It was one week ago today that I was last out on the water at Leech Lake. Between the weather and my brief trip to St. Cloud, it's not been possible for me to go fishing. And today will be another day spent on shore.
The wind, for the third straight day, is howling at 22-30 mph out of the WNW creating large waves and white caps on the lake. I did not see a single boat on the water all morning long. The official temperature as posted in Federal Dam was 40 degrees at 11:00 a.m., but the thermometer on the back porch read 33 degrees at the same time. The sky was mostly sunny with a large number of billowy white clouds being blown across the sky by the high winds.
My was to finish the job of cleaning out the gutters on the house, but I managed to keep putting it off until 2:15 p.m. I took a break from following the Lions vs. 49ers football game on the PC and started where I'd left off yesterday, on the lake-side of the house.
I climbed up onto the roof and cleaned the gutters from up high rather than trying to move the ladder every 15 feet. I worked my way over the living room, around the south side of the house and finishe up at the back of the garage. By this time my hands were wet, cold and numb from the 42 degree air temperature and the 30+mph WNW wind. I made my way down the ladder, moved the ladder to the front of the house, then came inside to warm up and check on the Lions.
The Lions eventually lost their first game of the season to the San Francisco 49ers (the one time I want the Niners to lose) 25-19. Both teams are now 5-1 on the season.
With the "big" game of the day over, I went back outside and spent the better part of an hour to finish cleaning out the gutters on the house. All done, for this season. When I came back inside I immediately went straight to the crawl space under the house and put up all the insulation into the vent holes and blocked them up for the season. No need to have cold air blowing underneath the floor of the house.
With the dirty chores of cleaning out the gutters and closing up the vents under the house out of the way, I took a shower and got cleaned up myself.
I made dinner and had finished eating before 7:00 p.m., that's early for dinner here at the lake. After dinner I made a small fire in the fireplace, listened to some music and eventually decided to watch an old Hammer Productions horror movie -- The Curse of the Werewolf. Not nearly as good as the old Universal classic, but appropriate for this Halloween season.
When I went to bed 'round midnight, the wind was still blowing at more than 20 mph and the temperature was 38 degrees. Apparently, according to the weather report, there more windy conditions and cool weather in store for the next two days.
Again no fishing on Leech Lake today, although other tasks were completed. Good night.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
October 15, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
At 9:30 a.m. this morning the sky was mostly clear, with some big white billowy clouds hovering above, the wind was again strong at 18-22 mph out of the west, the lake was very choppy with some occasional white caps and the temperature was brisk 35degrees.
Unlike yesterday when no boats were on the water, I saw four boats out on Sucker Bay today. Three are clumped closely together in front of the Newman's and the fourth was in front of our house. With the wind blowing from the west, that means it's coming directly across the bay and straight onto shore. The boats appeared to be drifting from the middle of the bay toward shore, and then when they would get into 8 feet of water or less, they would motor back out into the bay for another drift. It's the same style of fishing I prefer -- drifting with a jig and minnow.
The fishermen out today are most likely staying at the resort, or came up specifically this weekend for some Fall walleye fishing on Leech Lake. With the weather conditions the way they are today, I would bet that not many of the residents of Leech Lake are out on the water. But I suppose if you made a long drive up here to fish, you are probably willing to brave the cold and rough conditions to spend some time fishing. For me, the conditions will have to improve significantly throughout the day if I'm to take my boat out fishing.
At 11:15 a.m. I walked out to the end of the dock at our house to get a better feel for the wind and a closer look at the boats out fishing. During my entire time outdoors yesterday I wore nothing heavier than a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Today that was not enough. It is pretty cold and the wind quickly striped the heat from me. I'll need to wear a sweatshirt when I work on cleaning out the gutters on the house. While standing at the end of the dock surveying the situation on the lake, two of the four boats left the area and headed back toward the resort.
By 11:30 a.m., the wind had picked up even more and was coming out of the WNW at 20-25 mph with gusts again over 30 mph. The sky was still partly sunny and the temperature had warmed a bit to 42 degrees.
After eating a sandwich for lunch I went outside with every intention of cleaning out the gutters on the house. But then I noticed several logs -- about 2 feet long and 8-10 inches in diameter -- stacked up along the outbuilding where I store the ATV and log splitter. The logs were left there by my neighbor John Newman who had cut up a tree a couple of days ago after it came down during some high winds. John had stacked about 20 logs with the request that if I had some time could I split them up with my log splitter into kindling for him. Figuring I should probably get to the splitting sooner than later, I put the gutter cleaning on hold and pulled out my Swisher, 26-tons of power, log splitter.
It took more than three dozen pulls of the cord to finally fire up the splitter which had sat inactively in storage for probably a year or more. But eventually I got it going and I started in on splitting wood. I spent more than an hour splitting about 10 logs into a pile of kindling wood. I figure John can take a good portion of it, but I'll keep some of it for my use as well.
With the wood split and stacked, I put away the log splitter and moved onto my next chore; no, not cleaning the gutters, but pruning the red- and yellow-stem dogwood plants that ring my harbor and provide erosion control. Left alone, the red- and yellow-stem dogwoods will grow to be 12-15 feet tall and very bushy. I keep them pruned to where they never get more than 3-5 feet tall.
I began my pruning on the south side of the harbor where the larger of the two groups of dogwood grow and trimmed them back significantly. I then move to the north side of the harbor and began pruning the smaller plot of dogwood. While reaching out to trim a branch, the clippers slipped out of my hand and dropped into the water of the harbor. With the wind blowing so strongly today the harbor is filled with white foam and locating the clippers visually was impossible, so I was done pruning for this year, or until I get a new set of clippers.
When I came inside I checked the computer for the score of the Michigan State vs. Michigan football game and discovered that for the fourth year in a row the Spartans had defeated the Wolverines, this time by a score of 28-14. Go Green!
