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.

On Leech Lake -- May 11, 2011

Well I'm finally here at Leech Lake. And it sure is wonderful.

I arrived in Bemidji yesterday around 4:30 p.m. CDT and went directly to Corner Sports to pick up my boat. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready. They hadn't yet fired it up to make sure it was running properly, nor had they installed new trolling motor batteries and a new starter battery. They told me they'd move it to the top of the list and get to it first thing on Wednesday (today).

So off I drove to the grocery store with no boat in tow. After loading up on supplies I headed to Leech Lake.

After unloading the groceries, turning on the well pump, and a few other "start up" activities, I opened a cold beer and started to make my way to the end of the dock to watch the sunset. As I walked out onto the dock, my neighbor John Newman called out for me to join him on his dock. I walked next door and chatted with John as the sun sank into the western horizon across Sucker Bay.

This morning, I called Corner Sports to see if my boat was ready. They told me it would be around noon before all work was complete. I decided to give them a little extra time so I didn't leave the lake until 12:30 p.m.

Once at Corner Sports I hitched the boat trailer to my truck and made the 50 minute drive back to Ottertail Peninsula. I positioned the boat at the top of my boat ramp and then walked to the end of the dock to lower the boat lift into the water so once the boat was launched, I could maneuver it onto the lift.

I hit the down switch on the lift motor and was met with a rough, grinding sound followed by a snap. The chain had come off the gears that raises the lift and in the process the clip that holds the main link of the chain to the rest of the chain snapped. There you go. Something always has to go wrong at the start of the season, it's tradition!

I called Mark at Shore Brothers, the outfit that I bought the lift from, and they'll be out either Thursday or Friday to fix it. Until then, my boat remains trailered at the top of the boat ramp.

After putting that business behind me, I went fishing with John. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 60s, a steady stiff breeze out of the north at about 10 mph and mostly clear skies, with just wisps of clouds here and there.

We made several drifts at the Birches, starting in about 12 feet of water and then drifting to about 6 feet of water. We used jigs with plastic grubs, and then added a fathead for additional attractant. Since walleye opener in Minnesota isn't until Saturday, May 14, we were targeting jumbo perch. John already had about a dozen jumbos in the basket at his cabin and we were looking to add a couple more.

We each caught a few small perch, and I caught a nice jumbo which we kept. I added it John's stash.

It was my first day on the water this year and it felt great. I'm looking forward to getting my boat lift fixed so I can get my boat in the water and have the luxary of being able to fish when and where I choose. For now, however, I'm grateful that John is letting me fish with him.

The plan is to do some more perch fishing with John tomorrow afternoon after 2 p.m., weather permitting.

I'll post more tomorrow. Until then, I'm just glad to be back on Leech Lake!

Leech Lake Visit Date Set!

Typical Spring afternoon on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

I am set to arrive at the Bemidji airport on Tuesday, May 10 for what could be an extended visit to Leech Lake. There are still a number of possible work options in play that may keep my visit short, but if things don't pan out on the work front, then I'll be able to spend a good chunk of time at the lake. Not a bad consolation prize.

As is typical for my first visit of the year, I'll have lots of Spring chores to attend to, including getting the boat prepped and in the water, getting the canopy on the boat lift, opening up the lower vents in the house for good summer ventilation, taking down the storm windows and replacing them with screens, a lot of general property maintenance, getting a fishing license, stocking up on bait, and of course, doing some serious walleye fishing.

My May 10 arrival will put me at the lake a full 3 days before walleye Opener, which commences at midnight on Saturday, May 14. I may start the season by throwing some crankbaits off the dock at midnight, and save my first on-the-water excursion until Saturday morning. But as is always the case when fishing Leech Lake, weather will be a big determining factor on my approach to Op'ner.

I'm really looking forward to my visit to Leech Lake because my last day there was November 1, 2010, which is 6 months and 10 days between visits. Too long. Way too long.

I may have a post or two here before my arrival, but if not, look for fishing reports to start as soon as I arrive at Leech Lake. I may get out on the lake for some perch and crappie fishing prior to walleye opener. Stay tuned...

On Leech Lake -- October, 17, 2010

My brother-in-law Tim is visiting me for a week here at Leech Lake, and like myself, Tim enjoys spending time on the water in pursuit of walleye and perch. Since it was Sunday, with no work for either of us, we planned to spend as much time on Leech Lake as possible.

We did take it easy in the morning, having breakfast, reading the paper and drinking coffee, so it wasn't until just before noon that we went out fishing. The sky was partly sunny, the wind was out of the WNW at 8-10 mph, the air temperature was just over 50 degrees and the water temperature was 53.8 degrees.

