At Leech Lake -- October 30, 2010

The temperature at 9:00 a.m. this morning was 36 degrees and that would stay the high all day. The sky varied from mostly cloudy, to partly sunny, and now at 3:30 p.m. there are just a couple of blue patches to been seen here and there. The winds are light at about 8-12 mph out of the north.

Clarence, the guy who we bought the house from, stopped by today to say hello. He and I chatted for about 45 minutes before he went back over the Newman's cabin. The Newmans aren't there, but Clarence was going to go back into the woods to get the deer stands ready for deer season, which opens in two weeks. John Newman won't hunt, but he will be in the stand with his son Greg who is in his third or fourth year of hunting.

After Clarence left I went over to the cabin and blew more leaves of the yard. I didn't get it all done, but it's better than in years past when I didn't blow any of the leaves off the yard. I also took a nice walk down the dirt road.

I came inside just in time to hear a Prairie Home Companion on MPR. It was a good show tonight. I always like listening to PHC when I'm here at the lake. Somehow it just seems more fun, and relevant, than when I try to listen to it in California.

It's Saturday evening and I'm getting ready to turn in for the night. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. I've got to clean the entire house, clear out the refrigerator, do laundry, clean out the fireplace, and make some "stairway to heaven" mouse traps. I leave for California on Monday morning which means everything needs to be wrapped up tomorrow.

At 11:40 p.m. there is no wind and the temperature is 30 degrees. No rain or snow predicted tonight.

I'll make one last post from Leech Lake tomorrow, then it's back to San Jose...

At Leech Lake -- October 29, 2010

This morning at 8:30 a.m. the temperature was 26 degrees, the sky was gray and the wind was about 8-10 mph out of the west.

I heard from Tom Malay yesterday that Shore Brothers, the outfit that removes docks and boat lifts for nearly all of the residents on W. Shores Rd., won't be out to our area until Monday; the day I leave for California.

The weather the past few days -- with the high winds -- has Shore Bros. running several days behind schedule. I had hoped to see Mark from Shore Bros. in person because I have a question for him about some repair options on my harbor. Ice in the Spring time has done some damage to the harbor wall and I want to know how best to have it fixed. I guess we'll have to discuss it over the phone when I'm back on the West Coast.

It's just before 2:00 p.m. and I just wrapped up a couple of work calls, so now it's time to go outside. The wind has died down to near calm, with a slight breeze of 5 mph out of the south. The sky is still gray, but the temperature has warmed to 36 degrees.

I'll start with putting the lawn furniture away for the season. I kept thinking I'd sit on the porch and enjoy a cold beer while watching the sun set, but the high winds and rain this week have kept me inside. Now it's time to put the furniture away. After that, I think I'll go for a walk down the dirt road, and then maybe take an ATV ride, either around the peninsula one last time or just through the woods.

The sun is dropping quickly into the West as we approach 5:45 p.m. I've been outside for the past couple of hours enjoying the nonexistent wind and temperatures near 40. It's amazing how warm 38, 36 or even 34 degrees can seem when you're outside working.

After my walk I took the ATV for a ride in the woods. There were no major trees down blocking the main trail, but I didn't check any of the side trails. After storing the ATV for the winter, I got the electric blower out and started clearing leaves over at the cabin. Due to rain and winds for the past 5 or 6 days, this chore was not possible.

I got about 1/5 of the yard done before the light started to fade, so I came home. I'm going to clean out the fireplace so I can have a fire tonight. I can smell the ribs I've got cooking in the oven as I write this. They smell great and I know will taste incredible as well. I'll round out the dinner with a baked potato and some type of veggie and/or fruit.

I'm going to focus on having as much fun here at the lake as possible the next couple of days, even while I'm cleaning the house and closing things up for the winter. Come Monday, I might not be back to Leech Lake for six months or more. I sure wish I could figure out a way to be here full time. Oh well...

At Leech Lake -- October 28, 2010

Last night the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers 11-7 at AT&T Park in SF in the first game of the 2010 World Series. It sure would be fun if the Giants could win it all this year -- it would be their first championship since moving to SF.

The temperature at 8:00 a.m. this morning was 26 degrees. The wind was blowing at 15-18 mph out of the WNW and the sky was overcast and gray. It looks like it might rain/snow, but the forecast calls for no precipitation today whatsoever.