After putting off cleaning the gutters all afternoon, I finally got out the 8-foot step ladder set it up on the back porch of the house and climbed up onto the roof at 3:45 p.m. I started on the north end of the house facing the lake and worked my way south toward the sliding door to the kitchen. Just as was the case at the cabin, the gutters here at the house were full of leaves, twigs, maple seed pods and gunk.
I cleaned out the gutter all the way to the point where the roof gets taller above the living room (the great room facing the lake) and called it quits. My hands were wet from the water and sludge in the gutter and the wind was howling so hard that my hands were numb. I suppose I could wear gloves, but when I've tried that in the past I had a hard time getting all of the small pieces of debris removed; so I tackle this chore with my bare hands. But now my hands were too cold to continue so I climbed onto the ladder, made my way onto the back porch, folded up the ladder, and stowed it for use tomorrow. Maybe it won't be so cold.
At 5:00 p.m. I tuned into A Prairie Home Companion on the Bose radio. I have a new Cambridge Audio Azur 650T tuner, but have yet to install a powerful FM antenna, so although I have a great new tuner, it doesn't pull in any signals. Thus the Bose provided more than adequate backup.
It was a particularly good "News from Lake Wobegon" tonight; Garrison Keilior was at the top of his game. By the time A Prairie Home Companion ended, at 7:00 p.m. CDT, it was dark outside. I remember listening to the program this summer and still having 3 hours of sunlight to enjoy after the show ended. Not now.
It was still very windy outside and the temperature was just under 40 degrees, so just as I did last night, I built a fire in the fireplace. For the remainder of the evening I listened to music and watched the fire. Periodically I would check the score of the Sharks game (they would lose to the St. Louis Blues) and the Tigers (who would be eliminated by the Texas Rangers. The Rangers return to the World Series). Eventually I shut everything down and went to bed.
A cold, but productive day at Leech Lake.
Unlike yesterday when no boats were on the water, I saw four boats out on Sucker Bay today. Three are clumped closely together in front of the Newman's and the fourth was in front of our house. With the wind blowing from the west, that means it's coming directly across the bay and straight onto shore. The boats appeared to be drifting from the middle of the bay toward shore, and then when they would get into 8 feet of water or less, they would motor back out into the bay for another drift. It's the same style of fishing I prefer -- drifting with a jig and minnow.
The fishermen out today are most likely staying at the resort, or came up specifically this weekend for some Fall walleye fishing on Leech Lake. With the weather conditions the way they are today, I would bet that not many of the residents of Leech Lake are out on the water. But I suppose if you made a long drive up here to fish, you are probably willing to brave the cold and rough conditions to spend some time fishing. For me, the conditions will have to improve significantly throughout the day if I'm to take my boat out fishing.
At 11:15 a.m. I walked out to the end of the dock at our house to get a better feel for the wind and a closer look at the boats out fishing. During my entire time outdoors yesterday I wore nothing heavier than a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Today that was not enough. It is pretty cold and the wind quickly striped the heat from me. I'll need to wear a sweatshirt when I work on cleaning out the gutters on the house. While standing at the end of the dock surveying the situation on the lake, two of the four boats left the area and headed back toward the resort.
By 11:30 a.m., the wind had picked up even more and was coming out of the WNW at 20-25 mph with gusts again over 30 mph. The sky was still partly sunny and the temperature had warmed a bit to 42 degrees.
After eating a sandwich for lunch I went outside with every intention of cleaning out the gutters on the house. But then I noticed several logs -- about 2 feet long and 8-10 inches in diameter -- stacked up along the outbuilding where I store the ATV and log splitter. The logs were left there by my neighbor John Newman who had cut up a tree a couple of days ago after it came down during some high winds. John had stacked about 20 logs with the request that if I had some time could I split them up with my log splitter into kindling for him. Figuring I should probably get to the splitting sooner than later, I put the gutter cleaning on hold and pulled out my Swisher, 26-tons of power, log splitter.
It took more than three dozen pulls of the cord to finally fire up the splitter which had sat inactively in storage for probably a year or more. But eventually I got it going and I started in on splitting wood. I spent more than an hour splitting about 10 logs into a pile of kindling wood. I figure John can take a good portion of it, but I'll keep some of it for my use as well.
With the wood split and stacked, I put away the log splitter and moved onto my next chore; no, not cleaning the gutters, but pruning the red- and yellow-stem dogwood plants that ring my harbor and provide erosion control. Left alone, the red- and yellow-stem dogwoods will grow to be 12-15 feet tall and very bushy. I keep them pruned to where they never get more than 3-5 feet tall.
I began my pruning on the south side of the harbor where the larger of the two groups of dogwood grow and trimmed them back significantly. I then move to the north side of the harbor and began pruning the smaller plot of dogwood. While reaching out to trim a branch, the clippers slipped out of my hand and dropped into the water of the harbor. With the wind blowing so strongly today the harbor is filled with white foam and locating the clippers visually was impossible, so I was done pruning for this year, or until I get a new set of clippers.
When I came inside I checked the computer for the score of the Michigan State vs. Michigan football game and discovered that for the fourth year in a row the Spartans had defeated the Wolverines, this time by a score of 28-14. Go Green!
After putting off cleaning the gutters all afternoon, I finally got out the 8-foot step ladder set it up on the back porch of the house and climbed up onto the roof at 3:45 p.m. I started on the north end of the house facing the lake and worked my way south toward the sliding door to the kitchen. Just as was the case at the cabin, the gutters here at the house were full of leaves, twigs, maple seed pods and gunk.
I cleaned out the gutter all the way to the point where the roof gets taller above the living room (the great room facing the lake) and called it quits. My hands were wet from the water and sludge in the gutter and the wind was howling so hard that my hands were numb. I suppose I could wear gloves, but when I've tried that in the past I had a hard time getting all of the small pieces of debris removed; so I tackle this chore with my bare hands. But now my hands were too cold to continue so I climbed onto the ladder, made my way onto the back porch, folded up the ladder, and stowed it for use tomorrow. Maybe it won't be so cold.
