July 28, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

1 Day and Counting...

Tomorrow afternoon at 4:15 p.m. I am scheduled to fly from Bemidji to Minneapolis on the first leg of my journey back to San Jose. While I will miss being at Leech Lake, and everything that I love doing here, I am looking forward to seeing Kathleen, Jayden, the kids and my dogs. I received some very nice photos from Kathleen today reminding me of home and why I'll enjoy being there too. Thanks.

The temperature here at the lake at 9:00 a.m. was 54 degrees. I had left many windows open in the house the past few days because the temperature had climbed into the mid-70s, but this morning I had to scramble to shut them so I could turn on the furnace. Yes, my furnace is running as I type this in an attempt to get the inside of the house warmed to the mid-60s. At 58 degrees, it's currently just a little warmer inside than outside.

The sky is gray and overcast, and once again the wind is blowing hard at 12-18 mph out of the NW, with gusts up over 20 mph. The lake is choppy with good-sized waves and a few white caps. I've not yet seen any boats on Sucker Bay this morning, but I'm sure the FIB's will be out later, if they aren't already.

(NOTE: I heard from Tom Malay that the FIB's are friends of Frank, the owner of Birch Ridge Resort and that they caught 3 walleyes and a number of jumbo perch while fishing in front of Tom's place yesterday.)

I did many chores around the properties today in preparation for leaving tomorrow. I put away camp chairs we use around the fire pit at the cabin, I collected the garbage (which I'll take to the community center tomorrow), I dusted and vacuumed the living room and many other mundane chores I won't recount here.

At 4:15 p.m., the same time I'm scheduled leave Bemidji tomorrow, I decided to go fishing. The wind was still strong at 12-15 mph out of the WNW, but I figured I won't have a chance to fish on Leech Lake again until this Fall -- early- to mid-September if I'm lucky -- so I better go now.

I motored out to 14 feet of water, which has cooled to 70.2 degrees, deployed the drift sock and dropped my Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with Northland Slurpie Grub in Alabama craw color into the water. During the next hour and 45 minutes I made four drifts from 14 feet of water in front of the Malay's cabin to 8 feet of water. No, I wasn't trying to mimic the FIBs, this is a spot I've marked with a waypoint on my electronics.

During those 105 minutes I caught numerous perch, including several very nice jumbo perch. If I weren't leaving tomorrow I would have kept some of them for a fish fry. As is was, I had a nice jumbo sitting in an aerated bucket back at the cabin which was going to be my dinner tonight.

I came ashore just before 6:00 p.m., put many items from the boat into the garage for storage until my return this Fall, then turned my attentions to cleaning the perch.

Using my Leech Lake fillet knife, which was designed and engineered by Don Canney, I made short work of that perch. By the way, I met Don Canney last year during my stay at Leech Lake. I needed to have my knife sharpened by a pro and the folks at Reed's Sporting Goods in Walker, MN suggested I contact the man who made my knife, Mr. Canney, who happens to have a house on Leech Lake near Kabekona Bay.

I took my knife to Canney's house and he took me downstairs to his workshop, sharpened my knife, showed me how to sharpen it properly and then showed me a number of knives he was making. A unique experience, but back to the events of tonight.

In addition to my fried perch, I made some home-fried potatoes and had a big bowl of spinach and vegetable salad. After my great dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen and then went out to the end of the dock to check the weather situation.

During my dinner it had rained a little, but the wind was finally starting to die down, to roughly 8-12 mph out of the WNW. After doing my "over-the-water" weather check, I decided the conditions were suitable for an evening troll. I gathered up something to drink, my flashlight and went next door to the boat.

The moon tonight was 49 percent waxing, or a half moon, the water temperature had dropped even more to 69.8 degrees, and the air temperature was a cool 56 degrees. The low tonight is supposed to drop to 45 degrees; great late-July weather.