This morning I took it easy. Did some work emails, read the news on CNN.com and other sites, then had a late breakfast. I have a few outdoor chores left to do, mainly get the power disconnected from the boat lift, then I think I'll go for a walk down our dirt road. I only wish Kathleen was here with me; she loves walking down W. Shores Rd.

I just came back inside. The time is 2:15 p.m. The wind has picked up again and is blowing out of the WNW at 25 mph. The temperature is 26 degrees, but with the wind, it feels much colder. The sky has cleared some, and is currently mostly sunny with lots of patches of blue.

I took a brisk 2-mile walk to just past Paulsen's and back. It felt great to walk quickly in the cold late-October air. On the dirt road it wasn't as breezy, so it was basically the perfect temperature for a good walk.

On my way home I stopped at the cabin to disconnect the heavy-gauge power cord from the boat lift. I have it zip tied to the dock in numerous spots to keep it above the water line, so I have to get down on my hands and knees and lean over the edge of the dock to cut the zip ties. The waves were coming in strong enough that the dock was wet from the spray, so as a result the knees in my pants and the elbows of my sweatshirt are wet too.

There was a thin coat of ice around the cord due to the waves and the cold temps, so by the time I had disconnected the cord and stored it in the garage, my hands and fingers were numb from handling it. I could barely move a couple of the fingers on my left hand. Just know I'm getting a strong tingling feeling back in my fingers as I warm them up by typing this post.

After a light dinner of primarily vegetables and fruit, I got a fire going in the fireplace. I also got the World Series game on the Internet -- Gamecast on ESPN.com and on the radio on KNBR.com. The Giants played a great game and ended up beating the Texas Rangers 9-0 in Game 2. The Giants are now up 2 games to none as the Series heads to Texas for the next 3 games.

Well, good night from Leech Lake, where the temperature at midnight is 22 degrees and the wind is out of the WNW at 15 mph. No rain or snow.

At Leech Lake -- October 27, 2010

Nothing.

Zilch. Nada.

For all the dire reports of a Winter Storm Warning yesterday, I thought I'd awake today to a blanket of snow covering the ground. But when I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and looked outside it was still very windy, and wet, yet there was no snow. Not a flake. So I went back to bed.

I got up again at 8:30 a.m. and still no snow. The wind is blowing at about 25 mph out of the WNW, not as strong as yesterday, there's light rain falling, and the temperature is 34 degrees. Sure, it's a cold, gray and wet Fall day, but it's surely nothing that warrants a Winter Storm Warning. And stop calling me Shirley.

After several hours of work calls -- including a new business win with a company called YoHolla -- I loaded the trash and recycling into the truck to take it down for disposal at the community center bins. On the way there I saw Norm Hansen out in front of his place clearing a fallen tree. I stopped and offered to help, but he had most of it already cleared and was in the final stages of moving a few smaller branches.

Apparently several people on the road had trees go down in the heavy winds during the past 36 hours including Jerry Schiebe and the Lichtennegger's; the later of whom were in Bemidji when a big tree fell and blocked access to their driveway. What a fun thing to find after returning home from town!

So far, no trees down on the lakeside properties here at the house and cabin. I'm sure there are trees down in the woods across the street, but I haven't ventured back there to find out.

The weather at 4:15 p.m. is windy -- probably 20-25 mph out of the WNW -- gray and overcast with a light rain, and a temperature of only 34 degrees. The weather service has now pushed out any snow forecast until late tonight or early tomorrow morning; but they were wrong about snow last night, so who knows...

I was on a call late this afternoon when I noticed two otters bobbing in the water just outside the harbor near the dock. They swam in the water for a while before disappearing. A minute or two later I saw one of the otters run across the yard near the harbor before jumping into the lake. It was nice to see a couple of the local animals for which this peninsula was named -- Ottertail Peninsula.

At 6:30 p.m.the winds have picked up and are now blowing more than 30 mph out of the WNW. The waves and white caps on the bay have really kicked up. The temperature is right at 32 degrees, so if it does start raining again there's a good chance it'll turn to snow. But no snow yet.

It's now 11:30 p.m. and I'm ready to shut down for the night. The wind is still at 25+ mph out of the WNW, the temperature is 32 degrees and there is a cold, light, stinging rain blowing parallel to the ground. Still no snow.