The direction of the wind dictated the way I set up the boat for drifting. I motored out to about 11 feet of water in front of our cabin and the wind blew the boat toward shore and slightly south toward Newman's cabin. With the drift sock in the water the speed of the boat was just less than 1/2 mph.

Both Tim and I were using 1/8 oz. jigs tipped with fathead minnows.

We caught dozens of perch, maybe as many as 30, all of which we put back into the lake, as well as a few walleye. I caught a 19-inch walleye, which went back into the water, and Tim caught two -- an 18 1/4" walleye which went back into the lake and a 16 1/2" walleye which we kept.

At some point during one of our drifts something very big hit my jig and started peeling off line. I played it long enough to get a glimpse of it off the back of the boat. It was either a very big northern or a muskie. It must have been close to 3 feet long. My 6 lb. test Fireline Crystal was no match for the toothy critter, however, and the fish bit through the line and returned to the depths.

We came ashore around 3:00 p.m. and drove up to Birch Ridge Resort to grab a beer, eat a pizza and watch the Vikings game. I'm not a Vikings fan, but Tim is and they were playing the Dallas Cowboys in what was a must-win game for both 1-3 teams. The Vikings won the game.

Tim and I decided to go back out on the water around 5 p.m. for more drift action, before we switched to trolling after sunset.

The perch bite had cooled off, and between us we caught probably no more than 10 perch while jigging. Just after sunset we stowed our jigging rods and started trolling using Minnow Raps. I caught a 21-inch walleye and Tim caught an 18-inch and a 21-inch walleye. All fish went back into the lake.

At 7:30 p.m. we came ashore, got a fire going because the expected temperature at 11:00 p.m. was 32 degrees. All in all, a very successful day of fishing on Leech Lake.

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...

July 5, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

I arrived home at Leech Lake from St. Cloud today at 2:00 p.m. After unloading the truck, putting away some groceries and having lunch, I decided to go fishing.

The temperature at 4:00 p.m. was 72 degrees, the wind was out of the north at 8-12 mph, the sky was filled with big white billowy clouds that made it half cloudy and half sunny, and the water temperature was 73 degrees.

As I stepped onto the dock and began walking to the boat lift, I noticed schools of minnows swimming in the shallow water at the end of the boat ramp and underneath the dock. I decided that before I would go fishing, I'd get out the seining net and try to catch some native Leech Lake minnows to use as bait.

I got on my waders, and with seining net in hand, I wadded out into 3 feet of water. My first few attempts at netting the minnows failed miserably; I was simply too slow in closing the net. But after some trial and error, I began to get the hang of it, and within 10 minutes I managed to net several dozen minnows.

I did a thorough check of the minnows to ensure that what I had netted were indeed minnows. With the exception of one tiny walleye fry, which I carefully put back into the lake, I had nothing but minnows. Content with my catch, I put the minnows into my Frabill Flow Troll Bucket, grabbed what few live shiners were left from those Poage gave me, and got into my boat.

I motored the boat out to 14 feet of water directly in front of the Malay's cabin and deployed the drift sock. With the wind blowing at 12 mph from the north, the current would push the boat south toward Second Duck Point and put me in about 13 feet of water as I passed in front of our house and cabin -- which was my desired position.

When using the Leech Lake minnows, I caught numerous perch, and had a solid bite from something bigger (I could tell that whatever it was it had teeth because my minnow was cleaved off just below the head).

I tried using a shiner on a couple of occasions, but didn't get a single bite. When I switched back to the Leech Lake minnows, I again started catching perch. Unfortunately, I was unable to hook a walleye.

I came ashore around 6:30 p.m. It was nice to spend some time out on the water. I love how peaceful it is being rocked by the waves and slowly propelled by wind.

I contemplated going out trolling this evening, but I was hungry and decided to make dinner at 9:00 p.m., which is the time I would have gone trolling. After eating I sat on the dock with cold Leinenkugel and watched the last of the sunlight disappear behind the horizon. Another beautiful evening on Leech Lake.

May 21, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The winds today were out of the west at 15-20 mph. The high temperature was 61 degrees with a low of just 40 degrees. The sky was sunny and there were white caps on the lake, but I needed to get out on the water.

I awoke early this morning and had my boat on the lake by 6:30 a.m. I drifting using 4" Gulp minnows in smelt color on a Northland Slurp! Jig. I started fishing 8-10 feet of water off Second Duck Point, and gradually worked my way toward our house and eventually motored down to the Birches.

I caught a one jumbo perch, which I put back in the lake, and one FIB walleye (i.e., a rock bass). At 8:00 a.m. I went back to shore because the wind was really starting to pick up and the swells were getting a bit too big for me.

