July 15, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

A hot and humid, yet beautiful, sunset over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

There was a bright flash of lightening and the a deafening clap of thunder right over the house this morning at 7:36 a.m. I happened to be laying in bed ready to get up when the thunderstorm that been off in the distance moved directly on top of me here at Leech Lake.

The temperature at the time was 60 degrees, the sky was full of heavy rain clouds, but the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the ESE. The rain, however, fell in sheets and was heavy for about 30 minutes.

By 9:30 a.m. the rain had stopped, the temperature had risen slightly to 64 degrees and the wind was still very slight. The lake, in fact, had barely a ripple on it.

At noon, the wind had shifted and was blowing out of the south at 5-10 mph, the sky was mostly cloudy, but there was some sun starting to peek through and the temperature was steady at 65 degrees.

I hit the water at 12:30 p.m. and realized the wind was stronger than I had originally thought. It was probably blowing at 12-15 mph from the south. The air temperature was 68 degrees, the water temperature was 73.5 degrees, and the sky was mostly cloudy.

My fishing began at Second Duck Point in 11 feet of water using a VMC jig tipped with a leech. I immediately caught a medium-sized northern pike which I released back into the lake. For the next two plus hours I made several drifts in various parts of Sucker Bay from Second Duck Point to in front of our house north to Malays. I caught a few small perch, another northern and numerous rock bass but no walleye.

By 2:00 p.m. the clouds had disappeared and the sky was clear blue. The temperature started to climb and eventually hit 83 degrees. When I got back on shore at just after 3:00 p.m., it felt like I was walking into a sauna as I left the dock and stepped on land. The humidity had risen to an uncomfortable 85% and I was literally dripping wet by the time I got back to the house.

The rest of the afternoon and evening remained hot and humid. The wind died down to maybe 5-8 mph out of the south, making it feel even hotter. As I write this at just after 8:00 p.m. it is still unbearably humid at 90% or more; the air is hot and damp.

I ate my grilled marinated pork chop dinner and it was awesome. I'm going to have to remember this recipe and use it again.

The sunset was beautiful tonight as usual, but the humidity took away some of the enjoyment because it's just so hot and sticky.

I stayed up listening to music, reading the newspapers from the past couple of days that the Malays gave me, and tried to stay cool. All in all, despite the humidity, I'd rather be here than anywhere else I can imagine.

Good night to all, and a pleasant tomorrow.

June 28, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

This morning we awoke to sunny skies, big billowy white clouds, a light breeze out of the NW at 5-8 mph and a temperature of 62 degrees.

We could finally enjoy our coffee while sitting in the warm sun on our back porch overlooking the lake.

By 1:00 p.m. the wind had shifted and was coming out of the SSE at 8-12 mph, most of the clouds had moved on leaving the sky clear and blue and the temperature had warmed to near 70 degrees.

Kathleen and I decided that since it was such a beautiful afternoon that we'd take a drive out to Lake Itasca State Park, where 30 years ago we stayed overnight as part of our honeymoon. It is the headwaters of the Mississippi River and we plan to walk across the small stream that it is at its origin.

It's a beautiful drive out Hwy. 2 to Hwy. 71 and eventually to Hwy. 200 which takes you through the small town of Lake George and finally to the east entrance of Lake Itasca State Park. Once inside the park we drove the short distance to the Douglas Lodge where we had lunch. Thirty years earlier, Kathleen and I had dinner, and the next day breakfast, inside the same rustic, log lodge.

We then walked down to the edge of the lake near the start of the Brower Trail where we came across a large patch of Lady Slippers, Kathleen's favorite flower. We walked a short way up the Brower Trail, but eventually cut up the hill and emerged near the cabins where we had stayed three years ago when we had gathered on the shores of Lake Itasca for the Coyle Family Reunion.


Itasca State Park, Kathleen with Lady Slippers and at Lake Itasca

Kathleen and I then drove the five miles to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Once there, we walked the 800-foot trail that leads to the start of the mighty Mississippi River. At its origin, it is so small and shallow that it is easy to walk right across it. Both Kathleen and I waded into the cold waters that make up the first few feet of the Mississippi. Unlike in times past when we've been here, the water was both colder, deeper and faster moving. It must be a result of all of the rain we've had the past few days, up to 4 inches by some estimates.

After some enjoyable time at the headwaters of the Mississippi River, we walked back to the truck and drove back to Leech Lake. As wonderful as Lake Itasca State Park is, and it is wonderful, for us, nothing beats the beauty and splendor of Leech Lake.
We got home at 7:30 p.m. and the temperature was still 72 degrees. The wind was calm and the sky was almost completely clear. We opened a couple of cold beers and walked out to the end of the dock to sit in our lounge chairs and watch the sun set.