Until tomorrow, good night from Leech Lake.

At Leech Lake -- October 26, 2010 (The Storm!)

The early parts of the storm gathering on Sucker Bay

At 8:00 a.m. this morning there was a light rain falling, the sky was very overcast and gray, there was virtually no wind, the temperature was 50 degrees and the forecast was for a major storm to be moving toward Leech Lake and Northern Minnesota.

At 9:15 a.m. the locksmith arrived and changed the locks on the front doors on both the house and cabin; a task long over due. He left about an hour later and from 10:30 a.m. till noon I was on a work call. Just after noon, I checked the barometer in the hallway of the house and saw it had dropped to a record low of 28.4 inches of mercury -- way, way past the storm setting. The temperature has also dropped to 44 degrees.

It's now 12:50 p.m. and I have another work call in 10 minutes and the wind has picked up considerably. I'd say it's probably 20 mph out of the WNW, creating white caps on the lake. The updated forecast calls for winds to exceed 40 mph by 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. I am planning to visit Noel Hancock, one of our neighbors (who is personally battling cancer), later this afternoon, but I'll have to keep an eye on this storm. I don't want to be out if the storm gets really bad.

The wind has really picked up. At 2:05 p.m. the temperature has dropped to 40 degrees and the wind is up over 25 mph now out of the WNW, with big white caps rolling toward our shoreline. The barometric pressure, believe it or not, has dropped even further to 28.35 inches of mercury. The lowest I've ever seen.

At 3:00 p.m. I drove down to Noel Hancock's for a visit and to share a pot of coffee. After an hour or so of trying to solve the world's problems, to no avail, I bid Noel goodbye and drove down to Malay's house.

The purpose of my visit to Tom and Elaine's was to drop off a set of the new front door keys, but I stuck around to share a beer and chat about the weather. According to Tom's rain gauge, more than 2 inches of rain has fallen today, and it was still coming down hard went I left their house at just after 5:00p.m.

When I drove into our driveway I noticed several standing puddles around the yard. This is the wettest I've seen the properties since we bought it in 2001. The wind continues to howl at close to 30 mph out of the WNW, the temperature has dropped to 38 degrees (snow is predicted tonight) and the barometric pressure hovers near 28.4 inches of mercury. Crazy midwestern storm.

I just checked the National Weather Service web site (5:45 p.m. CT) and here's the Winter Storm Warning that they issued for Northern Minnesota:

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT WEDNESDAY.

* RAIN WILL MIX WITH THEN CHANGE TO WET SNOW THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT... THEN CONTINUE INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY.

* SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE 3 TO 6 INCHES BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* SNOW WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY WINDS OF 30 MPH WITH STRONGER GUSTS.

* WET SNOW WILL STICK TO SOME ROADS AND MAKE THEM SLIPPERY. THICK FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN A QUARTER OF A MILE AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW MEANS THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CAUSE DANGEROUSLY LOW VISIBILITY AND DRIFTING SNOW. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... USE CAUTION AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION.

This could get crazy!! I love Northern Minnesota!

Well, it's 10:30 p.m. and I'm going to call it a night. It's still very windy out, but it's stopped raining. According to the latest weather, it's supposed to start snowing sometime around 3:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. It'll be interesting to see if the ground is covered in snow when I wake up tomorrow.

Good night from Leech Lake.

At Leech Lake -- October 25, 2010 (Boat to Bemidji)

Today was gray and overcast with rain off and on all day long. The temperature varied from 40 degrees early this morning to a high of 50 degrees by 3:00 p.m. The wind was light out of the east at 5-8 mph.

After breakfast and some email work, I went next door to the cabin, got in the truck and drove it to Corner Sports in Bemidji with the trailered boat in tow. It's always hard to leave the boat in town and know that my open water fishing, at least in my boat, is over for the season. Who knows when my boat will once again sit afloat on Leech Lake. Next May? Next June? I don't really know.

I took care of some errands in town and came back to Leech Lake around mid-afternoon. I did some work work, had dinner, and went to bed early.

More from Leech Lake tomorrow.

In Leech Lake -- October 24, 2010

It must have rained some last night because I awoke this morning to a wet landscape. The sky is gray and overcast, and it looks like it could rain again. The temperature is 40 degrees and the wind is out of the ENE at 10 mph.