At 5:00 p.m. I tuned into A Prairie Home Companion on the Bose radio. I have a new Cambridge Audio Azur 650T tuner, but have yet to install a powerful FM antenna, so although I have a great new tuner, it doesn't pull in any signals. Thus the Bose provided more than adequate backup.
It was a particularly good "News from Lake Wobegon" tonight; Garrison Keilior was at the top of his game. By the time A Prairie Home Companion ended, at 7:00 p.m. CDT, it was dark outside. I remember listening to the program this summer and still having 3 hours of sunlight to enjoy after the show ended. Not now.
It was still very windy outside and the temperature was just under 40 degrees, so just as I did last night, I built a fire in the fireplace. For the remainder of the evening I listened to music and watched the fire. Periodically I would check the score of the Sharks game (they would lose to the St. Louis Blues) and the Tigers (who would be eliminated by the Texas Rangers. The Rangers return to the World Series). Eventually I shut everything down and went to bed.
A cold, but productive day at Leech Lake.
Friday, October 14, 2011
October 14, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
At 8:30 a.m. this morning the temperature was a very cool 34 degrees, the sky was most overcast with just a few slivers of blue peeking through here and there and the wind was blowing even harder than it was yesterday, at 20-25 mph out of the NW. With the low temperature and high wind, I bet the wind-chill factor has to be below freezing. Now this is a typical mid-October day on the shores of Leech Lake.
A scan of Sucker Bay finds that no boats are on the water, and that's a good thing. Only a fool, or someone who had to be on the water today (a rescue worker or professional fisherman), would risk it today.
The morning was spent responding to emails and following up on a few consulting items.
Around 1:00 p.m., with the wind still howling and the temperature about 45 degrees, I went over to the cabin, got out the big 8-foot step ladder and began cleaning out the rain gutters. All of the gutters on the cabin, and on the game room/garage, were completely full of leaves and pine needles. I cleaned all of the debris out of the gutters and then used the garden hose to run water down all the gutters to make sure the down spouts were clear as well.
With the cabin gutters clean I went back to the house to clean up a bit myself. I took care of some more consulting work before going outside again. I took a long walk through our woods, clearing off the trails where branches had fallen due to the strong winds, and eventually made it back out to West Shores Rd. From there I walked to the Paulsen's and back. All together about a 4 mile hike. It felt great to be outside with crisp air and smells of the forest and lake.
I ate dinner tonight before the sunset, which is now coming at just after 6:30 p.m. With the sun down, the temperature started to drop, and at 8:00 p.m. it was 39 degrees outside. The wind was still strong at 18-22 mph out of the NW, with gusts up over 30 mph. As a result, the wind chill, or as some weather stations now call it the "feels like" temperature, must have been hovering around freezing. So I built a fire in the fireplace, the first of the season.
I stayed up pretty late watching the fire and listening to music. I checked the weather reports before going to bed and it looks like tomorrow, and even into Monday, the wind is going to remain up over 20 mph. I might not get any fishing in before I have to pull out the boat. If it is windy again tomorrow, I think I'll focus my attention on getting the gutters on the house cleaned out.
No fishing again today on Leech Lake, but it was still great to be here.
A scan of Sucker Bay finds that no boats are on the water, and that's a good thing. Only a fool, or someone who had to be on the water today (a rescue worker or professional fisherman), would risk it today.
The morning was spent responding to emails and following up on a few consulting items.
Around 1:00 p.m., with the wind still howling and the temperature about 45 degrees, I went over to the cabin, got out the big 8-foot step ladder and began cleaning out the rain gutters. All of the gutters on the cabin, and on the game room/garage, were completely full of leaves and pine needles. I cleaned all of the debris out of the gutters and then used the garden hose to run water down all the gutters to make sure the down spouts were clear as well.
With the cabin gutters clean I went back to the house to clean up a bit myself. I took care of some more consulting work before going outside again. I took a long walk through our woods, clearing off the trails where branches had fallen due to the strong winds, and eventually made it back out to West Shores Rd. From there I walked to the Paulsen's and back. All together about a 4 mile hike. It felt great to be outside with crisp air and smells of the forest and lake.
I ate dinner tonight before the sunset, which is now coming at just after 6:30 p.m. With the sun down, the temperature started to drop, and at 8:00 p.m. it was 39 degrees outside. The wind was still strong at 18-22 mph out of the NW, with gusts up over 30 mph. As a result, the wind chill, or as some weather stations now call it the "feels like" temperature, must have been hovering around freezing. So I built a fire in the fireplace, the first of the season.
I stayed up pretty late watching the fire and listening to music. I checked the weather reports before going to bed and it looks like tomorrow, and even into Monday, the wind is going to remain up over 20 mph. I might not get any fishing in before I have to pull out the boat. If it is windy again tomorrow, I think I'll focus my attention on getting the gutters on the house cleaned out.
No fishing again today on Leech Lake, but it was still great to be here.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
October 13, 2011 -- At Leech Lake -- Happy Birthday Melissa!!
I can't believe that my little girl Melissa turned 30 years old today! I remember so well that crisp, cool, clear Autumn morning in Monterey, California when my beautiful wife Kathleen gave birth to our tiny, feisty redhead. What a wonderful day that was. And how quickly 30 years have passed. Happy birthday Melissa!!
This morning at 9:30 a.m. on the shores of Leech Lake the sky was overcast and grey, a light mist was falling, the wind was strong at 18-22 mph out of the WNW and the temperature was 42 degrees. The furnace ran off and on all day today, and is running now as I write this post.
There have been no posts to this blog the past two days because I spent them in St. Cloud visiting Kathleen's mom, Marge. At 87 years old Marge is doing relatively well health wise, but the Alzheimer's disease leaves her confused and with significant short-term memory loss. Nonetheless, we had a very nice visit and I was glad I could see her.