I saw my neighbor John Newman out on the lake, also up early and fishing, and he invited me over for coffee when we both got back on shore. We shared a pot of coffee, caught up on things and then I left to continue a variety of chores back at the house.

The order of business was to take the snow plow off the ATV and move the ATV from the garage attached to house to one of the out buildings we've dubbed the ATV garage. I keep the ATV in the attached garage during the winter, with the plow attached, to make it easier to plow the snow away from the house. But come springtime, I like to move it to the ATV garage so we have more room in the garage at the house.

I went to start the ATV but the battery was completely dead. I keep a trickle charger attached to the battery during the winter to keep the battery fresh, but I guess the battery is so old (7 years by my count) that it could no longer hold a charge. I used the pull cord to get the ATV started, lowered the winch I so could remove the snow plow blade, and then moved the ATV to the out building. I think I'll take the ATV into Bemidji Sports for service and a new battery next week sometime. I do a lot of the service on the ATV myself -- oil and filter change, air filter, grease all the various bearings, etc. -- but I have never had it in for a professional service and it's now due.

My next project was getting the Mosquito Magnet up and running. I had already charged the battery for 24 hours, so I was now ready to clear the hose entry and hook up a propane tank. At first the Magnet didn't work. But when I switched out propane tanks the thing fired up and started running properly.

As the sun set, the wind died down so I decided to go trolling for walleye -- my first such trip of the new season. I tied on a #7 Rapala Minnow Rap in a hot steel color and began trolling from Malays to past Second Duck Point in 8-12 feet of water. The water temperature was 58 degrees.

From 9:00 to 10:15 p.m. I caught a 12", 14 1/2", 17 1/2" and an 18 1/4" walleye. I kept the 17 1/2" fish for a later dinner.

After the various inconveniences of the past few days, it was really nice to settle into my Lund Pro V 1800 IFS boat and do some walleye fishing 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.

November 3, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today I fished in the morning from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The temperature was a very warm 63 degrees and the wind was a bit stronger than it's been the past few days at 8-12 mph out of the south.

Once again I used an 1/8 oz. Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with live fathead minnows while drifting in 8-10 feet of water from our house to the Birches.

I caught 7 small- to medium-sized perch, but no jumbos or walleye. All fish were released unharmed.

Today marked the 95th day this season I have fished on the open-water of Leech Lake; a new record for me.

October 7, 2008 on Leech Lake

I went fishing twice today. The first time was from noon to 2:00 p.m. I took advantage of the 5-10 mph west wind to push my boat from 12 feet of water off the Birches toward shore. This direction of the drift took me over the edge of the weed line and into the weeds near shore. At this time of year the weeds are starting to dying off, and the few healthy green weeds that remain typically hold bait fish. I figured if I fished the green weeds, this is where the predators, such as walleyes, would be staging.

The sky today was partly cloudy and the temperature was 54 degrees. The water temperature was a bit warmer at 55 degrees.

I used my standard Northland jig, silver spinner blade and Gulp minnow set up. I caught numerous perch, but no real jumbos worth keeping nor any walleyes.

Once back on shore I turned my attention to a 40-foot maple tree that had fallen on our property. I used my Stihl chain saw to cut it into 2-3 foot sections, then used my log splitter to cut it into fire wood. In the Northwoods of Minnesota, a person can never have too much firewood on hand.

Later this evening -- from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. -- I went trolling. Since my favorite hot steel-colored Minnow Rap had been destroyed by a walleye a few nights ago, I had to switch to a purpledescent Minnow Rap; similar in color to the hot steel. I trolled my usual route from Second Duck Point north to the Malay's cabin in 9-12 feet of water. I caught a very hefty 16 1/4" walleye which went into the live well of my Lund Pro-V 1800 IFS. That fish will make a nice dinner for me and Kathleen.

Another fantastic evening on Leech Lake.

October 1, 2008 on Leech Lake

I went fishing today from noon till 2:30 p.m. The temperature was 55 degrees, the wind was out of the NW at 10-18 mph. The water temperature was 58 degrees.

I started in front of the Birches and drifted toward our cabin. I was using an 1/8 oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig tipped with a Gulp Alive 3" leech. The method brought only one perch to the boat, so I switched tactics.

I pulled out my baitcasting reel, on which is tied a #9 Minnow Rap in hot steel color. My trusty trolling set up. I trolled from Malay's cabin to Second Duck Point and again caught only one perch. With touch up painting needed on the cabin, game room and garage, I decided to call it a day.

Only fair fishing today on Leech Lake. But even fair fishing beats the best day possible stuck inside an office.

September 23, 2008 on Leech Lake

A view of Second Duck Point from the water.

The temperature today was 70 degrees, the wind was swirling all day long -- 5-15 mph out of the SE then 10 mph out of the SW before settling at 10 mph out of the west. The water temperature was 65 degrees.

