June 8, 2011 -- At Leech Lake

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was hot, muggy and sunny. Today at 7:15 a.m. the temperature was 48 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast and it was very windy, 15-20 mph out of the west, creating white caps on the lake.

At 8:00 a.m. the two kids from WC Peterson Excavating showed up and immediately fired up the jackhammer and cement saw. Maybe with the cooler weather today, and the experience of working on the walkway yesterday, they'll be able accomplish more of the demolition today than they did yesterday. It would be nice if they could wrap up the demolition today and move on to repairs during the balance of the week.

The FLW walleye tournament starts tomorrow on Leech Lake and runs through Saturday. That means I'll most likely awake tomorrow to dozens, if not more, boats in front of the house. I'm sure many of the pro fishermen are on the lake today pre-fishing in an attempt to identify good fishing spots. Despite the high winds and white caps, I see a couple of boats in front of the house now at 8:15 a.m.

Despite the wind and cool temperatures I decided to go for a little bike ride. My intention was to do the entire "loop" but no sooner than I turned onto Ottertail Point Drive off of 26th than it started to sprinkle. Not wanting to get caught in a rain storm miles from the house, I turned around and rode home. The rain didn't come as I expected, but it did mist heavily for a half hour or more.

Right after I got home T&K Outdoors arrived to mow the lawns at the house and cabin. In addition to the jackhammer and cement saw, the loud roar of the riding lawn mower added to the din. Normally it's so very quiet at the lake, with the exception of the chirping of the many song birds, that today's noise is made that much more obvious.

At 1:15 p.m., Butch, the lead guy on the harbor project, showed up to check the progress the two kids were making. With Butch's help, they chipped away at the concrete almost to the end of the walkway and should be able to have all of the cement removed today. I don't know if they'll get to any other aspect of the project yet, but there is still a lot of daylight left.

I decided to run into Cass Lake for a couple of grocery items and to pick up a fresh scoop of fatheads from Froggy's. When I got back at 4:30 p.m., the guys from Peterson Excavating were gone, and the job of removing the cement walkway was not complete. I would estimate that there is another hour or two of jackhammering still to be done.

Daily Nature Update: Today was juvenile day. While on my daily ATV ride around the peninsula I came across an adult bald eagle and two juvenile eagles flying directly above me, no more than 25 feet up. They must have tracked me for 100 yards or more giving me a great look at these marvelous raptors on a family hunt. Later, on the same ride, I came across a female whitetail deer and her young offspring. It was no longer a fawn with the white spots, but a small deer with the same coloring as the adult. And later, after I was home looking out at the rough waters of Leech Lake, I spotted the Common Merganser pair that have been hanging around our harbor and dock for weeks, but they were now accompanied by 10 little ducklings. The young Mergansers couldn't be more than a week old, if that. I'm guessing their nest must have been on our property between the house and cabin somewhere. Again, another wonderful glimpse into the wildlife of Northern Minnesota.

By 9:00 p.m. the wind had calmed some to maybe 15 mph out of the north, but the lake was still very choppy with some white caps. The temperature was 44 degrees and the sky was dark and overcast. It wasn't a night I felt like venturing out onto the lake, so instead I stayed inside, listened to classical radio KCRB and read Thoreau.

2011 Leech Lake Walleye Tournaments

As the new year approaches I thought I would list a couple of the major walleye tournaments that will be held at Leech Lake in 2011. There are many smaller tournaments held at Leech Lake each year by local fishing clubs, but these are the two big tournaments that Leech will host this year.

I've fished in three professional walleye tournaments as a co-angler in the now defunct Professional Walleye Trail, but never one on Leech Lake. My first tournament was on Northern Minnesota's Cass Lake where I had the chance to fish in the same boat as 2004 PWT champion Scott Glorvigan. My second PWT tournament was on the Bays de Noc in Northern Michigan. And my third PWT tournament was on the Fox Lake chain of lakes in Illinois, where I finished 24th and won $700.

I have no plans to fish in any of the organized walleye tournaments on Leech Lake, but I do plan on doing a lot of walleye fishing on Leech in 2011.

Tournaments


Leech Lake Walleye Tournament, June 4-5

FLW Walleye Tour, June 9-11