The sun didn't actually set while we watched, but it did drop lower and lower into the western sky. At 8:45 p.m., about a half an hour before sunset, I took the boat out to do some fishing, while Kathleen enjoyed some quiet time to herself; which she greatly deserves.
I trolled from our house south past Second Duck Point into the middle of Duck Bay in 9-12 feet of water pulling a silver shad-colored jointed Shad Rap at a ground speed of 2 1/3 mph. The water temperature was just over 69 degrees.

During my first circuit I caught but one rock bass. I decided to switch lures and go back to my favorite #9 Minnow Rap in the Tennessee Shad color. I once again trolled south past Second Duck Point into Duck Bay before turning north and heading back to our house. On my way north I hooked into a nice fish and when I got it on board I measured a 19 1/2-inch walleye; a slot fish so it immediately went back into the water.

Once back on shore, I got a fire going in the fire pit at the cabin and Kathleen sat around the fire and talked for an hour or so before walking out onto the end of the dock and looking at the millions of stars in the clear night sky. The Milky Way was clearly visible, as was Saturn, Libra and Scorpio.

We had another wonderful day at Leech Lake, and the area that surrounds it.

June 21, 2011 -- Summer Solstice -- On Leech Lake

Despite going to bed at midnight last night, I was wide awake at 4:45 a.m. When it became clear that sleep was not going to come easy, I decided to get up. And since I was up, I figured I might as well go fishing, so at 5:30 a.m., just 8 minutes after sunrise, I was on Leech Lake.

The wind was stiff at 12-15 mph out of the NNE creating some decent sized swells and a classic walleye chop. The temperature was 50 degrees, the water temperature was 65.5 degrees, and the sky was cloudy and grey.

The wonderful thing about being on the lake so early is there are no other boats to contend with. In fact, I could not see another boat in any direction on Sucker Bay.

With the water to myself, I motored out to 10 feet of water in front of Poage's cabin, put in the drift sock, and drifted south and out into the bay at a ground speed of roughly .60 mph. I tipped my parrot colored Northland Gumball jig with a leech and began fishing.

About halfway through my drift I caught a rock bass. But as I got closer to Second Duck Point I started marking a lot of fish on my Lowrance electronics. As if on cue, something bit my jig quickly and took the leech. It felt like the "tap" of a walleye.

Within 5 minutes of dropping a new leech into the choppy waters off Second Duck Point, I felt that familiar weight of a walleye and quickly set the hook. I could tell right away it was a good fish, most likely in the slot (which on Leech Lake is 18-26 inches; any fish in that "slot" has to go back into the lake).

I had forgotten to get the landing net ready, so while fighting the fish with one hand I extended the shaft on the landing net with the other. Soon I had the net under the fish and into the boat. The walleye measured 21 inches, and was a very solid, almost fat, fish. I gently released the fish back into the water.

At that point my lack of sleep was creeping up on me so I decided to go ashore. By 6:30 a.m. I was back in the house wondering if I should give sleep another shot.

Here on the shores of Leech Lake, the Summer Solstice officially arrived at 12:16 p.m., although you wouldn't know it was summer by the weather. The temperature was 55 degrees and there was light rain was falling as summer arrived in the Northwoods,. Within an hour a larger storm moved in and with it heavier rain. The color-weather radar on weather.com's site shows the strongest part of the storm to move over Ottertail Peninsula around 2:30 p.m.

By 3:30 p.m., with heavy rains still falling, the part of the yard that had been torn up by the harbor repairs by Peterson Excavating, looked like a swamp, with standing water atop the mud. At least this should help the grass seed I spread soak into the ground and hasten the recovery of the lawn.

My parents called me from Grand Rapids at around 2:15 p.m. as they were about to go into the grocery store. I figure after shopping and the drive to the lake, that they should arrive sometime around 4:00 p.m.

Sure enough, just after 4:00 p.m. my parents arrived. We spent an hour or so talking and catching up, and then I got the grill going for some dinner. At 8:00 p.m. I came back to the house and just as I got inside it started raining again. It was raining at 9:30 p.m. as I closed down the PC for the night.

Obviously no fishing tonight. But if there's a break in the weather tomorrow, I will try to get out and catch some more Leech Lake walleye.

June 10, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

The morning I awoke to the sound of the furnace running. Yep, June 10 and the furnace is required. The temperature this morning was 42 degrees, the sky was mostly cloudy with some blue patches, and the wind was out of the north at 7-12 mph.