After eating a cup of yogurt, I got in the truck and drove it next door. Once there, I attached the boat trailer to the 2" ball on the receiver hitch on the truck, connected the electrical wiring, and secured the trailer with the heavy wire cables.

I then walked down the dock and got into the boat. One by one I removed the bungee cords that hold the heavy vinyl canopy onto the boat lift. Once all of the cords had been removed, it was a relatively easy process of popping the canopy off the lift and then to pile it up on the dock. I then dragged the canopy onto shore and left it on the ground near the cabin. It is completely covered in sea gull guano, so I think I'll have it professionally cleaned this year. I just don't think I could get all of the crap off of it myself.

With the canopy off the lift, I was ready to move onto the next phase of pulling my boat out of the water. I backed the truck down the landing putting the trailer into the water. I then got on my waders, walked out to the end of the dock, lowered the boat into the water, got in the water myself and then guided the boat off the lift, around the dock and onto the trailer. I clipped tow strap to the hook at the bow of the boat and began cranking the handle. Slowly the boat moved up the trailer until at last it was completely on the trailer.

I got out of the water, took off my waders, got into the truck and drove up the ramp pulling the boat and trailer behind me. I pulled the drain plug out of the stern of the boat, put on the safety straps and transom saver, and then decided to take a break for some breakfast.

-------

It's now 1:10 p.m., the sky is a grayish white and it looks like it could rain at any moment. Oops, just checked again and it is raining. The wind is still about 10 mph out of the ENE. A little later on this afternoon I'm going to go next door to the cabin, get everything out of the boat and then put the cover on the boat. My plan is to take the boat to Corner Sports in Bemidji tomorrow, where they'll winterize and store the boat until next Spring.

It's now 4:45 p.m., everything is out of the boat, but hanging up in the garage to dry out, and the cover is on the boat. The boat is ready to take into town tomorrow morning. I'm having a late lunch and listening to the Arizona-Seattle game on the NFL Radio network. We don't have TV here at the lake, so all of my sports updates are from either the radio or Internet.

My final entry of the night will be a weather report. It's 9:45 p.m., the wind has died down, the temperature is 39 degrees and there's a light mist falling; everything is wet. Tomorrow I'll take the boat into Bemidji, run a few errands and then come home to finalize some the winterization chores around the property.

I guess if I am going to go fishing again before leaving for California it'll have to be with Tom Malay in his 14-foot aluminum boat. I hope I do get one more chance to catch a walleye before I have to leave Leech Lake.

On Leech Lake -- October 23, 2010

The sky was gray, the temperature was 36 degrees and the winds were out of the ENE at 8-12 mph at 9:00 a.m. this morning. Jackson was the only one awake when I came into the living room; Sandy and Tim awoke within the next 45 minutes.

Since they had to go back to St. Cloud at noon today, Tim, Jackson and I decided to go fishing one more time. We got into the boat at 10:20 a.m. and made our way to 13 feet of water in front Malay's cabin. We deployed the drift sock and began drifing toward Second Duck Point.

Out on the water the wind was stronger than it was on shore, closer to 15 mph out of the ENE. The water temperature was under 50 degrees for the first time since I've been here, registering at 49.5 degrees.

As always, we tipped our jigs with fatheads in search of perch and walleye. We were joined this chilly October morning on Sucker Bay by three other boats, including Duane Paulsen and Ron Geppart from here on Ottertail Peninsula.

We made two drifts and the only fish we caught was a small perch Tim landed. We were all cold and Tim and Jackson still had to pack up for their trip home, so we motored ashore. When we got on the dock, we released the 16" walleye Tim had caught a couple of days earlier since it really isn't worth keeping just one small walleye for a dinner for a family of three.

While we were on the water, I had seen Tom Malay out on his dock working on this boat lift motor. I thought he was trying to get his boat trailered to pull it out of the water, so I called Elaine Malay to tell her to tell Tom to wait until I got to shore and I'd help him. She told me that Tom was having problems with the lift motor and that he was unable to lower the boat into the water. I told Elaine that I have a hand crank that I use for manually raising and lower my lift when necessary and that I'd be happy to bring the crank down to see if it would work on Tom's lift.