It's good to be back at the lake, despite the cool temperatures and high winds. I was hoping to get out fishing today, but with the lake riled and covered in white caps due to the strong winds, I stayed inside and spent most of the day doing my consulting work for Allison & Partners. I put in about four good hours of work before I stopped for a break and went for a walk down West Shores Rd. for about 2 miles.
West Shores Rd., NW on Ottertail Peninsula, Leech Lake, MN
After my walk I did a few small chores around the house then did another hour of consulting. The wind continued to howl at about 15-20 mph out of the NW. The temperature never got as high as 50 degrees today, but the sun did come out briefly later in the afternoon, as can be seen in the picture I took during my walk.
This evening was restful spent listening to music after dinner. No fishing today, but a good day at Leech Lake regardless.
This morning at 9:30 a.m. on the shores of Leech Lake the sky was overcast and grey, a light mist was falling, the wind was strong at 18-22 mph out of the WNW and the temperature was 42 degrees. The furnace ran off and on all day today, and is running now as I write this post.
There have been no posts to this blog the past two days because I spent them in St. Cloud visiting Kathleen's mom, Marge. At 87 years old Marge is doing relatively well health wise, but the Alzheimer's disease leaves her confused and with significant short-term memory loss. Nonetheless, we had a very nice visit and I was glad I could see her.
It's good to be back at the lake, despite the cool temperatures and high winds. I was hoping to get out fishing today, but with the lake riled and covered in white caps due to the strong winds, I stayed inside and spent most of the day doing my consulting work for Allison & Partners. I put in about four good hours of work before I stopped for a break and went for a walk down West Shores Rd. for about 2 miles.
West Shores Rd., NW on Ottertail Peninsula, Leech Lake, MN
After my walk I did a few small chores around the house then did another hour of consulting. The wind continued to howl at about 15-20 mph out of the NW. The temperature never got as high as 50 degrees today, but the sun did come out briefly later in the afternoon, as can be seen in the picture I took during my walk.
This evening was restful spent listening to music after dinner. No fishing today, but a good day at Leech Lake regardless.
Monday, October 10, 2011
October 10, 2011 -- At Leech Lake
This morning at 8:30 a.m. the sky was overcast and grey, the wind was out of the SE at 8-12 mph and the temperature was 47 degrees. From the time I arose to sometime after 1:00 p.m. I was doing work for my California job, consulting with a global PR firm called Allison & Partners.
After a quick sandwich for lunch, I went across the street and took a long walk in our woods. The wind was rustling through the trees and every so often it would rain yellow leaves. I love our woods in the Fall. The smells, the beautiful colors, the entire thing. I only wish Kathleen could be here with me because she loves the Fall even more than I do.
When I emerged from the woods I walked down the dirt road to our cabin and began the chore of putting up the storm windows. I took my time and enjoyed the entire process. Just as I had put the last storm window in place and was folding up the ladder the rain came. There had been a forecast of rain throughout the day, but at 2:45 p.m. it really opened up.
Back inside my warm and dry house, I cleaned up and prepared for dinner at the Newman's cabin tonight. John and Karen invited me, as well as Tom and Elaine Malay over for dinner prior to us moving down to the Malay's house to watch Monday Night Football on ESPN. Malays have the Dish Network and get ESPN, where the Newmans don't get it with their basic plan, and we have no TV at all at our house.
I made a salad to bring, while John and Karen provided the Italian meatball sandwiches, chips and veggies. After dinner we cleaned up and then made our way down to the Malays. It was the first time the Detroit Lions had been on MNF in more than a decade, and tonight they were hosting their division rivals the Chicago Bears.
It wasn't a well-played game, but the Lions did manage to win 24-13 to improve to 5-0. It's the first time that Detroit has won five straight games to start a season since 1956, a bit before my time.
I left the Malays just after 11:00 p.m. and came home. The temperature was still a very nice 55 degrees and the sky was clear allowing the light from the 99% waxing moon to bathe the entire peninsula in its soft, white light.
Tomorrow I'm planning to drive down to St. Cloud to see Kathleen's mother, Marge. If all goes well I'll spend some time with her at St. Benedict's and then take her out to dinner. I hope to see my brother- and sister-in-law Tim and Sandy, but Tim said Sandy isn't feeling well and he may have to work tomorrow. I guess I'll have to play it by ear.
I'm planning to be back to the lake sometime later in the day on Wednesday. At that point my only other ventures from Leech Lake will be to go into town to buy groceries.
My next post to this blog will likely be on Thursday, Oct. 13, my beautiful daughter Melissa's 30th birthday. Until then...
After a quick sandwich for lunch, I went across the street and took a long walk in our woods. The wind was rustling through the trees and every so often it would rain yellow leaves. I love our woods in the Fall. The smells, the beautiful colors, the entire thing. I only wish Kathleen could be here with me because she loves the Fall even more than I do.
When I emerged from the woods I walked down the dirt road to our cabin and began the chore of putting up the storm windows. I took my time and enjoyed the entire process. Just as I had put the last storm window in place and was folding up the ladder the rain came. There had been a forecast of rain throughout the day, but at 2:45 p.m. it really opened up.
Back inside my warm and dry house, I cleaned up and prepared for dinner at the Newman's cabin tonight. John and Karen invited me, as well as Tom and Elaine Malay over for dinner prior to us moving down to the Malay's house to watch Monday Night Football on ESPN. Malays have the Dish Network and get ESPN, where the Newmans don't get it with their basic plan, and we have no TV at all at our house.
I made a salad to bring, while John and Karen provided the Italian meatball sandwiches, chips and veggies. After dinner we cleaned up and then made our way down to the Malays. It was the first time the Detroit Lions had been on MNF in more than a decade, and tonight they were hosting their division rivals the Chicago Bears.