There is no work today on the harbor. The plan is that Peterson Excavating will be out on Monday with the big hoe to align the harbor wall. With no jackhammering I was able to enjoy my coffee on the back deck.

After a series of work calls, I decided to go fishing.

The wind on the lake seemed to be swirling. With the drift sock deployed I at first observed the wind to be coming out of west blowing the boat toward shore. Later, the wind came out of the NE and blew me south toward Second Duck Point. And just before I came in the wind was blowing out of the south pushing back toward the cabin. In all cases the wind was light at no more than 5-8 mph, regardless of direction.

The water temperature was 65.8 degrees, and I fished in water ranging from 9-12 feet deep. I used a Gumball jig, 1/8 ounce, tipped with a fathead. I caught numerous perch, a rock bass, a 13-inch walleye and the strangest catch of my current stay at Leech Lake, a 11-inch bullhead. I've only caught maybe 3 or 4 bullhead in the 10 years I've been fishing Leech Lake, so this was a surprise.

Hunger brought me ashore at 3:00 p.m.

Nature Update: For the past 3 or 4 days there has been an ongoing dragonfly hatch. There are literally millions of dragonflies on Ottertail Peninsula. On my regular ATV rides around the peninsula I've been hit in the throat, eye (thank goodness I was wearing sunglasses), shoulder, hand, leg and just about any other body part a flying insect fortress could hit. Now other than there being a million of them, dragonflies are not a nuisance. In fact, not only are they food for many species of birds, they are predators of mosquitoes, which makes them very valuable in my book.

At 8:45 p.m. I went fishing. The wind was 12-15 mph out of the north, creating a good chop to the lake. The moon was 69% waxing, the sun set at 9:14 p.m. the temperature was 48 degrees and the water temperature was a good deal warmer at 65 degrees.

I decided to fish a little bit further south than usual and spent most of my time trolling the flats of "Duck Bay" in 9-11 feet of water. I was using this year's favorite crankbait the Minnow Rap in Tennessee Shad color, fitted with a brand new front treble hook.

While trolling north into the wind at a ground speed at just under 2 mph, I hooked into two nice walleyes, the first 19 inches and the second a sturdy 23-inch, 4 1/2 pound eyeball. After those two fish I decided to head home.

I came ashore at 10:00 p.m. and spent the remainder of my waking hours reading newspapers and listening to music. Another great day at Leech Lake.

May 24, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

Today the sky was grey and overcast all day long. At mid-morning the temperature was only 46 degrees and it didn't get past 60 throughout the day. The wind remained pretty steady all day at 12-15 mph out of the north.

After being up so late the previous night, neither Rick nor I arose early. We pretty much just hung out around the house most of the day, before tackling a few chores later in the afternoon. Rick took a look at some faulty wiring on a trailer of John Newman's. Then we took down two dead trees that were on the Newman's land near our property. Of course we checked with Karen Newman first to make sure she (and John) were OK with us removing the trees. We didn't want a strong wind to bring them down randomly.

At around 7:30 p.m., I got the grill going for the porterhouse steaks Rick bought at the store yesterday. They look like very good cuts of meat and should be tasty.

As the day has moved toward evening the sky has cleared some and there is now some blue to been seen, and the sun is peeking through the clouds. The wind has slowed considerably and is now blowing at 5-8 mph out of the north. The temperature is about 52 degrees.

Tonight is the last night Kathleen will be in St. Cloud visiting her mother. Tomorrow Kathleen flies to San Francisco and will be in our house in San Jose by 7:00 p.m. How weird that someone can go from one environment and setting to another so completely different is such a short amount of time.

At 9:15 p.m. we went fishing. Like last night, I used the bluegill colored Lindy Shadling and Rick used a purpledescent Rapala Minnow Rap. About an hour into our fishing, I had caught two northerns and had to deal with at least two tangles with the Lindy Shadling. The design of the Shadling is such that if you use a locking swivel (which I do to reduce line twist) the action of the lure ends up catching the line in the lead treble hook. On two occasions tonight, and two more last night, my lure got tangled up in the line. Not a great design for a lure that is meant to be used for trolling. After it happened the second time tonight I changed from the Shadling to my old reliable Rapala Minnow Rap, in the Tennessee shad color. No problems with the Minnow Rap. Live and learn.

On our last pass by Second Duck Point on our way back to the cabin, Rick hooked into a nice 20-inch walleye; which was immediately released back into the lake. The wind was still blowing out of the north at about 10 mph, the water temperature was right around 60 degrees, the moon was 50% waning and was scheduled to rise at 1:32 a.m. CDT, and the air temperature was a very cool 40 degrees.

