September 4-6, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

The weather these past few days is sending us clear signals that Autumn is just around the corner. On Tuesday the temperature hit a high of near 80 under sunny skies, but on Wednesday the high didn't even reach 70 degrees and with the wind blowing at 12-20 mph out of the WSW -- creating big waves on the lake -- it felt a lot cooler than 70 degrees. And by Thursday, the temperature at 11:00 a.m. was only 60 degrees under mostly cloudy, grey skies.

The cooler weather didn't dissuade Joe and I from spending time outside. Joe really enjoys hanging out at the game room at the cabin and around the fire pit, which is where I can find him often throughout the day. We also have continued our bike riding, riding around 5 miles a day. On Tuesday, Joe finished off his bike ride with some exercises and a dip in the lake; something that by Wednesday would not have been a very comfortable venture.

I've found time to go fishing every day, although with basically no success. I fished several parts of Sucker Bay including Second Duck Point, in front of our house/cabin, in front of Malay's, drifting from Norm's to Schiebe's including The Birches, but with very limited success. My technique was drifting with a Northland Mimic Minnow Spin, a method that has produced both walleye and jumbo perch in the past, but only a handful of tiny perch these past couple of days. I'm hoping with the cooler temperatures, the fish will begin their Fall feeding pattern and that the fishing will improve considerably.

Classic MN clouds over Leech Lake

On Wednesday evening, after the high winds had died down, Joe and I went out after sunset to do some trolling for walleye. We used our favorite crankbait -- the Rapala Minnow Rap -- pulled 60 feet behind the boat at a depth of roughly 9-11 feet of 74 degree water.

The strong wind and rough water throughout the day churned up a lot of dying vegetation in the lake and we spent more time taking weeds off our lures than actually fishing. As a result, we spent only about an hour on the water before coming ashore.

Thursday the temperature was cooler still and maybe hit a high of 65 degrees. The sky was overcast and rain fell sporadically throughout the day. The wind wasn't too strong, but breezy enough to keep the lake covered in medium sized waves.

I spent a good portion of the day doing some work work, before Joe and I decided to take an ATV ride down the peninsula. Joe said he found a small beach that he was previous unaware of and wanted to show it to me. On our way down Ottertail Point Road the rain started to pick up and rather than get soaking wet, we turned and headed home.

A look at our dock at the house from the cabin dock

We spent the rest of the day quickly at home reading, watching a movie on DVD and just hanging out. I hope that tomorrow we'll get a chance to get out on the water.