I trolled The Alley in 8-10 feet of water using my hot-steel colored #9 Minnow Rap and caught two beautiful "eater" walleyes. The first was 16 1/2" and the second fish was 17 3/4". Again, if I weren't leaving for California tomorrow, one, if not both, of those fish would have ended up in the livewell. As it was, both were returned safely to the waters of Leech Lake.

I caught the second walleye directly in front of our properties in 9 feet of water. It was only 10:15 p.m., but I figured it was time to go ashore for the night. What better way for me to wrap up my final night of trolling (for several weeks anyway) by catching a nice 17 3/4" walleye right between our house and cabin.

I pulled the boat into the boat lift, walked down the dock onto shore, made my way back to the house and completed another fantastic night of walleye fishing on Leech Lake.

July 26, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

3 Days and Counting...

This morning at 9:00 a.m. it was nearly 70 degrees on its way to a high of 78 degrees, the sky was sunny, but it was windy. The wind was out of the WNW at 12-18 mph creating nice swells on the lake and the occasional white cap.

While I was enjoying my third cup of coffee on the back deck of our house watching the beauty of a Leech Lake morning, Tom Malay stopped by with the Sunday papers from Minneapolis and Bemidji. We spoke for a few minutes, and then he had to leave. He is working at Birch Ridge Resort again today.

After I finished reading the Sunday papers and had had some breakfast I went out onto the lake to do some fishing. I started in 14 feet of water in front of Malay's cabin using a jig tipped with a leech. I had numerous bites, but caught only a couple of small perch.

Once I had exhausted my supply of leeches, I switched to Northland Slurpie Grubs in an Alabama Craw color. Instantly, the number of bites I was getting increased and I started hooking many more fish. I guess plastics really are the future!

From 12:15 p.m. to just before 4:00 p.m. I caught dozens of perch, a few rock bass and a small northern pike. I kept one of the jumbo perch that I caught for a future fish fry. I fly back to California on Wednesday and I'd like one last Leech Lake fish fry before I leave. A walleye, even a 16" fish, is more fish than I can eat in one meal. A nice 12" jumbo perch is the perfect size for my one-person dinner table.

By 8:00 p.m. tonight the wind had died down to completely calm; there was barely a ripple on the lake. I decided that I'd go out early and try jigging with my Northland Slurpie Grub before switching to trolling a crankbait for walleye.

I caught a couple of small perch with the jig and plastic combo, but had no where near the action I had had earlier in the day. At 9:15 p.m. I put away my spinning rod and reel and switched to my baitcasting rig with the #9 Minnow Rap.

I trolled The Alley from 9:15 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. but caught only one northern pike and a couple of rock bass; no walleye. The water temperature tonight varied from 71.6 to 72.3 degrees depending on my location and depth.

With no wind at all on the lake tonight, the big Minnesota mosquitoes were out in full force. Even with my Deet-laden spray I was covered in mosquitoes the entire evening. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful night on Leech Lake.

July 11, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I woke up early this morning and heard the furnace running. I got out of bed, checked the thermostat and found out the temperature in the house was around 60 degrees. I checked the thermometer outside and the temperature was just under 50 degrees. I shut the windows, turned down the thermostat and went back to bed.

When I got up for good this morning, the wind was blowing hard from the west at 15-20 mph, the sky was sunny and the temperature was 60 degrees on its way to a high of only 66 degrees. So much for a hot mid-July day.

Today was the big "White Goods Trash" day on Otter Tail Peninsula where area residents can bring out any old trash they may have -- from old washing machines to TVs to PCs to sofas -- and throw them out in large metal waste bins.

Some old-timers on the peninsula refer to today's event as the "Swap Meet," because of the old guys show up at the community center with empty trailers hoping to haul home some newly discovered treasure.

I went down to the community center to check out the scene, but no one was there dropping anything off, and only Ron Geppert and Ron Newstrand were there, waiting to help people unload their trash.

I came home, and found a message from my neighbor John Newman inviting me over for lunch. He was also hosting Clarence T., the man from whom Kathleen and I bought our house. Clarence, or Clancy as he is better known, John and I sat in John's driveway, drank beer, chatted, ate some lunch, and then we helped John fix his garage door.