We came ashore around 10:45 p.m. and caught the end of the Sharks vs. Canucks Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. The Canucks won 3-2 in OT and won the series 4 games to 1. Another disappointing end to the Sharks season. No more hockey for me this year.

I've got a number of business and home related calls and projects to attend to tomorrow, so I'll sign off for now.

sj: 2 pike
rs: 20" walleye

May 23, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the sky was grey and overcast, the wind was out of the north at around 15 mph and the temperature was 50 degrees.

At 10:00 a.m. Rick and I went into Bemidji for breakfast and to run a series of errands. I picked up 3 colorado blue spruce trees to plant at the cabin between our place and the Poage's. I also bought a new battery for the ATV, and other odds and ends that were needed around the house and cabin.

Once home, Rick rebuilt the little bridge that spans a small gully between my property and Newman's. I planted the new blueberry bush that arrived, and positioned the pines trees where I want to plant them near our property line with Poage's.

At 5:30 p.m. the temperature was 65 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny and the wind was fairly strong at 12-15 mph out of the north. I went down the end of the dock, took out the jumbo perch and walleye, took them up to the cabin and cleaned them. The perch look like it has some type of small parasite in the meat -- little black dots and some bigger orange marks -- so I decided we wouldn't be eating it.

Instead of my normal method of frying the walleye fillets I decided to do a beer-batter coating and I have say, they fillets tasted much better than ususal. I think I'll try a beer batter the next time we eat walleye.

By 9:15 p.m. the wind had died down to around 5-8 mph out of the north, so Rick and I decided to go fishing. I was trying out a new lure, a Lindy Shadling, in the bluegill color, and Rick used a magnum X-Rap from Rapala before switching to a Rapala Minnow Rap in a purpledescent color.

I caught the first fish, a nice 17 1/2-inch walleye, which we put in the livewell. I caught it while making a turn out toward the lake just past Second Duck Point in 11 feet of water with my Mercury Smartcraft trolling speed set at 570 rpm. The water temperature was hovering around 60 degrees, there was a half moon, and the wind had all but died down completely.

We were joined in "the Alley" by 4 other boats, although I didn't see them catching anything.

Rick caught a northern pike, about 22 inches long, and later a 21 1/2-inch walleye, which had some new cuts, or bites, on its side. After looking at the fish's wounds, and contemplated the size of the monster fish that would have hit such a big walleye, we put the wounded, but spirited, fish back into the lake.

We came ashore around 11:00 p.m. and then proceeded to stay up way too late listening to music and debating the problems of the world; none of which we solved by the way.

I'm still trying to decided if I should clean the walleye in the basket and trade it with Jerry Schiebe for a mason jar of his homemade maple syrup or eat the walleye fillets with Rick using my newly found beer batter. Decision, decisions...

May 22, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

The sun was shining this morning at 9:00 a.m. although there were some clouds in the east and north that were starting to move our way. The temperature was 60 degrees and the wind was 8-12 mph from the ENE.

Kathleen went for a run around 11:00 a.m. since she wanted to get on the road to St. Cloud by 1:00 p.m. Indeed, just after 1:00 p.m. Kathleen was all packed and was driving out of the driveway to head south. She had a very nice, and unexpected, six-day stay at Leech Lake, and it was wonderful having her here.

With Kathleen gone, Rick donned the waders, got into the water, and led the effort of getting the power cord tied up underneath the dock. We then decided to go fishing. Starting in about 10 feet of water we drifted north to south in the ENE wind using jigs and shiners. I had a really good bite and when I reeled in to check my shiner, it was bit completely off just below the head. Most likely the work of a walleye.

We only fished for about 30 minutes when the rain started. We didn't have our rain gear with us, so we quickly went ashore, just ahead of a torrential downpour.

Once inside, I listened to some of Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference Finals between the Sharks and the Canucks. In one horrendous stretch in the 2nd period, the Sharks gave up 3 goals while killing three 5-3 penalties in the span of just 1 minute and 55 seconds. At that point I'd had enough of Sharks hockey for the year, so I closed the game on the PC and decided that since the rain had stopped that it was time to go fishing again.

The sky remained overcast and grey, and the wind had picked up to about 12-15 mph out of the ENE. On the lake the water was choppy, but that should have been good for producing walleye. Instead, all we caught using jigs tipped with shiners were a few perch. Rick did hook into a nice jumbo perch that measured just under 12 inches long; which we kept.

We continued to drift in 10-13 feet of water between the Birches and Second Duck Point when it started to rain again; at first just a sprinkle, but soon a complete downpour. Although we had on rain jackets we didn't wear rain pants or bibs, so both Rick and I were soaked by the time we came ashore.

