October 1, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

Let the countdown begin.

I made arrangements today to fly back to California on October 10. I've had a good long run here on the shores of Leech Lake but now it's time to get back to my "real life" in Silicon Valley. While I was able to do some work from home here, there's just no substitute for being face-to-face in the work environment.

Although I was up, dressed and ready to go (where I don't know) by 8:30 a.m., I actually eased into the day. I handled some business calls early, made my flight arrangements, sent emails and took care of some other business up until lunch time.

After lunch I worked in the yard, finishing some of the clean up of the flower beds. While yesterday was near  80 degrees, I don't think it got any warmer than 65 degrees today. The sky was mostly sunny and the wind was howling at 20-30 mph out of the north. The stiff wind had leaves raining down all around me as I worked outside and covered the lake in white caps.

I had checked the weather forecast for the coming week and it looked like starting Wednesday it is going to be cold and windy. There is a possibility of some snow showers on Thursday. With a forecast like that I figured I better pull the boat out of the water on Tuesday since although it'll be windy, it'll be from the south which means that it should be calm along our shoreline. That will allow me to get the canopy off the boat lift without too much trouble and enable me to get the boat onto the trailer. I can then take a day or two to clean out the boat, store the tackle, rods and reels and then prep the boat for its trip into Bemidji for winter storage.

In advance of the boat removal operation tomorrow, I got the trailer positioned at the top of the boat ramp and hooked it to the trailer hitch on the truck. Everything is now ready to go for tomorrow; weather permitting.

After dinner I noticed that the wind was dying down and the lake now had a nice 'walleye chop' rather than rolling waves and white caps. I figured, "heck, why not go out fishing one last time?" Great call.

I got on the water at 7:30 p.m., about a half hour after sunset, got the lights on, got the landing net ready, put the rod holder in place and removed my baitcasting rod and reel from the boat's storage locker. As I have for most of this year, I trolled my favorite lure, the Rapala Minnow Rap in a 'bleeding shad' color, 50-60 feet behind the boat at a ground speed of 2.25 mph.

There were four other boats from the Malay's to Second Duck Point also trolling so I had to do some weaving and dodging through traffic at times.

For the first 30-45 minutes all I caught was a northern pike, although I did have two or three 'hits and misses.' I figured even if I don't catch any walleye tonight what a gift it is to be on Leech Lake and watch the near full moon, in bright orange, rise over treeline in the east.

An orange moon rising over Leech Lake on the first day of October

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. my patience was rewarded and I hooked a beautiful 22-inch walleye, which I immediately returned to the lake. But that was just the beginning. Within the next hour I would hook and boat a total of seven walleye. In addition to the first 22-inch walleye I caught, I landed others that measured 17-, 18-, 20-, 21-, another 22-, and 27-inches.

The 27-inch monster was so big I could hardly get my hand around it. Luckily the fish spit the lure once I'd netted it so I didn't have to battle it to get any hooks out of its mouth. Not only was the 27-inch beauty the biggest fish I've caught in 2012, it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, I've caught on Leech Lake. Sure, I know guys pull 30-inch walleyes out of Leech on a fairly regular basis, but I'm not one of them. I seem to recall catching a 27-inch walleye off Big Hardwood Point several years ago, but this was the biggest fish I'd landed in the stretch I call 'The Alley,' which runs from Malay's to the north to just past Second Duck Point to the south.

By the way, I kept the 17-inch walleye; it's a perfect 'eater' size and I plan on having one last walleye dinner before I have to leave Leech Lake.

Finally at 9:30 p.m., with the bite cooling off, I stowed my rod and reel and slowly motored the boat back to the lift for what is likely to be the last time this year. Although it was bittersweet to end my last fishing expedition of the season, it couldn't have gone any better -- seven beautiful walleye, including the biggest fish of the season and a perfect fish for the dinner plate.

As for the countdown, nine days and counting.

Good night from Leech Lake.