It wasn't a well-played game, but the Lions did manage to win 24-13 to improve to 5-0. It's the first time that Detroit has won five straight games to start a season since 1956, a bit before my time.
I left the Malays just after 11:00 p.m. and came home. The temperature was still a very nice 55 degrees and the sky was clear allowing the light from the 99% waxing moon to bathe the entire peninsula in its soft, white light.
Tomorrow I'm planning to drive down to St. Cloud to see Kathleen's mother, Marge. If all goes well I'll spend some time with her at St. Benedict's and then take her out to dinner. I hope to see my brother- and sister-in-law Tim and Sandy, but Tim said Sandy isn't feeling well and he may have to work tomorrow. I guess I'll have to play it by ear.
I'm planning to be back to the lake sometime later in the day on Wednesday. At that point my only other ventures from Leech Lake will be to go into town to buy groceries.
My next post to this blog will likely be on Thursday, Oct. 13, my beautiful daughter Melissa's 30th birthday. Until then...
Sunday, October 09, 2011
October 9, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 8:30 a.m. the temperature was a cool 45 degrees, the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the NW and the sky was slate grey and looked cold. I could only see one boat out in front of our house, where yesterday there was more than a half dozen. Today looked and felt like a Fall morning in the northwoods.
Duck hunting season opened in late September, so on this quiet Sunday morning I could hear the distant "pop, pop" of shotgun blasts as hunters along the shoreline and in flat-bottom duck boats shot at their prey. Last night at the OPA Pot Luck dinner/meeting, one of the attendees, the son of a OPA member, told me he'd been out duck hunting earlier in the day and had bagged several ducks. As much as I'd like to try cooking and eating a wild duck, I've never hunted for them. Nor have I hunted for grouse, pheasant, or whitetail deer. I am strictly a fisherman, at least so far.
At 9:45 a.m. a light rain started to fall, but it lasted only a few minutes; just a sprinkle really. I saw that John and Karen Newman were out fishing and had staged their attack in front of our cabin, letting the light NW wind push them south toward their cabin and Second Duck Point. It was in this location that I caught my four "keeper" perch yesterday.
As was the case yesterday, a cluster of five or six boats eventually gathered in very close proximity to one another as they fished in 10 feet of water in a spot between Giza's cabin and Second Duck Point. I get the fact that walleye often congregate in one location, but do people really need to be right on top of each other to fish? With so much water on Sucker Bay alone, there's plenty of room to -- as Moe of the Three Stooges used to say -- "spread out."
I made a hearty Sunday breakfast of eggs over medium, hash browns, bacon and toast with a big glass of orange juice. I don't eat like that every day, but on Sunday I'll occasionally splurge and have a big breakfast. As I cleaned up after breakfast I noticed that the light rain continued to fall. I stepped out onto the back porch and felt the icy cold rain fall in the 51 degree air temperature. It wasn't raining hard, just enough to make everything wet. The Newmans, as well as the other half dozen boats, remained on the water.
Right around 11:00 a.m., I happened to look out the window and saw that the Newmans were coming in off the water. They'd been out for a couple of hours in the light, cold rain so I figured they needed to come ashore, dry off and warm up.
I surprised somewhat to get a call from John Newman just before noon asking if I wanted to go out for some early afternoon angling with him. At this point the light rain had stopped, not that that would have kept me off the water, and so I agreed to meet him at my boat lift in 15 minutes. By 12:15 p.m. we were on the 60.7 degree water tipping our jigs with fatheads and slowly drifting from Poage's cabin southward in 10 feet of water.
During the next two hours I caught more than a dozen perch, including 4 big jumbos that went into the live well and later into John's bucket. He was trying to get enough fish for a fish fry for his entire family of five, so I was more than happy to chip in with my four big perch.
I also caught a medium-sized northern, which went back into the lake, as well as a 14-inch and a 16-inch walleye, both of which went back into the lake. The larger of the two fish got off on its own. I had hooked the walleye and had gotten it to the side of the boat, but rather than ask John to get the landing net and secure the fish I decided to reach over the side of the boat and land it by hand. Well, the fish turned abruptly and bit through the line and set itself free, with my jig still in the side of its mouth.
At 2:15 p.m. we came ashore so John could take his wife Karen out for some afternoon fishing. I used the time to clean up the house and eat some lunch.
Then just before 4:00 p.m. I decided to go fishing by myself. I could see John and Karen on the lake and I also spotted Tom Malay in his boat out trolling. Three of the five houses on our little stretch of Ottertail Peninsula had boats on the water at the same time. Not an entirely unusual experience, but with only five boats in sight on Sucker Bay, we represented 60% of them.
Again I used a 1/8-ounce lime-green and silver colored Bass Pro Shops XPS walleye jig tipped with big fathead minnows. I made several passes from in front of Poage's cabin southward toward Second Duck Point. During the next two hours and 15 minutes I caught a dozen or more perch, including one big jumbo, and three walleyes that measured 14-, 15- and 16-inches. Since I had two big perch in the basket at home for Sunday night dinner, all fish went back into the lake.
At 5:15 p.m. the sun came out and for the first time all day the entire area was basked in the late-Fall light of the Autumn sun. The shoreline looked particularly spectacular with the yellows, golds, oranges and reds of the leaves shimmering in the sunlight with the blue-green water in the foreground. Not that I needed it, but the beauty of Ottertail Peninsula at that particular moment, especially at Second Duck Point, reminded me of why this is where I'd rather be than any place else I've ever visited on the planet.
When 6:15 p.m. rolled around I made my way back to the boat lift and onto shore. Once the boat was secure on the lift and the minnows in the garage with aeration, I made my way to the fish cleaning house to clean the two jumbo perch which were destined to be my dinner. I was waylayed, however, when Karen Newman called to me to come over to their place and meet their new 15-week old dog, Bernard; a lab and springer spaniel mix.