We had a light dinner of some chili Kathleen had made the day before, then went out for an evening troll. As is our usual method, we troll in 10-12 feet of water from Malay's to the north and south past Second Duck Point. We use Rapala Minnow Raps trolled about 50 feet behind the boat which has a ground speed of roughly 2.25 mph. Tonight the water temperature was 60 degrees, the wind was still blowing out of the ENE at about 12-15 mph and there was a light rain falling.

This time both Rick and I had on full rain gear and it was a good idea that we did. Not long after launching the boat it started to rain. At first just a good steady rain, but soon it was once again pouring.

I managed to hook into a nice 19-inch walleye right in front of our house, which I immediately released back into the lake. But that would prove to be the only fish of the night. After enduring about an hour of pouring rain we went inside to dry off and warm up.

If the weather permits, we'll be out fishing for Leech Lake walleye again tomorrow night. Until then...

May 21, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

We all went to bed late last night since Rick and I didn't get back from the airport until after midnight, so we slept in late this morning. I got up around 9:30 a.m. to a steady rain, grey skies, a temperature of 50 degrees and light winds out of the east at 5-8 mph.

The rain, and the previous days of sun, have made the tiny buds on the trees explode into bright green leaves and the grass too has turned a brilliant shade of emerald. It's as if we're in the middle of some fairy tale land where everything is shining green.

After coffee and breakfast, Kathleen and I spent some time going through a pile of old photos, some more than 20 years old, putting them into various categories (by person) in hopes of getting them into photo albums at some point. Rick spent some time trying to figure out why our brand new HP printer -- which we just bought last summer -- refuses to print. I've found that over the years the quality and reliability of HP's printers has gone downhill significantly. A once proud brand is now just middle of the road.

One of the big projects that I have to address during my stay is the repair of the wall around the harbor at the house. Over the years, water has drained down behind the wall, and then during periods of thawing and freezing, the ice has pushed the wall inward toward the harbor, and has heaved up the cement walkway that encircles the harbor. I've contacted an outfit out of Federal Dam -- WC Excavating -- about doing a complete repair job. They'll have to remove all the cement walkway, put in a tile drain, sewer rock, gravel, rewire some of the electrical work, and of course realign the harbor walls using cable jacks and chain. I'm expecting an estimate for that work some time next week.

At 1:30 p.m. the rain was coming down even harder. It's been a steady or hard rain now for at least 5 or 6 hours straight. I bet we've had more than an inch of rain, maybe even two. The temperature hasn't budged from 50 degrees, and the wind has pretty much died down to an occasional breeze out of the east.

As I watched two fishermen in a Ranger boat through the binoculars something in the foreground caught my eye. I quickly adjusted the focus of the binos and saw three beavers swimming from in front of out house toward the cabin. They better stay away from our birch trees!

Rick and I just got back from Birch Ridge Resort where Rick bought a Minnesota fishing license and we picked up two dozen shiners. It is still raining steadily, and the temperature hasn't moved from 50 degrees. A cool, wet day.

I listened to a Prairie Home Companion on the radio as I made potato salad to go along with the BBQ ribs for dinner. After dinner Rick and I went fishing.

The rain had finally stopped and from about 5:30 p.m. to sunset the sun was actually out. A welcome sight after a full day of rain. The temperature also reached its highest of the day at right around 60 degrees. The wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the east.

As is our typical pattern for evening fishing, both Rick and I pulled crankbaits in 10 feet of water from Malay's to the north, and south past Second Duck Point. I caught a northern, and Rick caught two walleyes, one 18 inches which went back into the lake, and another one that measured 17 1/2 inches which we kept. We may have walleye for lunch tomorrow before Kathleen leaves to go back to St. Cloud.

It was nice to finally get some good sized walleye in the boat. I'm sure Rick and I will do more fishing tomorrow. Until then, good night from Leech Lake.

May 15, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

At 8:00 a.m. this morning the temperature was already a relatively warm 42 degrees, the sky was perfectly clear, blue and sunny, and the wind was out of the NE at 10-15 mph. There were about a dozen boats scattered from Second Duck Point to our cabin, all trying to get the jump on an early Sunday morning walleye bite.

At 10:30 a.m. Tim, Jackson and I put on some jackets and warm clothes and made our way to the cabin in order to launch the boat and do some fishing of our own. The wind was still blowing around 15 mph, so the waves made it tricky to get the boat off the lift. I asked Tim and Jackson to help steady the boat as I lowered it into the water.

