June 14, 2012 -- On Leech Lake -- Flag Day

This morning the temperature was 62 degrees, the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the SSW and the sky was grey and it looked as if it might rain; again. When we awoke, the ground was wet and there were puddles everywhere so it had obviously rained during the night. Kathleen would tell me later that around 5:00 a.m. she woke up to loud thunder, bright flashes of lightening and heavy rain. So even though I didn't hear it, thunderstorms did roll through early this morning.

Kathleen and I took it very slow easing into the day. We just hung around the house, had coffee, and ate some breakfast before Kathleen retreated to the bedroom to read her book. I took the opportunity to go fishing.

Expecting rain, I donned my Frog Togg's, grabbed the minnows and made my way out to the boat. Once the boat was in the water I motored out to a spot between the house and cabin in 13 feet of water, deployed the drift sock, put a minnow on my red "Vegas" jig and started fishing. The wind was coming out of the south at 10-15 mph so at the boat lift the water was fairly calm, but out on Sucker Bay the water was quite choppy.

No sooner than I started fishing than a heavy mist/light rain began to fall. I caught several 6-10 inch perch and small rock bass, but no walleye. I did have that familiar walleye "tick" and when I set the hook I could feel good weight on the other end of the line, but after just a turn or two of my reel the fish came off. Although I couldn't see it, I'm guessing it was a walleye by the way it bit and how quickly came off.

I fished for a little more than an hour before coming ashore for lunch. The sky was still grey, a light rain continued to fall and the wind was a little lighter at 8-12 mph out of the south.

By 5:00 p.m. the clouds finally began to break and blue sky started to shine through. Just before 6:00 p.m. Kathleen decided to do her 6-mile run, while I got on a work call. The temperature was actually going up as the evening progressed. It was 68 degrees at 6:00 p.m. and 74 degrees at 7:30 p.m.

As is typical for us when we're at the lake, Kathleen and I didn't eat dinner until after 9:00 p.m. We then concluded the day by listening to music, talking and just enjoying our time alone at our oasis on Leech Lake.

Good night.