August 12, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

This morning was overcast and grey, the temperature was 66 degrees and the wind was very light at 5-8 mph out of the west. The high temperature today hit only 72 degrees.

After a late breakfast and some "hanging around" time at the house, Joe and I eventually made it out onto the water at 1:45 p.m. By this time the wind had shifted a bit and was coming out of the WSW at 8-12 mph which enabled me to position the boat in front of Giza's cabin, deploy the drift sock and have the wind push the boat at a ground speed of .35 to .45 mph all the way to Schiebe's cabin in water depths ranging from 11 feet to eventually 8 feet.

Joe continued to use the Northland Mimic Minnow Spin in a firetiger color while I opted for a Northland Gumball jig tipped with a Lindy Munchie's 4-inch worm. We both caught several small- to medium-sized perch, and I caught a couple of rock bass and northerns, but neither of us could boat that elusive second jumbo perch that we need for a fish fry.

We came back ashore at roughly 4:00 p.m. Once back on land, I got out my Stihl MS 290 chainsaw and finally took down the balsam fir that's along the path between the house and cabin. It had been damaged in the July 2 storm, but was braced upright by a nearby maple. It only took about 30 minutes to drop the tree and cut it into 2-foot lengths which we will later burn in the fire pit at the cabin. Balsam is not really the best wood to burn in the fireplace, so it'll be relegated to outdoor fires.

Joe has baited the crayfish trap with a dead sucker that washed into the harbor and in just a day has probably 15 in the trap. We moved it from the house dock to the dock at the cabin where there appears to be a larger population of crayfish. Once we have 40-50 in the trap, we'll boil them and eat them. The tail meat dipped in butter is very tasty. Maybe crayfish are not Maine lobster good, but they're still a very enjoyable appetizer before a meal.

The clouds dominated the sky at sunset tonight over Leech Lake

Joe and I watched most of The Godfather, Part II this evening, but it's so darn long that we couldn't make it all the way through disc 2 before we had to call it a night. We've got to get up tomorrow morning and start power-washing the house. Until next time...