I ended up spending an hour chatting with the Newmans and playing with dog before making my way back to my house to clean the perch. Eventually the perch were cleaned and I could start my dinner preperations.
In addition to beer-batterd perch (using Shore Lunch and Leinenkugel Classic Amber) I made a baked potato and steamed green beans. A tasty and relatively simple dinner.
After dinner I checked some football scores -- the 49ers won big over the Bucs 48-3, the Raiders won in Houston 25-20, and unfortunately the Packers won to go to 5-0 which means the Lions will need to beat the Bears on Monday night to keep pace -- listened to some classical music then went to bed fairly early for me, before midnight.
It was a great day fishing on Leech Lake -- two separate trips -- with two dozen perch caught in addition to five walleye. After some concentrated work time tomorrow, I hope to get out for more fishing, if the weather permits. Until then, good night from Leech Lake.
Duck hunting season opened in late September, so on this quiet Sunday morning I could hear the distant "pop, pop" of shotgun blasts as hunters along the shoreline and in flat-bottom duck boats shot at their prey. Last night at the OPA Pot Luck dinner/meeting, one of the attendees, the son of a OPA member, told me he'd been out duck hunting earlier in the day and had bagged several ducks. As much as I'd like to try cooking and eating a wild duck, I've never hunted for them. Nor have I hunted for grouse, pheasant, or whitetail deer. I am strictly a fisherman, at least so far.
At 9:45 a.m. a light rain started to fall, but it lasted only a few minutes; just a sprinkle really. I saw that John and Karen Newman were out fishing and had staged their attack in front of our cabin, letting the light NW wind push them south toward their cabin and Second Duck Point. It was in this location that I caught my four "keeper" perch yesterday.
As was the case yesterday, a cluster of five or six boats eventually gathered in very close proximity to one another as they fished in 10 feet of water in a spot between Giza's cabin and Second Duck Point. I get the fact that walleye often congregate in one location, but do people really need to be right on top of each other to fish? With so much water on Sucker Bay alone, there's plenty of room to -- as Moe of the Three Stooges used to say -- "spread out."
I made a hearty Sunday breakfast of eggs over medium, hash browns, bacon and toast with a big glass of orange juice. I don't eat like that every day, but on Sunday I'll occasionally splurge and have a big breakfast. As I cleaned up after breakfast I noticed that the light rain continued to fall. I stepped out onto the back porch and felt the icy cold rain fall in the 51 degree air temperature. It wasn't raining hard, just enough to make everything wet. The Newmans, as well as the other half dozen boats, remained on the water.
Right around 11:00 a.m., I happened to look out the window and saw that the Newmans were coming in off the water. They'd been out for a couple of hours in the light, cold rain so I figured they needed to come ashore, dry off and warm up.
I surprised somewhat to get a call from John Newman just before noon asking if I wanted to go out for some early afternoon angling with him. At this point the light rain had stopped, not that that would have kept me off the water, and so I agreed to meet him at my boat lift in 15 minutes. By 12:15 p.m. we were on the 60.7 degree water tipping our jigs with fatheads and slowly drifting from Poage's cabin southward in 10 feet of water.
During the next two hours I caught more than a dozen perch, including 4 big jumbos that went into the live well and later into John's bucket. He was trying to get enough fish for a fish fry for his entire family of five, so I was more than happy to chip in with my four big perch.
I also caught a medium-sized northern, which went back into the lake, as well as a 14-inch and a 16-inch walleye, both of which went back into the lake. The larger of the two fish got off on its own. I had hooked the walleye and had gotten it to the side of the boat, but rather than ask John to get the landing net and secure the fish I decided to reach over the side of the boat and land it by hand. Well, the fish turned abruptly and bit through the line and set itself free, with my jig still in the side of its mouth.
At 2:15 p.m. we came ashore so John could take his wife Karen out for some afternoon fishing. I used the time to clean up the house and eat some lunch.
Then just before 4:00 p.m. I decided to go fishing by myself. I could see John and Karen on the lake and I also spotted Tom Malay in his boat out trolling. Three of the five houses on our little stretch of Ottertail Peninsula had boats on the water at the same time. Not an entirely unusual experience, but with only five boats in sight on Sucker Bay, we represented 60% of them.
Again I used a 1/8-ounce lime-green and silver colored Bass Pro Shops XPS walleye jig tipped with big fathead minnows. I made several passes from in front of Poage's cabin southward toward Second Duck Point. During the next two hours and 15 minutes I caught a dozen or more perch, including one big jumbo, and three walleyes that measured 14-, 15- and 16-inches. Since I had two big perch in the basket at home for Sunday night dinner, all fish went back into the lake.
At 5:15 p.m. the sun came out and for the first time all day the entire area was basked in the late-Fall light of the Autumn sun. The shoreline looked particularly spectacular with the yellows, golds, oranges and reds of the leaves shimmering in the sunlight with the blue-green water in the foreground. Not that I needed it, but the beauty of Ottertail Peninsula at that particular moment, especially at Second Duck Point, reminded me of why this is where I'd rather be than any place else I've ever visited on the planet.
When 6:15 p.m. rolled around I made my way back to the boat lift and onto shore. Once the boat was secure on the lift and the minnows in the garage with aeration, I made my way to the fish cleaning house to clean the two jumbo perch which were destined to be my dinner. I was waylayed, however, when Karen Newman called to me to come over to their place and meet their new 15-week old dog, Bernard; a lab and springer spaniel mix.
I ended up spending an hour chatting with the Newmans and playing with dog before making my way back to my house to clean the perch. Eventually the perch were cleaned and I could start my dinner preperations.
In addition to beer-batterd perch (using Shore Lunch and Leinenkugel Classic Amber) I made a baked potato and steamed green beans. A tasty and relatively simple dinner.
