July 7, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

At 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 70 degrees, it already felt humid, the wind was 8-12 mph out of the SSW and sky was alternately cloudy or partly sunny.

Unfortunately, Ashley needs to go back to St. Cloud today because she has some plans to meet up with friends for dinner tonight before heading to Minneapolis on Friday. On Friday Ashley will stay with her aunt and uncle in Eden Prairie and then go to the airport very early Saturday morning so she can catch her 6:00 a.m. flight back to the West Coast.

I thought about going with Kathleen and Ashley to St. Cloud, but decided against it. This will allow Kathleen to focus her attention on her Mom, while Ashley can hang out with her friends and cousins. Plus, I just don't like St. Cloud all that much. I'd rather be at Leech Lake.

At 1:20 p.m. Ashley and Kathleen left Leech Lake bound for St. Cloud, with a stop in Walker because both of them like walking around the little downtown. Ashley was behind the wheel of the truck for the first time ever, and it was strange watching her drive the big Chevy Silverado 2500 HD down the driveway and onto West Shores Road.

Kathleen called me just before 6:00 p.m. to say she was in St. Cloud, had dropped off Ashley at dinner and was now on her way to see her mother. The way it looks, Kathleen will drive Ashley to the airport on Friday sometime, see her off first thing Saturday morning, then return to the lake either late Saturday or sometime on Sunday. Given that she wants to spend as much time with her Mom as is possible, I'm guessing I won't see Kathleen at Leech Lake again until mid- to late-Sunday.

At 7:30 p.m., with the temperature still 73 degrees, I decided to go fishing. The wind was relatively light at 5-8 mph out of the west. The water temperature was a very warm 78 degrees.

I motored out to a spot just past Second Duck Point in 13 feet of water and deployed the drift sock. I tipped my 1/8 VMC jig with a leech and started jigging for walleye. I made a couple of passes near Second Duck Point, but gradually moved north toward our properties. My final drift was made just north of Poage's cabin. During my several drifts, I caught only one rock bass. I did, however, hook a crayfish, which I hadn't done in years. And the thing was almost a mini-lobster at 4-inches long.

With the temperature cooling off as the sun dropped to just above the horizon, I pulled in the drift sock for the final time tonight, stowed it and my jigging rod/reel, and got ready to do some trolling. I got the lights on, got the rod holder in place, and set the SmartCraft controls to troll at a steady 560 rpm.

I trolled deep into Duck Bay and out into Sucker Bay. I watched as big anvil-shaped thunderstorm clouds gathered in the northeast. To the northwest there were dark clouds and I could see rain falling along the western shore of Sucker Bay. I kept an eye on the two storm fronts in case either started threatening the area where I was fishing.

The thunderhead at the northeast end of Sucker Bay

One by one the seven other boats in the area left, leaving just two or three of us still fishing. Unfortunately, I wasn't having any better luck trolling than I'd had jigging; just one rock bass hooked.

With the northeastern storm front flashing lightening and the northwestern front dropping rain on the north end of Sucker Bay, and with the onslaught of blood-thirsty mosquitoes, I decided to head ashore just before 10:00 p.m.

Once on shore I settled into a comfortable chair, picked up the book I'm reading, and had a quiet peaceful rest of the night on Leech Lake.

June 4, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

At 10:00 a.m. the temperature was 56 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny with half of the sky filled big billowy clouds, and the wind was 10-15 mph out of the west. There were also 38 boats already in front of our house.

It's a little ridiculous when there are so many boats in such a small area, especially on a lake that is 113,000 acres big. However, I can attest that there are walleye in the spot where the boats are fishing, and that's the name of the game. Oh, and I just realized, today is the start of the two-day Leech Lake Walleye Tournament, so of course there are going to be more serious fishermen than usual on the lake today.

We didn't want to join the crowd in front of our house, so instead Rick and I headed down to Bass Bay for some bass fishing. We each threw spinner baits and made our way from the harbor to the old Hancock place. I was able to boat three chunky largemouth bass, and Rick added one of his own.

As the afternoon progressed, the wind began to pick up and by 3:00 p.m. when we came ashore it was blowing at close to 20 mph out of the WNW creating white caps that rolled toward our shore. The temperature was 69 degrees.

Since tonight is Rick's last night at the lake, I was hoping that the weather would permit us one last chance to get out on the water together. And for once, the weather cooperated.

By 8:45 p.m. the wind had slowed to 8-10 mph out of the WNW making conditions perfect for trolling crankbaits. I set the Mercury SmartCraft controls for 550 rpm, which is about 2-2.25 mph ground speed, getting our crankbaits down to 8-10 feet with 50-60 feet of line let out.