Rick and I took a slightly different approach to our fishing today. We started at 4:00 p.m. and did some drifting for panfish, and then around 7:45 p.m., we switched to trolling for walleye.

While drifting, we caught several perch, bluegill and rock bass, but nothing really big. When we started trolling, in 10 feet of water, we were able to catch some walleye.

Trolling Minnow Raps from south of Second Duck Point to Malay's cabin, Rick caught 2 northern pike, a few rock bass and on 20" walleye. I had better luck and landed walleyes of 18", three of 20", a 21 1/2" and a of 23". All fish were released unharmed back into Leech Lake. We returned to shore at 9:00 p.m.

September 22, 2008 on Leech Lake: Autumn Equinox

At 10:44 a.m. CDT it officially became autumn in the Northwoods of Minnesota. The temperature today was a very pleasant 73 degrees, the winds were strong at 10-25 mph out of the SE and I recorded the water temperature to be 65 degrees.

Rick and I took to the boat into the rough water at 1:00 p.m. and started in 10 feet of water near Second Duck Point. We put the drift sock in the water to slow the speed of the boat and to keep it from spinning in the wind. Using 1/8 oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs tipped with a variety of Gulp and Gulp Alive! baits we drifted for about an hour with no success.

We changed our strategy and decided to troll using Minnow Raps. With this new tactic, we caught numerous perch and we each caught a walleye. Mine walleye was 19" and Rick's measured 20 1/2". Both walleyes and all perch were released.

Later in the evening we went trolling again -- from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. -- but we caught nothing. Not even a perch. This is the first time I can remember when we were completely skunked while trolling Leech Lake.

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 17, 2008 on Leech Lake

The temperature was 68 degrees today, the water temperature was 63 degrees, but for some reason I didn't record the wind speed/direction.

At 2:30 p.m., Rick and I took a break from painting the cabin and went fishing. I had purchased some spottail shiners the other day, so we used those on the end of shiner jigs. We also used 3" Gulp Alive! minnows in smelt color.

We caught a numerous perch (including a few nice jumbos), crappie, bluegill and rock bass. We kept one of the big jumbo perch to go along with the walleye from last night.

Rick and I made it back to shore by 5:15 p.m., where we painted the cabin for another 2 hours.

Kathleen's friend Beth arrived for a few day visit. After we all cleaned up from painting, we had dinner, and then sat around a roaring fire in the fire pit at the cabin.

Another fantastic day at Leech Lake.

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.

September 3, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today was 70 degrees, mostly sunny, with just enough wind to push the boat along at 0.5 mph. A perfect day for a Leech Lake panfishing expedition.

Along with Joe and my mother, we hit the water at 2:30 p.m. The water temperature matched the air temp at 70 degrees. The air and water are starting to cool. Autumn is just around the corner.

We all used similar rigs -- 1/16- or 1/8-oz. Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color. We caught dozens of perch, crappie and bluegills, but kept only 4 jumbo perch. Together with the perch I caught a couple of days ago, these four are inching us closer to having enough fresh fish for a fish fry.

My mother was a trooper and stayed out on the water for 3 hours, but at 5:30 p.m. we headed to shore. Primarily because my father was beginning to worry that we had been out on the lake long enough! We'll try again tomorrow.


Three generations of Jursa's -- Ron, Joe and me (Steve) on the lake-front deck of our Leech Lake house.

August 30, 2008 on Leech Lake

Joe and I went fishing today from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. I had told Joe about the great panfish bite I was experiencing and he finally decided to go with me to see for himself.

The temperature was 85+ degrees and the wind out of the south was 8-12 mph went we left the boat lift. We headed to the front of Norm's cabin in 10 feet of water, with a water temperature of 72 degrees, lined up the boat along the weed line, and then let the wind push us north toward the Birches.

We were both using Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs with silver Colorado blade spinners tipped with Gulp 3" minnows in smelt color. Together we caught numerous perch, bluegills, crappie and a few rock bass. A another good day of panfishing on Leech Lake.

August 29, 2008 on Leech Lake

My parents arrived today for a 4- or 5-day visit, but before they did, I managed to sneak out onto Leech Lake for a little late-afternoon fishing.

From 4:20 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. I used the 8-15 mph NW wind to drift from Schiebe's cabin to our cabin in 8-10 feet of water. The air temperature was 75 degrees. I used a 1/16 oz. orange Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jig with a silver blade spinner tipped with 3" Gulp minnows in smelt color.

I caught a few perch, a couple of bluegills, a handful of rock bass and a couple of crappie, one of which tipped the scales at about 1 1/2 pounds, a real slab if there ever was one. All fish were released.