After dinner I checked some football scores -- the 49ers won big over the Bucs 48-3, the Raiders won in Houston 25-20, and unfortunately the Packers won to go to 5-0 which means the Lions will need to beat the Bears on Monday night to keep pace -- listened to some classical music then went to bed fairly early for me, before midnight.
It was a great day fishing on Leech Lake -- two separate trips -- with two dozen perch caught in addition to five walleye. After some concentrated work time tomorrow, I hope to get out for more fishing, if the weather permits. Until then, good night from Leech Lake.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
October 8, 2011 -- On Leech Lake
This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was 52 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast and the wind was variable at 10-20 mph out of the SW.
By 10:30 a.m. there were a half dozen boats in front of the house fishing in what I'd estimate to be 8 feet of water. According to my neighbor John Newman, who went fishing yesterday and was again on the water this morning, there are walleye out there. John caught 16-inch walleye yesterday, which he kept, and he released a huge walleye, which he estimated to be close to 28-inches.
After having a leisurely breakfast, and enjoying a couple of cups of coffee, I decided to go fishing. I took two spinning rod and reel combinations to the boat, and also brought along my baitcasting rod and reel rigged for trolling. Since I hadn't used my boat since my last visit in August, I also had to put my tackle box and other items into the boat. The last thing I brought aboard was the fathead minnows.
I lowered the boat into the water, noticing that the water level was down several inches since August, fired up the Mercury Verado (which started up first try) and slowly motored out to a spot in front of Giza's cabin in 10 feet of water. The water temperature was 60.5 degrees.
There were already eight boats in the area, so I picked a spot where I would be clear of all of them during my drift northward toward the Malay's cabin. I deployed the drift sock, tipped my lime-green colored jig with a fathead and started fishing.
My first pass I had several bites, and lost three or four minnows, but couldn't hook anything. My lack of time on the water during the past seven weeks has me rusty. During my second pass from Giza's to Malay's I caught a few small perch, which went back into the water. I also caught a small 13-inch walleye, which of course went back into the lake as well.
On my third pass I located a school of good-sized perch. I hooked two 10-inch perch, and although they weren't technically jumbos, I kept them anyway because they were stout fish.
My next pass proved even better. Directly in front of our house I caught another 10-inch perch, which I kept, followed by a 13-inch+ perch that definitely qualified as a jumbo. It was during my fight with the 13-incher that I realized I hadn't loaded the landing net in the boat. No problem, however, I was able to hoist the big boy into the boat and deposit him into the live well. Four perch in the box.
Looking from the boat toward shore on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake. Directly in front of our house.
By 10:30 a.m. there were a half dozen boats in front of the house fishing in what I'd estimate to be 8 feet of water. According to my neighbor John Newman, who went fishing yesterday and was again on the water this morning, there are walleye out there. John caught 16-inch walleye yesterday, which he kept, and he released a huge walleye, which he estimated to be close to 28-inches.
After having a leisurely breakfast, and enjoying a couple of cups of coffee, I decided to go fishing. I took two spinning rod and reel combinations to the boat, and also brought along my baitcasting rod and reel rigged for trolling. Since I hadn't used my boat since my last visit in August, I also had to put my tackle box and other items into the boat. The last thing I brought aboard was the fathead minnows.
I lowered the boat into the water, noticing that the water level was down several inches since August, fired up the Mercury Verado (which started up first try) and slowly motored out to a spot in front of Giza's cabin in 10 feet of water. The water temperature was 60.5 degrees.
There were already eight boats in the area, so I picked a spot where I would be clear of all of them during my drift northward toward the Malay's cabin. I deployed the drift sock, tipped my lime-green colored jig with a fathead and started fishing.
My first pass I had several bites, and lost three or four minnows, but couldn't hook anything. My lack of time on the water during the past seven weeks has me rusty. During my second pass from Giza's to Malay's I caught a few small perch, which went back into the water. I also caught a small 13-inch walleye, which of course went back into the lake as well.
On my third pass I located a school of good-sized perch. I hooked two 10-inch perch, and although they weren't technically jumbos, I kept them anyway because they were stout fish.
My next pass proved even better. Directly in front of our house I caught another 10-inch perch, which I kept, followed by a 13-inch+ perch that definitely qualified as a jumbo. It was during my fight with the 13-incher that I realized I hadn't loaded the landing net in the boat. No problem, however, I was able to hoist the big boy into the boat and deposit him into the live well. Four perch in the box.
Looking from the boat toward shore on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake. Directly in front of our house.
At 3:15 p.m. I went ashore for a little lunch, prior to getting ready for the OPA Pot Luck. Once on shore I stopped by to see John Newman and to give him two of the four perch I had caught -- although I kept the big jumbo for my Sunday night dinner.
------
There were 49 people in attendance at tonight's Ottertail Peninsula Association pot luck dinner/meeting and 30 door prizes to be given away after the meeting. Pretty good odds of winning something, but I managed to beat the odds and come up empty. It's just as well since I haven't donated anything for the past two years.
The wind has died down and the lake is almost calm, the temperature at 7:30 p.m. was 62 degrees, and the sky is partly cloudy.
I wasn't feeling 100% tonight so after getting home from the pot luck I did a little reading, listened to some classical music on KCRB out of Bemidji and went to bed early. Hopefully I'll wake up feeling better tomorrow. I don't want to waste one second of my time at Leech Lake not feeling well. Until tomorrow...
What a Week!!
The marvel of modern travel, and the hectic schedules people keep as a result of it, never ceases to amaze me. Take my week for instance.
On Monday, October 3, I had a meeting in San Francisco with a company for which I'm doing some consulting. They are located in the Transamercia Pyramid complex on Sansome Street. Two days later, on Wednesday, I had a meeting in Palo Alto, directly across the street from Stanford University and the football stadium where the #4 nationally-ranked Cardinal play. And on Friday, October 7, I was on the shores of Leech Lake enjoying the earthy smell of Fall leaves on the ground and the fresh, clean and unique smell of the lake.