I came home around 5:00 p.m. and did something I'd done very little since being here at the lake -- I laid in the hammock. Usually the mosquitoes would eat me alive if I tried laying in the hammock, but because of the strong wind today, the mosquitoes on the lake-side of the house were no where to be seen. I have to say, laying in the hammock with a nice wind blowing off the lake with the sun warming your body is a very relaxing way to spend a half an hour or so.

At 9:15 p.m. this evening John Newman stopped by and we decided to go out trolling for walleye. We each were using a #9 Minnow Rap, me in a hot steel color and John was using a firetiger color. We trolled "The Alley" in 8-12 feet of water, but the shallower water seemed to be producing better tonight.

The water temperature was 70 degrees, the air temperature was 52 degrees, the wind was light out of the west at 5-8 mph. At 11:00 p.m., the clouds started to roll in, but until then the sky was clear and the stars were visible, as was the Milky Way.

John caught two walleyes tonight, both measuring 20 1/2". I caught three walleyes, one measuring 18 1/2", the second was 19" and the third was 17 1/2". I kept the 17 1/2" fish and John and I plan to have a walleye fish fry tomorrow evening.

We came in at 11:30 p.m. after another wonderful night of fishing for walleye on Leech Lake.

June 12, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

At 10 a.m. today the sun was shining, but the sky was a bit hazy, the wind was out of the SW at 8-12 mph and the temperature was 62 degrees. I heard on the radio last night that the high temperature today was going to be 72 degrees. If that were the case, today would be the warmest it's been in more than two weeks. Maybe summer is finally arriving in the Northwoods.

Today is Rick's last full day at Leech Lake. Tomorrow I take him to the airport where he flies from Bemidji to Minneapolis to Washington D.C. After his conference ends in D.C., he's flying to Colorado to visit his sister before making the long trip home to Brisbane, Australia. I hope it's been a good visit/vacation for him.

After the pot of coffee was brewed the morning, I poured a cup and made my way out onto the dock to survey the lake. I was greeted by a flotilla of 24 fishing boats. Apparently the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tournament is being held on Leech Lake from June 10-13 and a number of the professional anglers decided that the stretch in front of my cabin is productive water (which of course it is).

I see that the leader of the tournament, a Chevy pro from Wisconsin, has a two-day weight of more than 34 lbs. for his 10 fish. That's not a bad weight at all for 10 fish. The tournament runs through Saturday afternoon, so I'm sure I'll have a number of boats in front of my house again tomorrow morning.

At 1:20 p.m. Rick and I took the boat out into 12-18 mph SW winds that created a decent chop on the lake. We started in 9-11 feet of water off Second Duck Point using jigs and shiners. Both Rick and I were using 1/4 oz. Bass Pro Shops XPS Walleye Angler Jig Heads in lime green and lime green/black tipped with spot-tail shiners (which we purchased at Froggy's Sports in Cass Lake and at Birch Ridge Resort on Leech Lake's Sucker Bay).

During the next two hours, and at least three different bouts with rain, we caught 8 small walleye between us ranging from 10" to 15", and numerous perch. All fish were released. With yet another storm front moving toward us, and this one showing some lightening and thunder, we headed to shore.

In about 30 minutes I'm going to go over to the cabin to clean the 17" walleye that's been in the basket for the past several days. I'm going to make pan-fried walleye for Rick's last dinner at Leech Lake during this visit.

As of 5:00 p.m., the wind has calmed somewhat to maybe 10 mph out of the SW and the temperature is 70 degrees. The water temperature was 62 degrees.

After our walleye dinner, Rick and I went out for one last troll for walleye before Rick leaves for Washington D.C. We got on the water around 8:45 p.m. and watched a beautiful sunset. The wind picked up during the next hour or so, and ended up at about 15 mph out of the SW. The water temperature had warmed just slightly to 62.5 degrees and the air temperature was 60 degrees.