I didn't see exactly what happened, but when I looked up, Tim had his hands on the inside roof of the boat lift and his feet were on the gunwale of the boat as the boat was backing out of the lift. I expected Tim to let go of the lift, but instead he just kept getting stretched further and further until something had to give. What gave was Tim falling into the lake right in the middle of the boat lift saddle. He let out one little cry that indicted to me and Jackson that the water was very cold. And at 52 degrees, the water was indeed cold.

Luckily, Tim was not hurt, only wet and cold. I quickly got the boat back into the lift as Tim climbed onto the dock. All three of us made our way back to the house where I got Tim a towel and he stripped off his soaking wet, cold clothes.

After changing into dry, warm clothes, and taking the time to place his jacket and shoes on the deck to dry in the sun (the rest of his clothes went into the dryer), we once again tried launching the boat so we could go fishing.

This time everyone remained in the boat and we motored our way to the Birches, dropped in the drift sock, and let the 15 mph wind push the boat at about 3/4 mph toward Second Duck Point; where a flotilla of some 30 boats was gathered.

Tim caught several medium-sized perch, none of which we kept, I caught a couple of perch and northern, while on this trip Jackson was skunked. We went ashore around 1:30 p.m.

After a dinner of wild rice brats, corn and Cole slaw, we went back on the water to do some evening fishing; not trolling, however, just drifting and jigging.

The wind was still about 15 mph out of the north, the temperature was around 50 degrees, the sky was clear, the moon was 96 percent waxing (full moon officially on May 17), and the water temperature was 52.5 degrees.

We tipped our Northland Tackle eyeball jigs with shiners and made several drifts in and around a waypoint I'd set; I'd caught a 24-inch walleye last year at this particular spot so I marked it on my GPS.

We caught a few perch, I caught a 13-inch walleye (which immediately went back into the lake), and Tim hooked something -- probably a northern -- that snapped his line. We stayed on the water until about 9:00 p.m., just after sunset, then made our way ashore. We didn't keep any fish, but it was nice to catch the first walleye of the season; just one day after opener.

Tim, Jackson and I listened online to the end of the NHL Western Conference finals Game 1 between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, which the Canucks won 3-2. We then played some cards and went to bed.

It was another wonderful day on Leech Lake.

Walleye Opener 2011 at Leech Lake

Another grey, overcast day with a temperature of 36 degrees at 9:30 a.m. and winds varying from 10-20 mph, with gusts even stronger. A cold walleye opener in Minnesota.

There have been anywhere from 4 to a dozen boats in front of our house battling choppy water and a stinging mist being blown by the stiff winds The boats we've seen that have caught fish have pulled in nothing more than a couple of small perch. It doesn't appear to be a strong opener; at least not near Second Duck Point on Sucker Bay.

Tim, Jackson and I hung around the house for most of the morning and afternoon, and at 3:00 p.m. we went over to John Newman's cabin for an early BBQ dinner of brined, beer-can chicken and "danger dogs, street style."

After our dinner fare, Tim and Jackson helped me get the canopy on the boat lift; not an easy task with the wind still blowing at a good 10-15 mph clip out of the north. But with some muscle and determination, we got the canopy on the lift. We then loaded the boat with tackle, supplies, the landing net, drift sock and other necessities for walleye fishing, and at just after 7:00 p.m. local time hit the water in my Lund Pro V 1800 for the first time this fishing season.

With nearly 20 boats crammed between our house and Second Duck Point, I made the decision that we would begin fishing in 12 feet of water north of our place, up near the Birches. The 150 hp Mercury Verado got us to our destination quickly, where we deployed the drift sock, tipped our Northland Tackle , eyeball jigs with shiners and began fishing.

Very soon after dropping my line in the water I felt that familar "weight" on the end of my line and went to set the hook. For just a split second I felt the weight of the fish on the line, but then the line snapped. It must have been a northern pike because it bit right through my 8-lb Berkeley Fireline Crystal. Although it is possible it could have been a walleye.

We made several drifts from the Birches to Malay's cabin and Jackson and I caught a few perch each, but unfortunately Tim was skunked. Jackson had the nicest fish of the outing, catching a jumbo perch that measured just a hair over 12 inches. A truly big perch; which we put in the live well.

The water temperature was 52 degrees, surprisingly warm since ice-out was May 1, the wind was still 10-15 mph out of the north, making for some nice swells on the lake, and the moon was 90 waxing (full moon on May 17).

We came in around 8:45 p.m., which is the time the sun officially set at our location, unloaded a few things from the boat, then got a campfire going at the cabin fire pit. About 9:30 p.m. John stopped by to join our conversation, and we stayed outside near the fire until almost midnight.

