July 1, 2012 -- In and On Leech Lake

By 9:30 a.m. this morning the temperature was already 74 degrees, the humidity was high, the sky was clear blue and sunny and there was virtually no wind; maybe a slight breeze at 3-5 mph out of the SSE. Within an hour or two Jayden and I were so hot that we decided to go swimming.

I'm really glad Rick and I got the stairs attached to the dock back in May when Rick was visiting because it's now easy for Jayden to get in and out of the lake. We splashed around and played in the water for 20 minutes or so before he got chilly and wanted to get out. By that time Kathleen had joined us on the dock so I left Jayden with her to go up to the house to grab some lunch.

As the day went on it kept getting hotter and more humid until the temperature was up near 90 degrees and the humidity was 75 percent. And with no wind at all, it was uncomfortably hot.

The only way to cool off was to either be in the lake or out on the boat; so we did both. We made some sandwiches, put drinks and other snacks in the cooler got in the boat and took off. Moving at 30+ mph on the lake did cool us off so I kept the boat moving until we had traveled south past Otter Tail Point out into the big part of the lake and onward to Stony Point.

I stopped the boat just off shore from the Stony Point Narrows Forest campground and instantly Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden, Ashley and I were sweating and hot. I sat on the edge of the boat and dangled my legs in to  cool off, while Jayden ate his sandwich. In no time, Kathleen, Melissa, Jayden and Ashley jumped in the water and were swimming around.

They must have played in the water for 30 minutes before climbing back into the boat. The lake had cooled them off, but sitting in the sun on the boat would have been too hot so I fired up the Verado and got the boat moving again.

I motored into Trader's Bay toward Pine Point and during the run Kathleen's new, "flapper" style hat flew off into the water. I quickly swung the boat around but we were too late. The hat Kathleen had just bought a couple of days earlier when she and the kids went to Walker, was now on its way to the bottom of Trader's Bay.

I got the boat going again and this time sped the boat toward Goose Island. I went around the south side of the island and piloted the boat to the northwest side of the island where there's a little cove with a sandy beach. I slowed the motor and guided the boat to a spot in front of the beach in 6-feet of water.

Once again, Kathleen and kids jumped into the lake, only this time they swam the short distance to the beach. I stayed in the boat and enjoyed a cold Leinie Summer.

When everyone was done swimming, they made their way to the boat, climbed in and we motored home. We then barbecued, and just enjoyed hanging out at Leech Lake. Another wonderful day in the northwoods; even if I didn't get any fishing in.