In the north there was a very large thunderstorm system that kept us entertained all evening with spectacular lightening shows. There was a smaller thunderstorm system to the west that was also producing lightening. But directly overhead the sky was clear and stars were visible.

Unfortunately, the fishing wasn't nearly as entertaining as the lightening. We trolled #9 Minnow Raps in 8-10 feet of water from Malay's to Second Duck Point (newly dubbed "The Alley") but caught only 3 rock bass and one 16 3/4" walleye that hit Rick's purpledescent lure. At 10:45 p.m. we called it a night.

Despite the lack of walleye action, it was another beautiful night on Leech Lake.

November 5, 2008 on Leech Lake

We woke up this morning to the news that Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States.

The temperature today was 56 degrees and the wind was out of the ENE at 5-12 mph. After yesterday's experience, where Tom and I caught lots of fish at the Birches but caught only a couple of fish at Big Hardwood Point, Duck Point and Second Duck Point, we decided to focus exclusively on the Birches today.

We used jigs tipped with live fathead minnows and fished in approximately 10 feet of water along the edge of the weed line. It didn't take us long to start catching fish. Tom and I started fishing at 11:00 a.m. and stayed on the water until 4:45 p.m. During the nearly 6 hours on the water, we caught untold numbers of perch, Tom caught a 14" walleye, I also caught a walleye (a small 11" 'eye) and we each kept 6 jumbo perch.

Together with the perch we had caught on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4, we had a total of 18 beautiful jumbo perch. Tom took it upon himself to clean all 18, and then we split the fillets. This will be more than enough for me and Kathleen to have a wonderful Leech Lake fish fry.

As it turned out, the walleye I caught today would be my last of the season. I caught 87 walleyes throughout the season, and probably more than 500 perch. It's been a great season of fishing on Leech Lake.

I hope I can get out a least a few more times before we have to pull Tom's small boat out of the water. I don't know how long that will be, however, since the temperature at night has been falling below freezing.

September 18, 2008 on Leech Lake

The temperature today was 74 degrees, the wind was 10-15 mph out of the south and the water temperature was 64 degrees. The sky was mostly sunny.

Kathleen, Rick, Beth and I all worked on painting the cabin today, but around mid-day we took a break to take a boat ride around Sucker Bay on Leech Lake. The lake was pretty choppy, and there were white caps, but we enjoyed a trip on the lake nonetheless. I took the boat south past Duck Point, then back up Sucker Bay north to Birch Ridge Resort.

We didn't go fishing today, but we did enjoy a walleye and perch fish fry with the fish we caught over the past few days.


Me, Rick and Beth as we motor past Second Duck Point.

September 12, 2008 on Leech Lake

Me with the two 17 1/2 walleyes I caught while trolling the night before.


Rick with one of the many nice sized crappie we caught near the Birches; Second Duck Point is visible on the far right.

The temperature today was a very pleasant 70 degrees, the water temperature warmed to 66 degrees, and the winds were calm.

Rick and I started fishing at 2:00 p.m. using shiners and shiner jigs over Snake Pit Flats to the north and east of Goose Island. Unfortunately, we caught nothing. From there we fired up the 150 hp Mercury Verado and made our way to Big Hardwood Point. The there was also slow, but I did hook into a gigantic walleye -- I'm estimating at least 26-28" and roughly 8-9 lbs. I got the fish to the side of the boat, but before Rick could net the fish, it turned and cut clean throught the 6lb. test Fireline Crystal I was using. Big fish, but no pictures.

Our third stop was the Birches. There we switched tactics and again fished for panfish. Above is a picture of Rick holding one of the dozens of crappie we caught. We also boated a good number of perch and bluegill. By 5:45 p.m., we were back on shore.

Back at the cabin, I cleaned the two 17 1/2" walleyes from yesterday's excurtion, as well as the one jumbo perch I kept from yesterday afternoon's trip on Leech Lake. Tonight we treated Rick to a wonderful fish fry, complete with French fries, Cole slaw and warm dinner rolls. There is nothing tastier than a Leech Lake fish fry.