We all had a great walleye opener at Leech Lake, even though none of us boated a walleye. Well, there's always tomorrow.

July 21, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Today we woke up to the remnants of a late-night/early-morning rain. The ground was wet, the back deck was wet, the dock was wet, yet the sun was shining and there were only a few fluffy white clouds in the sky.

The temperature by 10:00 a.m. was 68 degrees on its way to a high of roughly 74 degrees. The wind was light at 7-10 mph out of the SSW, the water temperature was 67 degrees and today was a new moon.

Elizabeth, Ashley and I went fishing this afternoon at 1:15 p.m. We took advantage of the light wind and drifted in 10-14 feet of water from in front of our house to in front of Norm's cabin. We were using jigs tipped with leeches and caught a few perch and rock bass, and I caught a small walleye, maybe 12" long.

Then about 3:45 p.m., I could tell that the storm we'd been keeping an eye on all afternoon was getting too close for comfort. I told the girls to reel their lines in and get their things put away because we were going to have to make a quick run back to the boat lift if we wanted to avoid getting caught in the storm.

My timing was off by about 1 minute because we were on the lake as the rain came upon us and the wind whipped up. I was, however, able to safely get the boat on the lift and everyone inside before the worst of the storm hit. Within an hour, the storm had passed, the sky cleared, the wind died down and it turned out to be a beautiful late afternoon, evening and night.

After a very tasty BBQ rib dinner, complete with salad, corn-on-the-cob, and french fries, we decided to go fishing. We got out onto the water a little earlier than usual, at 8:45 p.m., so we could watch the sunset while on the lake.

It was a nice sunset, but nothing as spectacular as some of the sunsets we've seen on Leech Lake. Of course we weren't on the water just to enjoy nature, we were also out there trolling for walleye.

We trolled The Alley in 8-10 feet of water using #9 Minnow Raps. Liz and I each caught a couple of rock bass, Liz caught a very nice 22" northern pike, and I caught a 19" and a very hefty 25" walleye.

After I hooked the big 25-incher, I had Ashley reel it in for me. She said it wasn't that hard to do until the big fish got close to the boat and decided to make a run for it. But Ashley played the fish perfectly and I was able to net it.

I have to say it was probably the biggest walleye I've boated this summer. Not only was it all of 25", but it was extremely fat. I bet that fish weighed at least 8 pounds if not more.

We caught that big fish right off Second Duck Point so we decided to troll home from there and call it a night. We didn't catch anything else on our way back to the boat lift.

Maybe it was the new moon or the stable weather after the earlier storm, or maybe it I just put us right on the fish tonight, but whatever it was, tonight was our best night of fishing since the girls arrived. We had a wonderful night on Leech Lake.

June 24, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I was originally scheduled to fly back to California today. But plans changed and instead I'm still here at Leech Lake; and for that I am truly grateful.

I spent most of today cleaning -- specifically, I cleaned all of the bathrooms. Not a fun job to say the least, but one that must be done regularly. At about 3:30 p.m. I decided I had cleaned enough for one day and decided to go fishing.

The temperature today was in the mid-80s, the sky was mostly sunny, the air was humid and the wind was out of the WSW at 10-15 mph. The water temperature this afternoon was between 74.5 and 74.9 degrees.

I started fishing from in front of Newman's cabin and let the wind push me north toward Malay's. I was in 10 feet of water using an XPS jig in lime green/black tipped with fathead minnows. I caught numerous perch, but no jumbos or walleyes.

At 5:15 p.m. Lainey Malay called me on my cell phone and invited me over for a beer. Since the fishing was slow, I packed up my gear and took the boat back to the boat lift. The lift, by the way, seems to be working much better since Shore Brothers came out today and replaced the clutch plate.

I had a nice time chatting with Tom and Elaine Malay and finally made my way home around 7:00 p.m. After a quick dinner I decided I'd go out trolling.

I hit the water at 9:15 p.m. just as the sun was getting ready to set. The wind was still blowing out of the WSW but had slowed a bit to 8-12 mph. The sky was clear and the water temperature varied from 73.9 to 74.7 degrees depending on my location and depth.

I trolled from south of Second Duck Point to north of Malay's cabin using my #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel in 8-11 feet of water. I caught one small northern pike, 3 stupid rock bass and a very nice 21 3/4" walleye. Catching the walleye made battling the bugs on the lake worth the trip.

As I was getting ready to come ashore, I watched as the sliver of the 6 percent waxing moon set in the western sky. The sky still had some orange, pale green, blue, and purple color to it and the bright white of the moon really stood out in the darkening sky. In the east and overhead stars were becoming visible.