Once on shore, I took the crank to Tom's cabin, but it wasn't the right size, so it was of no help. Tom was going to continue working on the motor (we think that there's a bad connection in the motor) to see if he can get it to operate properly. Before I left, Tom and I agreed to help each other get our boats out of the water and trailered on Sunday. I can't believe the open water fishing season is over for me. The last fish I caught this season was that walleye I boated yesterday.

Tim, Sandy and Jackson headed for home about 12:30 p.m. I decided to take care of some of the many winterization chores that remain on the properties. I walked over to the cabin and removed all of the screens from the windows and replaced them with storm windows. They aren't the best storm windows available, but they should provide a little better insulation than screens.

I also cleaned out the fireplace in preparation for fire tonight. According the the National Weather Service, there's a very good chance of some light rain tonight and the temperatures are supposed to drop to around 35 degrees. A good night for a warm fire.

At 5:00 p.m. this evening I plan to listen to a Prairie Home Companion on Minnesota Public Radio. I enjoy listening to Garrison Keillor; especially when I'm here at Leech Lake.

Well, after listening to the "News from Lake Woebegon" tonight, I was not that impressed. Garrison seemed to take the night off, although Sarah Watkins and the Old Crow Medicine Show were very good.

From a sports perspective, today was a great day for me. The SF Giants advanced to the World Series against the Texas Rangers after the Giants beat the Phillies 4 games to 2 in the NLCS. The Michigan State Spartans went to 8-0 after beating the Northwestern Wildcats 35-27, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 on the road. All of my teams won. Of course the Detroit Lions and the SF 49ers still suck, but other than that, it was great day.

Good night from Leech Lake.

On Leech Lake -- October 22, 2010

The temperature this morning at 8:30 a.m. was just 30 degrees. The sky was sunny and the wind was out of the west at 7-10 mph. The forecast called for the temperatures to climb to 60 degrees by 3:00 p.m., and sure enough, it was just about 60 degrees by mid-afternoon.

Tim, Jackson and I started fishing today at just before 11:00 a.m. I had a work call at 1:00 p.m., so I wanted to be back on shore by 12:30 p.m. That gave us a good 1 1/2 hours on the water.

The water temperature was 50.1 degrees and the air temperature was in the low 40s when we backed the boat off the lift and onto the water. I motored the boat toward Second Duck Point in 13 feet of water. With the drift sock deployed, the boat drifted toward our house and slightly toward shore. This path kept us fishing in 10-12 feet of water.

Almost as soon as I dropped my Bass Pro Shops XPS 1/4-oz. walleye jig tipped with a fathead into the water I felt that familiar "weight" at the end of line that typically indicates that a walleye is interested in my lure. I let the fish hold the minnow in its mouth for a moment before setting the hook. Sure enough, I had a good walleye on the line. Jackson manned the net and we brought on board a nice 21 1/2" walleye, although it had some weird growth on it's side. I unhooked the fish and put it back into the water.

We made several drifts before having to back to shore. We caught numerous perch, but no more walleye. And again, Jackson did not boat a fish of any kind.

After my call, some lunch, and some general work around the house and cabin, Tim, Jackson and I went out on the water a second time; this time at 3:30 p.m.

By this time the air temperature had warmed to near 60 degrees and the wind had died down to barely 3-5 mph out of the west.

I again positioned the boat in 13 feet of water just north of Second Duck Point, and again we fished with jigs and fatheads. But with the winds barely blowing, the fishing had tapered off as well. We did manage to catch a few perch, and Jackson finally caught a fish when he hooked into a 20" northern pike. But by in large, the fishing in this spot had turned cold. So we moved.

I took us down to "The Birches" where in 9-10 feet of water we caught a few more perch. Just before we decided to go ashore because of the poor fishing, Tim hooked into something with some weight to it. At first, we thought it was a big walleye, but it turned out to be an eelpout in excess of 20 inches. I'm estimating its weight at between 3-4 pounds. A good sized 'pout, but like all of the burbot I catch, this one went back into the lake.

We came ashore just at sunset, about 6:15 p.m. As we were motoring toward the lift we saw the full moon rising over the eastern horizon, down by Bass Bay. What a beautiful sight.

Sometime around 7:30 p.m. I started dinner. Tonight we had a classic Leech Lake fish fry consisting of batter fried walleye fillets, French fries (with malt vinegar, of course), and Cole slaw. Ummm. Tasty.

After dinner we hung out, talked, and watched a DVD. Another great day at Leech Lake.