Monday, Oct. 3 I was at the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco
On Wednesday, Oct. 5 I was at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA
On Friday, Oct. 7 I was on the shores of Leech Lake, MN
On Monday, October 3, I had a meeting in San Francisco with a company for which I'm doing some consulting. They are located in the Transamercia Pyramid complex on Sansome Street. Two days later, on Wednesday, I had a meeting in Palo Alto, directly across the street from Stanford University and the football stadium where the #4 nationally-ranked Cardinal play. And on Friday, October 7, I was on the shores of Leech Lake enjoying the earthy smell of Fall leaves on the ground and the fresh, clean and unique smell of the lake.
Monday, Oct. 3 I was at the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco
On Wednesday, Oct. 5 I was at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA
On Friday, Oct. 7 I was on the shores of Leech Lake, MN
Over the course of just five days my location and situation couldn't have been more different. Talking about business development strategy at the start of the week and closing it out by discussing just where and how deep the walleye are biting.
We live in an age of marvelous technological innovation, as we were reminded during the past few days as Silicon Valley and world mourned the loss of Apple founder Steve Jobs. But lost among the discussion of iPhones, iPads and Pixar were other more critical inventions that shape our lives daily, such as indoor plumbing, electrified houses, and air travel. It is the later that made my widely diverse week possible.
Now it's time to simplifiy. I'm going to take my cup of coffee, sit in chair and stare at the awesome beauty of Leech Lake.
Friday, October 07, 2011
October 7, 2011 -- Return to Leech Lake
I'm baaaack...
I arrived at the Bemidji airport at 10:15 p.m. last night and made it out to our house on Leech Lake an hour or so later. I couldn't believe how warm it was -- 70 degrees -- at that time of night. When I left San Jose around noon Pacific Time the temperature was barely 60 degrees. Go figure.
This morning when I woke up the temperature was again near 70 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast with occasional patches of blue sky, and the wind was out of the SSE at 20 mph; but because the peninsula blocks the wind from that direction, the lake in front of the house was relatively calm, with just small waves.
Since I got in late last night I didn't have a chance to do any grocery shopping so I went into Bemidji this afternoon to buy groceries and pick up a pie at Perkin's for the OPA Pot Luck tomorrow evening.
On my drive into town the thermometer in the truck read 76 degrees. Talk about an Indian Summer! But it was extremely windy with gusts up to 50 mph. After my shopping and various errands I drove back to Leech Lake.
Rain fell intermittently during the drive, and at times came down in buckets forcing me to set my windshield wipers to full speed. But by the time I got to the house the rain had stopped and there were brief moments of sunshine. That didn't last long.
At 6:30 p.m. a storm began approaching from the south, and with it, more wind and the rumbling of thunder. The sky darkened and the whitecaps on the lake picked up. The temperature, however, remained warm at 75 degrees.
A storm approaches from the south on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake
With the groceries all stored away, I went out onto the dock to watch the storm approach. But the light left the sky by 7:00 p.m., so I went back into the house.
John Newman invited me over to his cabin for dinner tonight, so I've got to make a salad in preparation for dinner. For dinner, John had brined some chicken breasts, marinated them in a chipotle sauce then grilled them. We had them on large-sized hamburger buns with potato chips and salad. Great dinner.
After dinner the rain had finally stopped so we moved the party to the driveway where John had set up his portable fireplace. With the temperature still in the mid -60s, sitting outside was very enjoyable. And by 10:00 p.m., the wind had blown the clouds away and we could see the stars above us.
Finally around midnight I wondered home. The wind today, especially when it shifted from the SSE to the SW, made the lake too rough to go fishing. But even though I didn't get out onto the water, it was great to be back at Leech Lake.
I arrived at the Bemidji airport at 10:15 p.m. last night and made it out to our house on Leech Lake an hour or so later. I couldn't believe how warm it was -- 70 degrees -- at that time of night. When I left San Jose around noon Pacific Time the temperature was barely 60 degrees. Go figure.
This morning when I woke up the temperature was again near 70 degrees, the sky was grey and overcast with occasional patches of blue sky, and the wind was out of the SSE at 20 mph; but because the peninsula blocks the wind from that direction, the lake in front of the house was relatively calm, with just small waves.
Since I got in late last night I didn't have a chance to do any grocery shopping so I went into Bemidji this afternoon to buy groceries and pick up a pie at Perkin's for the OPA Pot Luck tomorrow evening.
On my drive into town the thermometer in the truck read 76 degrees. Talk about an Indian Summer! But it was extremely windy with gusts up to 50 mph. After my shopping and various errands I drove back to Leech Lake.
Rain fell intermittently during the drive, and at times came down in buckets forcing me to set my windshield wipers to full speed. But by the time I got to the house the rain had stopped and there were brief moments of sunshine. That didn't last long.
At 6:30 p.m. a storm began approaching from the south, and with it, more wind and the rumbling of thunder. The sky darkened and the whitecaps on the lake picked up. The temperature, however, remained warm at 75 degrees.
A storm approaches from the south on Sucker Bay, Leech Lake
With the groceries all stored away, I went out onto the dock to watch the storm approach. But the light left the sky by 7:00 p.m., so I went back into the house.
John Newman invited me over to his cabin for dinner tonight, so I've got to make a salad in preparation for dinner. For dinner, John had brined some chicken breasts, marinated them in a chipotle sauce then grilled them. We had them on large-sized hamburger buns with potato chips and salad. Great dinner.
After dinner the rain had finally stopped so we moved the party to the driveway where John had set up his portable fireplace. With the temperature still in the mid -60s, sitting outside was very enjoyable. And by 10:00 p.m., the wind had blown the clouds away and we could see the stars above us.
Finally around midnight I wondered home. The wind today, especially when it shifted from the SSE to the SW, made the lake too rough to go fishing. But even though I didn't get out onto the water, it was great to be back at Leech Lake.
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