June 3, 2008

The temperature dropped dramically overnight and only reached a high today of 48 degrees. Winds were relatively light at 5-10 mph out of the ENE, but there was a steady rain all day.

Kathleen is in St. Cloud today visiting her mother, so I decided to lay low and spend the day working around the properties -- clearing fallen tree limbs, trimming dead tree branches, organizing the fish cleaning house, etc.

No fishing today.

Here's a photo of the "cabin," which is next door to the "house." The picture was not taken today, but it's on this property where I spent most of the day.

June 2, 2008

With winds out of the NNE at 10-12 mph, I thought today would be a good day for drifting Sucker Bay jig fishing for walleye. The temperature during my 1:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. drift was 58 degrees. The water temperature had cooled slighty over the last few days to 61 degrees.

Using a Parakeet-colored Northland Gum-Ball "neon-tone" jig tipped with a 3" Gulp Alive! black leech I caught one small walleye.

The fishing was slow, but it was great to be on the lake. This was the first time this year I'd been on the lake fishing by myself. While I always enjoy fishing with others -- be it Rick or one of my many neighbors/friends -- it's nice to have some solitude on the water. It really gives me time to reflect on the world and my place in it. I don't know if I found any profound answers, but the search was very rewarding.

This evening I went trolling from the Malays to past Second Duck Point. Using my standard "hot steel" Minnow Rap, I hooked a 15 1/2" walleye, several perch, and a northern pike that was almost 30". The winds tonight were calm, the temp was 60 degrees, and the moon was 1% waning, almost a completely new moon.

June 1, 2008

Kathleen and I took Rick to the Bemidji airport today so he could begin his Bemidji-to-Minneapolis-to-LA-to-Sydney-to-Brisbane trip home.

Afterward, we did some grocery shopping and other in-town errands. No fishing today.

May 31, 2008

From 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. Rick and I fished Bass Bay. We started near the "harbor" entrance just north of Paul Wagner's cabin and worked our way south toward Paulsen's. We were again using Northland Reed-Runner spinner baits. The air temperature was a very pleasant 65 degrees, the water temperature was 60 degrees, the winds were calm and the sky was mostly sunny.

On my second cast of the afternoon something strange happened -- my rod broke. I was using a Shimano Compere baitcasting rod, and when I went to cast the spinner bait the rod just snapped -- right between the second and third line guide. I have no idea why it broke. I did not contact Shimano about the incident since the rod was past its warranty period. It didn't leave a great impression on me regarding the quality of Shimano rods. Usually I use St. Croix rods, made in Park Falls, Wisconsin, for my spinning reels, and maybe I need to switch to St. Croix for my baitcasting rods as well.

I caught one largemouth bass and Rick caught three. Then we decided to head down to Second Duck Point to jig for walleye. We fished that spot for roughly an hour before heading back to the cabin. In that time, Rick caught, and released, a very nice 20" walleye and a small one under 12". Rick was using a silver flash Lindy Techni-Glo Fuzz-E-Grub tipped with a 3" Gulp Alive! black leech.

That evening we went out on the water at 9:00 p.m. and fished for about two hours. The air temp had dropped to just under 60 degrees although the water temperature had actually warmed to 62 degrees. The winds were still calm, and the moon was 13% waning. While trolling Minnow Rap crankbaits we caught and released five walleye. I had fish of 14", 15" and 23", while Rick boated 'eyes of 20" and 21". This was to be Rick's last night of fishing. On June 1, Kathleen and I drove him to the Bemidji airport so he could start his long journey home to Brisbane, Australia. See you in the Fall Rick.

May 30, 2008

Rick and I again focused our walleye fishing tactics by trolling crankbaits near sunset. There was a light rain falling, the temperature was 60 degrees, the water temp was 57.7 degrees, and the winds were at 10 mph from the NW. There was very heavy cloud cover.

Using a purpledescent Minnow Rap, Rick caught walleyes of 12", 16", and 21". I used my old stand by, the hot steel Minnow Rap, and caught two walleyes that taped out at 12", and others at 16", 16 1/2", 20" and 23". This highlighted link will take you to an In-Fisherman video of Doug Stange and Mark Fisher casting and trolling with the Rapala Minnow Rap, which for my money is the best walleye crankbait on the market. All in all, Rick and I had another great evening of walleye fishing on Leech Lake's Sucker Bay.