September 6, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today is Joe's last full day at the lake. He arrived at Leech Lake on July 1, and I can't believe how quickly the past two months have flown by. Since it's Joe's last day at the lake, we had to spend some time on the water fishing, and then have a fish fry for dinner.

With the temperature a cool 61 degrees and winds varible from calm to 15 mph and swirling in all directions -- SE then NE and finally out of the west -- Joe and I hit the water at 1:00 p.m. The water temperature was 67 degrees.

While we were in town yesterday, I decided to pick up a couple of scoops of spottail shiners. For more than 95% of my fishing this summer I've relied on artificial baits -- Gulp biodegradables, Northland plastic Slurpies and a variety of crankbaits and spinner baits. But I decided that Joe and I would fish with live bait at least once before he left.

We positioned the boat in 10 feet of water off the Birches and started fishing using Northland Tackle shiner jigs tipped with our spottail shiners. We caught a good number of perch, a few pike, a handful of rock bass, and Joe caught a small walleye. I'm glad he hooked a walleye on his last day on the lake in 2008.

We kept one of the jumbo perch Joe caught, and with the perch we had caught on previous trips on the water, we had enough for a fantastic fish fry.

We headed to shore at 3:45 p.m.

I cleaned the jumbo perch, and the prepped them for dinner. And were they ever delicious! As usual, we served the fish with French Fries, Cole slaw and warm dinner rolls. Malt vinegar, ketchup and tartar sauce joined our table as tasty condiments.

Joe leaves for California tomorrow and I'm really going to miss him. I really love having Joe here with me and Kathleen at Leech Lake.

August 20, 2008 on Leech Lake

With Kathleen's mother and sister visiting us (me, Kathleen and Joe), if we were going to have a fish fry I needed to catch a few more fish. So I hit the water's of Leech Lake today at 2:00 p.m. with the goal of catching several jumbo perch or a couple of eater-sized walleyes.

The weather today was almost identical to yesterday -- a temperature of 85 degrees, winds varying from calm to 8-10 mph out of the NW, mostly sunny skies and a water temperature of 77 degrees.

With the weather identical to yesterday, and since yesterday was one of the best days I've had on Leech Lake fishing for panfish, I decided to employ the same tactics in the same location. And once again it paid off.

I started fishing in 12" of water in front of Schiebe's cabin and drifted SE along the weed line toward our cabin. I used the same 1/16 oz. yellow Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig tipped with a variety of 2" lime-green Gulp grubs, 2 1/2" Gulp minnows in smelt or shiner color, and 3" Gulp Alive! minnows in an emerald shiner color.

I caught dozens upon dozens of perch, including numerous jumbos, lots of pound-plus sized crappies and a few big bluegill. I kept only what I needed for a nice dinner for five -- 3 jumbo perch. Along with the two jumbos and the walleye from yesterday, I had just enough for a fish fry.

At 4:45 p.m., with my mission accomplished, I headed for shore. One small note: upon reviewing the size of the 5 perch in my basket, I decided to let one of them go. The four jumbo perch and 16 1/2" walleye would be more than enough food for the five of us. No sense wasting fish.

Here's an example of the jumbo perch I was catching.

July 6, 2008 -- Leech Lake Fish Fry

One of the many joys of fishing is selectively harvesting a small number of fish to eat. Yesterday I caught a beautiful jumbo perch and very meaty 17" "eater" walleye. This evening, Kathleen, Joe and I had an absolutely wonderful fish fry for dinner.

My preferred method of cooking walleye and perch is panned fried. I first coat the fish fillets in flour seasoned slightly with garlic salt and pepper. Then I dip the fillets a mixure of egg, buttermilk and a little lemon juice. I then coat the fillets a second time, this time using a mix of Shore Lunch (regular flavor), garlic salt and pepper. I then place the coated fillets in hot cooking oil, cooking each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

I like to serve the fish with cole slaw, warm dinner roles and french fries with malt vinegar. Yummm!

The final product looks something like this.