September 13, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

It was a bit breezy on Thursday, September 13, but nothing like yesterday. The temperature was also much cooler with the high today hitting no more than 65 degrees. The wind was out of the WNW shifting to the north at 8-12 mph with gusts up over 15 mph. The sky was mostly cloudy, but with some extended periods of sunshine.

After cleaning up around the house and doing some touch up painting, Joe and I decided to do some exploring on the ATV. There was a spot on the southern part of Ottertail Peninsula, where some land had been cleared for an eventually cabin, that Joe wanted to show me. It's a great spot of land with 475 feet of shoreline on 4.3 acres complete with a little cove which would be perfect for a boat lift and dock, and another spot with a fairly large sandy beach. The entire property is something Kathleen would absolutely love. Not that she doesn't like our properties, but this tract has the sandy beach which is something our land lacks and is a feature she would love to have available.

Joe and I also hiked along the boardwalk at Duck Point Woods and did some exploring along a spot of beach on Portage Bay which is often referred to as 'Hormel Beach' although that is not it's official name. All in all, Joe and I spent a sizable chunk of the afternoon outside exploring.

After some lunch and some brief work around the house, Joe and I decided to go fishing. Earlier in the day I had made a run up to Birch Ridge Resort to buy a scoop of fatheads. For the past several trips out onto the water Joe and I have been fishing with artificial bait with mixed results so I figured we would change things up a little and try fishing with some live bait.

While at the resort I checked the holding tank outside the fish-cleaning house and saw that some of the guests had kept slot fish, which is illegal. On Leech Lake, any walleye between 18- and 26-inches is considered a 'slot fish' and must be immediately returned to the water. Fishermen can keep only one walleye bigger than 26-inches and can have no more than four walleye in possession per day.

The walleye in the holding tank were probably 21- to 23-inches long; clearly illegal fish. I pointed this out to Frank after he'd gotten me my scoop of fatheads, and by his furrowed brow I could tell he was concerned. However, he's in a tough spot. Fishing hasn't been great this season and if one of his guests, say a group of guys from Chicago, come up to the lake for some fishing and have the expectation to go home with a cooler full of fillets, it must be tough for him to refuse to clean their illegally-sized fish.

At roughly 5:00 p.m. Joe and I backed the Lund 1850 Pro-V off the lift and into the 64 degree water. We both noticed that the water level in the lake has dropped during the past several weeks. This is due to several factors. First and foremost is the lack of rain. Since the big storm back on July 2, we've had very little rain; probably no more than an inch or two in the past two and a half months. Not unlike the rest of the United States, Leech Lake is experiencing drought conditions.

Second, natural evaporation. On a hot, calm day during the summer, the lake can drop up to 1/2-inch per day due to simple evaporation. Couple that with strong winds, which increases the rate of evaporation, the lake level drops even more.

And finally, the US Army Corps of Engineers controls the amount of water flowing out of Leech Lake at Federal Dam and they usually let out more water in the Fall in preparation for the winter and the expected snow fall.

With all of those factors combined, the lake level has fallen to where it covers only 4 of the cement pilings on my boat ramp, down from a high earlier this summer of 8 or even 9 pilings. That equates to probably a drop of 14-18 inches in the surface of the lake.

Joe and I set up in a spot between our house and cabin in 11 feet of water, deployed the drift sock, and began a drift toward shore and slightly south toward Newman's cabin. Using jigs tipped with fathead minnows, we each caught a couple of small perch, but no jumbos and no walleye.

We made three or four more drifts, each time repositioning the boat further north until our final pass was made in front of  'the Birches.' At this point it was nearly 7:00 p.m. and although we contemplated staying out past sunset -- another half hour or so -- to do some trolling, we decided to go ashore since both of us were getting cold.

The temperature had dropped to around 50 degrees, and with the 10 mph north wind, it felt even colder. In fact, the National Weather Service issued a frost warning for tonight with temperatures expected to fall to around 35 degrees. Although Joe and I both have cold-weather clothes to keep us warm, neither of us was wearing them this evening.  So we made our way back to the boat lift and inside our warm house.

With the temperature steadily dropping into the high 40s, we decided to start a fire in the fireplace, our first of the season. Earlier in the day, in anticipation of the cold weather, I had made some beef stew and let it slow cook in the Crock Pot all day. It was the perfect meal to warm us up after getting chilled to the bone on the waters of Leech Lake.

After dinner, Joe and I watched the movie Goon, a flick about a hockey enforcer in the minor leagues. It's probably the only hockey we'll see this year with the NHL facing a lockout by the owners.

We had a another great day at the lake, and look forward to getting out onto the water for some more fishing tomorrow. We need another jumbo perch or two to add to the one we have in the basket in order to have a Friday night fish fry. The pressure is on. More tomorrow...