I pulled onto the boat lift and was met by swarms of mayflies and a host of other flying insects. It seems as if every night now some new insect is hatching in the water and making its way to the surface. I guess that's a sign that Leech Lake is alive and healthy.

Tomorrow I'm driving down to St. Cloud to visit Kathleen's mom. I may be able to report from there, but if not, I'll post again here on Friday night. Until then...

June 19, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

An approaching storm on the south end of Sucker Bay

All of my work filling in the cracks in our asphalt driveway was washed away with the torrential rains we had last night. Since there is a very good chance of more thunderstorms later tonight, I'm going to wait until Saturday to refill the cracks -- and battle the humongous mosquitoes.

The temperature at noon today is 68 degrees, the wind is light at 5-8 mph out of the SW and the sky is gray and overcast. It looks as if it might rain, and there is indeed rain in the forecast.

Noel Hancock stopped by this morning for coffee and we had a nice visit. He's a great guy and a good neighbor. And speaking of good neighbors, Tom Malay and I are going to go fishing here in about a half an hour.

Tom and I first fished in front of our house in 10-12 feet of water. The water temperature today has warmed 67.5 degrees. With the slight SW wind, we drifted toward Tom's house. We caught a few perch, but no jumbos. I caught a small 12" walleye. After a couple of passes we decided to relocate to a spot Tom knows between Duck and Second Duck Points.

We motored there at 30 mph, and apparently my motor is back to working properly. Upon arriving at the designated spot we baited our jigs with shiners and dropped them into 8.5 feet of water. Again, the SW wind pushed us north, this time toward Second Duck Point. We caught a few perch but no walleye.

We repositioned ourselves yet again in 10 feet of water off Second Duck Point. As was the order of the day, we caught nothing but small perch.

Finally, we went back to where we started, in front of my house, for a couple last drifts. We caught a few more perch, but still no walleye. We decided to head home when we finally used up the last of our shiners. I dropped Tom off on the end of his dock and came home myself.

I did a quick pass around the cabin property to check on the evergreen trees and lilac bushes I planted week or two ago. I couldn't believe how much new growth there was on the Colorado spruce trees. The lilacs looked healthy and strong too. I guess all of this rain the past week has really helped them establish a foot hold. I hope they do well throughout the summer and live to be big, strong trees and bushes.

At 8:00 p.m., the wind picked up to about 10 mph out of the west and it looked as if a storm that had been off in the distance was rapidly heading my way. But as time passed, so did the storm. The primary force of the storm passed to the south and east of Sucker Bay, but we did get a tiny bit of rain from the trailing edge of the storm. The sky is now clear at 9:00 p.m., and I think I'll go out trolling.

I got out onto the lake about a quarter past 9:00 p.m. Once on the lake I could see another storm front approaching from the south, but this one looked to be even further east than the one that preceded it so I figured it would miss Sucker Bay. The wind was out of the west at 8 mph, the air temperature was 70 degrees and the water temperature had warmed again to 68.7 degrees. As the evening wore on, the storm did move to the east and missed Sucker Bay.

I started trolling The Alley in 10 feet of water, and on my first pass, right in front of our house, I caught a 15” walleye. The fish was too small for me to keep for a meal (I will only keep fish between 16” and 17 1/2”) so I put it back into the lake.

During the next hour I watched the western sky turn from a brilliant orange to a pale cantaloupe color to finally a burnt sienna. Above the orange band was a very faint yellow streak and above it pale green line that quickly turned into a light blue. Above the light blue was bright blue band and finally a deep indigo, almost purple color, up above. I was struck by how easily I could make out every color in the rainbow. Another beautiful sunset over Leech Lake

Just as the stars were starting to show themselves in the fading light, the last of the five other boats sharing this section of Sucker Bay with me headed for home; leaving my boat as the only one in sight.

I decided to make one last past through The Alley and made a large arcing turn off Second Duck Point. About half way through my turn I felt a large pull on my line and immediately I set the hook. I could tell this fish was bigger by the way it pulled back as I reeled it to the boat.

With my St. Croix fishing rod in my right hand, I reached for my Frabill net with my left. I lowered the net into the water and underneath the fish and raised the rod bringing the fish into the net. I scooped up the fish and brought it into the boat. After removing the treble hook from its lip, I did a quick measurement – a beautiful 22” walleye. Like the 15” walleye before it, this one too went back into Leech Lake.

At 11:15 p.m. I put the boat onto the lift and came ashore. As I was walking from the boat lift back to the house I felt the breeze pick up. I think there may be another storm on the way. It would be nice to fall asleep tonight listening to the rain and far away thunder.