Here's Rick with another nice walleye.

May 29, 2008

The temperture today hovered around 55 degrees all day, the winds were calm, it was overcast and the water temperature was 58 degrees. Since we were having our best luck walleye fishing when trolling crankbaits at night, Rick and I decided that today we would hang out around the cabin and concentrate our fishing efforts near sunset.

We left the dock around 6:30 p.m. and immediately started catching fish. With the sun sinking lower in the sky, the perch and pike were both biting. I caught numerous perch and a couple of medium-sized pike. Likewise, Rick caught several perch, including a "pygmy" perch that topped out at just barely 4". The perch was the same size as the Minnow Rap with which Rick was trolling.

At just after 8:00 p.m. a steady rain began to fall, and that's when the walleye turned on. Rick caught a small 'eye of about 12", and others at 17", 19" and 22". I caught a personal one-day best 10 walleye: four approximately 12", then six others at 16", 16 1/2", 17", 20", 21" and 22". As usual for us, all fish were released. In fact, if I don't mention that a fish was kept, you can rest assured that it was released unharmed.

Here's a photo of Rick (in yellow) and me (in green), each with a walleye taken this night.

May 28, 2008

We worked on the cabin deck most of the day (see May 26 entry for photos), so our fishing was limited to trolling in the evening. We left the dock at 9:00 p.m. to light winds from the south, air temperatures of 56 degrees, and water temps of 60 degrees.

Rick was using his bleeding copper Minnow Rap, while I stuck to my hot color, hot steel. I caught three walleyes, a 16", a 19" and a 23 1/2". After catching a couple of small walleyes on the bleeding copper color -- a 16" and a 16 1/2" -- Rick switched to a purpledescent colored Minnow Rap and caught a couple of larger walleyes -- 17" and 23". We were back on shore by 11:00 p.m. Another great night of walleye fishing on Leech Lake.

May 27, 2008

The winds today were out of NNW at 10-15 mph. The air temperature varied between 55-65 degrees throughout the day and the water temp was 56 degrees. It was a perfect day to drift for some walleye.

We worked on the cabin deck early in the day, so we didn't hit the water until nearly 2 p.m. It didn't long for us to get onto the fish at Second Duck Point. Using an 1/8 oz., Lindy Techni-Glo Fuzz-E-Grub in a silver flash color tipped with a 3" Gulp Alive! black leech, Rick caught and kept a beautiful 17" walleye.

A little over an hour later, we had switched to trolling crankbaits, and using a MR09 Rapala Minnow Rap in "bleeding copper," Rick caught another nice walleye, this one 16 1/2", and again, we kept it. Two nice 'eyes in the box which would become dinner in a day or two.

At 9:00 p.m. we went out again. The winds had died down to nearly calm, and the water temp had warmed slightly to 57 degrees. Trolling Minnow Raps (Rick using his bleeding copper color, while I opted for the hot steel) we had great success. In less than two hours Rick boated walleyes of 10", and two at 22". I caught three fish as well, a 10", a 16" and a 20". Since we already had a couple of walleye in the basket from earlier in the day, all six 'eyes were released. Heck, we're not meat hunters from the resorts.

Here I am lowering the boat into the water.

May 26, 2008

The weather today kept us on shore. It was roughly 55 degrees, winds 25+ mph from the NNW with rain off and on throughout the day. The bay was churning with whitecaps. Since we couldn't go fishing, Rick decided he'd rip out the old deck at the cabin and replace the rotted boards. Over the next few days, Rick would wake up early and work on the deck. Here are a few photos from the restoration project. Thank Rick, the deck looks great!!

Later in the evening, around 9:30 p.m., we did try casting crankbaits off of the dock, but had no success. Several years ago, my son Joe and I did the same thing, and caught numerous large walleye right off the dock. But with the late spring this year, the fish were probably still spawning and not in the mood to eat.