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 21, 2008

Rick and I were up and out of the hotel this morning by 8:30 a.m. We drove the truck to a parking garage about 5 blocks from the HHH Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis, parked, then walked a couple of blocks to the tailgate party hosted by my niece Kirby (Kristen) and her husband Trevor.

There was great food at the tailgate party -- chili, brats, chips and dip, veggies, and of course a variety of beers -- and many of Trevor's family was there too. We spent several hours hanging out, eating, visiting and Rick even got to meet several of the Vikings cheerleaders. Finally it was time to go to the game.

We got the tickets from Kathleen's sister and her husband (Kirby's mom and dad) and the seats were great -- about 6 rows up from the field, behind the visitor's bench on the 40-yard line. For Vikings fans it was a great game. The Vikings, who had yet to win a game in this new season, beat the undefeated Carolina Panthers 20-10.

After the game Rick and I went back to the truck and started our drive north to St. Cloud. Neither of us could believe how hot it was in Minneapolis. Under clear blue skies and no wind, the temperature was 85 degrees! I'm sure it was cooler at Leech Lake, but boy was it hot today in Southern Minnesota.

We picked up Kathleen at her Mom's house, stopped in Brainerd for dinner at a Mexican food restaurant, and finally made it back to the cabin around 11:30 p.m. A long, but fun, weekend away from Leech Lake.

No fishing again today.

September 20, 2008

For Rick's birthday, Kathleen and I got him tickets to see the Minnesota Vikings play at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Although both Rick and I grew up in Michigan, Rick for some reason has always been a Vikings fan, where I, like most people in Michigan, am a Detroit Lions fan.

The temperature today was 72 degrees and the wind was out of the NW at 5-12 mph, with partly sunny skies.

Kathleen, Rick and I left the house today around 2:00 p.m. The plan was that we would drop off Kathleen at her Mom's house in St. Cloud, then Rick and I would continue on to Minneapolis where we would stay the night in a hotel, see the game on Sunday, then drive back to St. Cloud after the game to pick up Kathleen, and then it would be on to Leech Lake.

On the way to St. Cloud we had to pass through Brainerd on Hwy. 371. In Brainerd, there are several stop lights along the highway which unfortunately slows traffic. At one of these stop lights I caught a glimpse of something moving along the windshield wipers, and when I looked carefully I saw it was a mouse! The little rodent must have climbed up on the engine at the lake, and now had unwittingly hitched a ride with us. Kathleen was not happy to see our little furry friend, to say the least. Somewhere along the way from Brainerd to St. Cloud the mouse must have fallen off, because by the time we arrived at Kathleen's Mom's house, neither Rick nor I could find it.

The entire group of Coyle siblings had gathered at Kathleen's Mom's house for a surprise dinner with their mother. After a brief visit with Kathleen's brothers and sisters, Rick and I were on our way to Minneapolis.

We had a nice dinner, watched some college football on the big screen TV in the room, then went to bed early. We planned to get up early on Sunday morning so we could attend a tailgate party a few blocks from the stadium.

No fishing today.


Me and Rick with the Vikings cheerleaders during the tailgate party.

September 19, 2008 on Leech Lake

Rick lives in Australia, so we decided to fly the Australian flag during his visits to Leech Lake. Notice the rainbow to the right of the flags.

Today was unusually warm with a temperature of 80 degrees. The winds were calm to 5 mph out of the SE, with mostly cloudy skies. Today is Rick's birthday, so we'll be grilling steaks for dinner tonight.

We continued to paint the cabin for most of the day -- and we're getting close to completing it -- but Rick and I did manage to get close to 2 hours of fishing in from 2:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Using small Northland Neon-tone Gum-Ball jigs tipped with Gulp Alive minnows and leeches, Rick and I fished "the Birches." Rick caught a rock bass and I caught a very nice largemouth bass. Both fish were immediately released. No walleyes, perch or crappie today.

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 16, 2008 on Leech Lake

Today, Kathleen, Rick and I spent a majority of the day painting the cabin. But around 7:00 p.m. we called it a day, and with the weather still being agreeable, Rick and I decided to go trolling for walleye.

The temperature today was 66 degrees, the wind was generally calm and the water temperature was 62 degrees. Rick and I fished from 7:45 to 10:00 p.m.

As has been our pattern, we trolled #9 Minnow Raps in 8-12 of water along the shore of the Otter Tail Peninsula from south of Second Duck Point to just north of the Malay's cabin.

Tonight I caught a northern pike right at sunset, and then walleyes measuring 17 1/2", 19", 20 1/2", and two at 22". Rick caught 18", 19", 20", 23", 25" and 26" walleyes. All told, we caught another eleven walleyes. All were released unharmed, with the exception of the 17 1/2" 'eye, which we decided to keep for a future fish fry.

Another great evening of walleye fishing on Leech Lake.

September 15, 2008

A week or so ago Kathleen and I power washed the cabin, the game room/garage and the "fish" garage in preparation for painting. Since the autumn weather seems to be upon us here in Northern Minnesota we have little time to get the painting complete before the weather gets too cold. So today was a painting day.

Kathleen, Rick and I all started painting the cabin under overcast and occasionally drizzly skies. The temperature today hit a high of 68 degrees and the wind was out of the SW at 5-10 mph. We started painting around 10 a.m. and didn't call it a day until near 7 p.m. Despite the three of us painting for nearly 9 hours, we still only got about half of the cabin painted. There's more little nooks and crannies to the cabin that you would expect; until you go to paint it.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.