I had the rare experience of catching four different fish species while trolling -- perch, northern pike, rock bass and walleye. The walleye was a healthy 16-inch fish which most people probably would have kept, but I put it back into the lake. All other fish also were returned to the lake.

Rick unfortunately caught only one northern, no walleye. We came ashore at 10:00 p.m. since we have to leave the house at 5:20 a.m. tomorrow so Rick can catch his early morning flight out of Bemidji.

Overall, today was a good day on Leech Lake -- largemouth bass in the afternoon, pike and walleye in the evening.

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...

July 9, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The edge of the storm that made its way up the western shore of Otter Tail Peninsula

The temperature this morning at 9:00 a.m. was 63 degrees. The sky was gray and a light rain was falling off and on. The wind was at 8-12 mph out of the WSW. The forecast for the rest of the morning and into the afternoon is a chance of thunderstorms, possibly severe, with heavy rain and hail.

By 1:00 p.m. the temperature had warmed to 68 degrees, the wind had picked up slightly, the sky was still overcast, but it hadn't rained much, and there certainly were no thunderstorms.

At 4:45 p.m., with still no thunderstorms in the area, I decided to go out fishing. The wind was blowing at 12-15 mph from the SSW and there were 2-3 foot waves on the lake, but no white caps. I thought it looked like a good "walleye chop." The water temperature was 71 degrees, having cooled due the lower air temperature and the wind.

I motored my Lund Pro-V 1800 into 12 feet of water in front of Giza's cabin, just north of Second Duck Point, and tossed out the drift sock. The wind pushed my boat along at .75 mph in a northerly direction.

I was using a Fireball jig in parakeet color tipped with fathead minnow. I caught a few perch, but the overall fishing was poor. The thunderstorms may not have materialized, but the cold front was real enough, and that shut down the fishing. After two passes I came ashore at 6:15 p.m.

By 7:00 p.m. the wind had slowed significantly and was out of the WSW at 5-8 mph. The sky was mostly overcast with just a spot or two of blue sky peeking through the clouds. If these conditions hold, I'll probably go out trolling this evening at 9:15 p.m., which is the time the sun sets on this date.

For now, I'll retire to the living room to continue working my way through Part 2 of William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. I have to say, Faulkner's stream-of-consciousness style of writing makes the book difficult to read, if not impossible to follow in certain sections.

At 9:00 p.m. the wind had actually picked up a bit and I could see a storm moving north. However, it appeared that the western edge of the storm would move over Portage Bay and miss Sucker Bay, making it safe, by my estimation, to go out trolling.

I left the boat lift at 9:15 p.m., as I had planned earlier, and moved out into 10 feet of water. After securing the stern light, putting in my rod holder and getting the landing net ready, I dropped my #9 Minnow Rap into the water and began trolling.

When I was headed in a southerly direction I had to set the Mercury SmartCraft control for 630 rpm to compensate for the wind. At 630 rpm the boat was moving at roughly 2 mph ground speed. With the wind at my back, I could adjust the controls down to 570 rpm and the boat would still be moving at ground speed of 2.5 mph or greater.

The cold front that kept the fishing slow this afternoon made this evening's bite tough as well. I caught one 3-4 lb. northern pike, but no walleye. At 10:30 p.m. I came ashore. Despite the wind, the mosquitoes were particularly voracious tonight.

Tomorrow the wind is supposed to shift and come out of the west at 10 mph. If that is indeed the case, then the bait fish, such and minnows and shiners, should be blown toward my boat ramp making them perfect targets for my seining net. I may be donning the waders tomorrow in pursuit of Leech Lake minnows.

Until tomorrow...

May 31, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

Rick and I went out fishing on Leech Lake today on two separate occasions. The first time we went out from 1:00 - 3:45 p.m. and used jigs and shiners as we drifted off Second Duck Point in 7-10 feet of water. We caught a few perch but no walleye.

The temperature today was a cool 52 degrees, the wind was 5-15 mph from the ESE, the sky was overcast and grey and it rained off and on all day.

After dinner, we went out again, this time from 8:00 - 11:15 p.m. We trolled Rapala Minnow Raps in 8-12 feet of water with the Mercury Smartcraft gauge set at 570 rpm. With this method we did much better than we did earlier in the day.

Rick caught a 23" and 12" walleye and I caught walleyes of 16 3/4" and 18 1/2". We kept the 16 3/4" fish for dinner. As we headed back to the boat lift we caught two more walleye at the same time, a doubleheader! The first time Rick and I have hooked walleyes at the same time.

Rick reeled in a nice 22" eyeball and my fish measured 17 1/4". Both were released.

Another great day of fishing on Leech Lake.