my whitefish was really a cisco, also known as a tullibee. Although they look similar to whitefish the way you can tell the difference, so I learned, is that the tullibee has a longer lower jaw while the whitefish has a longer top jaw. As a result, the fish went back into the lake.
After visiting with Ken for a bit I drove the ATV over to Newman's where he was talking with Tom Malay. John had purchased Tom's old 14-foot aluminum boat and Tom was there delivering the boat. The three of talked for a while then Tom went home. John asked if I wanted to go with him for a brief fishing adventure in his new small boat and I quickly agreed. I went home, cleaned up the kitchen, then met John at his boat lift at 3:30 p.m.
We made several passes from 11 feet of water to as little as 7 feet of water but neither John nor I got as much as a bite. Well, that's not true, right at the end of our 90 minutes on the water John got a bite from a perch but it came off before he could get it to the boat. At least the weather had improved. Gone was the rain, the sky was clear and sunny, although the wind had picked up a bit and was blowing at 10-15 mph from the WSW. The temperature was 54 degrees.
We came ashore at 5:15 p.m. and parted ways. John was going to haul his big boat into Bemidji where he'll leave it for the winter while I came home to have an early dinner.
I spent the evening listening to music and having a roaring fire in the fireplace. At about 9:00 p.m. I did put on a sweatshirt and went out to the end of the dock to look at the stars. The sky was clear and I could see the bright white band of the Milky Way stretching across the sky, I could see the planet Uranus as it rose in the eastern sky and I could see millions of stars. What a wonderful treat it is to be able to really see the night sky. In San Jose there is simply too much light pollution to see anything more than the moon and a few of the brightest stars.
Although my fishing experience was not all that successful today, I still had a fantastic day on, and near, Leech Lake.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Fall 2011 Nature Update
I often insert "Nature Updates" into my regular posts, but thought I'd try something a little different this time and combine them into one post. Here are some of the interesting wildlife sightings I've had during my recent stay.
* This is typically the time of year when I see mink running around near the harbor and this year was no exception. I've seen several mink frolicking near the harbor, darting in and out of tiny spaces between rocks and boulders and swimming along the shoreline. They are long and lean, ideally shaped for squeezing into tiny places to hide from predators. And of course their luxurious coats protect them from the cold water while swimming in search of food. I really enjoy watching their antics along the shoreline.
* While I've not seen them in the act, the evidence of skunks is obvious throughout my yard. In the Fall skunks will often root for grubs which live a few inches under the grass. I've discovered dozens of small, shallow holes in the yard where skunk have been hunting their prey.
* Whitetail deer are abundant in this part of the country and I've seen dozens of deer while driving Sucker Bay and West Shores Roads. Deer hunting season begins in this part of Minnesota the first weekend of November, and tens of thousands of hunters will sit quickly in stands all over the northwoods hoping to take a deer. Among those that will be hunting are many of my neighbors, including John Newman's son Greg, the former owner of my house Clancy T., Dick Schiebe, Rome Von Rossum and many others.
* Loons are among the last birds to leave Leech Lake and fly south. In addition, many loons from Canadian lakes that are making their way south stop at Leech Lake to rest and feed before their long journey south to Florida, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. While I'm on the water fishing, or just working outside in the yard, the calls of the loons fill the Autumn air.
* The animals I come into contact with the most at Leech Lake are fish. During my brief Autumn visit to Leech Lake I've handled walleye, pike, perch, and of course, fathead minnows. I have not targeted muskie, bass or crappie, nor have I unintentionally hooked an eelpout. But for sheer numbers, fish, and particularly perch, are the animal I encounter most often.
* By far the most amazing and spectacular wildlife sighting this trip was my viewing of a bald eagle. I was sitting in our living room, which has floor to ceiling windows, talking on the phone and looking out toward the harbor. Out of the sky came an eagle -- talons extended, head held high, swooping down through the trees and plucking something (a fish?) out of the harbor. This took place no more than 50 feet in front of me. I had a prime view of a master predator, a giant flying raptor, doing what it does best -- hunting.
When I next return to Leech Lake, be it in the winter for some hard-water angling or next May around the 2012 Walleye Opener, there will be more wildlife to see and enjoy. That's one of the many benefits to spending time in this northwoods paradise.
* This is typically the time of year when I see mink running around near the harbor and this year was no exception. I've seen several mink frolicking near the harbor, darting in and out of tiny spaces between rocks and boulders and swimming along the shoreline. They are long and lean, ideally shaped for squeezing into tiny places to hide from predators. And of course their luxurious coats protect them from the cold water while swimming in search of food. I really enjoy watching their antics along the shoreline.
* While I've not seen them in the act, the evidence of skunks is obvious throughout my yard. In the Fall skunks will often root for grubs which live a few inches under the grass. I've discovered dozens of small, shallow holes in the yard where skunk have been hunting their prey.
* Whitetail deer are abundant in this part of the country and I've seen dozens of deer while driving Sucker Bay and West Shores Roads. Deer hunting season begins in this part of Minnesota the first weekend of November, and tens of thousands of hunters will sit quickly in stands all over the northwoods hoping to take a deer. Among those that will be hunting are many of my neighbors, including John Newman's son Greg, the former owner of my house Clancy T., Dick Schiebe, Rome Von Rossum and many others.
* Loons are among the last birds to leave Leech Lake and fly south. In addition, many loons from Canadian lakes that are making their way south stop at Leech Lake to rest and feed before their long journey south to Florida, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. While I'm on the water fishing, or just working outside in the yard, the calls of the loons fill the Autumn air.
* The animals I come into contact with the most at Leech Lake are fish. During my brief Autumn visit to Leech Lake I've handled walleye, pike, perch, and of course, fathead minnows. I have not targeted muskie, bass or crappie, nor have I unintentionally hooked an eelpout. But for sheer numbers, fish, and particularly perch, are the animal I encounter most often.
* By far the most amazing and spectacular wildlife sighting this trip was my viewing of a bald eagle. I was sitting in our living room, which has floor to ceiling windows, talking on the phone and looking out toward the harbor. Out of the sky came an eagle -- talons extended, head held high, swooping down through the trees and plucking something (a fish?) out of the harbor. This took place no more than 50 feet in front of me. I had a prime view of a master predator, a giant flying raptor, doing what it does best -- hunting.
When I next return to Leech Lake, be it in the winter for some hard-water angling or next May around the 2012 Walleye Opener, there will be more wildlife to see and enjoy. That's one of the many benefits to spending time in this northwoods paradise.
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