June 24, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

Unlike the past few days here at Leech Lake, we woke this morning to beautiful blue skies and sunshine. The temperature was 66 degrees and the wind was out of the NNW at 10-15 mph. The water was fairly choppy with some white caps, yet after days of rain, many boats were out on the lake fishing.

With the lake as choppy as it was, I focused my attention on tasks on shore; mainly getting the gutters on the house cleaned out. We've had more than 8 inches of rain in the past five days, much of it very heavy, so I knew that the gutters needed a good cleaning. I hadn't cleaned them since last autumn and they had a lot of debris in them.

I got the ladder from the cabin and began the cleaning process. As always, it was a dirty and stinky job. But when it's done, I always feel a sense of accomplishment. Let it rain!

We -- me, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley, Tim, Connor and Jackson -- all hung out on shore for most of the day just relaxing, playing, talking and enjoying the splendor of the lake. As the day progressed, the wind died down a bit to 8-12 mph out of the north as the temperature rose to 75 degrees. It turned out to be a wonderful day.

At just after 3:00 p.m. I took Tim and Jackson out fishing while Jayden napped and everyone else played Liar's Dice. I motored out to a spot in front of Malay's cabin in 11 feet of water and deployed the drift sock. With the wind blowing the way it was, the boat was pushed almost parallel to the shoreline south toward Second Duck Point.

We all were using jigs tipped with minnows in the 71.5 degree water. The sky was mostly sunny and it was warm on the boat.

I caught a number of perch. Jackson caught fewer and smaller perch. And I'm not sure if Tim caught more than two or three small perch. Unfortunately, during our three drifts from Malay's to Second Duck Point, in water varying from 11 to 15 feet of water, all we caught were small perch. Finally, around 4:45 p.m. it was time to come ashore.

Shortly after arriving on shore, Tim, Connor and Jackson all packed up and left the lake for home in Rice. Kathleen went running, while Ashley and Melissa worked out. I stayed at the house and Jayden and I played with his toys.

I made a tasty dinner of shrimp pasta and garlic bread and after dinner we all relaxed, cleaned up and went to bed. Tomorrow will be another busy day. Kathleen and the kids are talking about going into Cass Lake and Bemidji, while I'll probably put up some zinc stripping on the garage at the house. And sometime around mid-afternoon my parents are due to arrive from Chicago. I'm looking forward to seeing them and having the opportunity for them to enjoy Leech Lake.

Good night.