August 2, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

This morning at 8:00 a.m. there was low rumbling of thunder, some light rain and overcast skies. But by 10:00 a.m., the weather had cleared and it was as nice a day as we've had in a long time. Clear blue skies, a nice breeze blowing out of the NW and a temperature of 74 degrees. It was the perfect day to enjoy a cup of coffee on the back deck. The only downside was that Kathleen wasn't here with me.

After my coffee and some work online and around the house, I took a bike ride down to the Harbor and back. Roughly a 4-mile round trip. It felt good to stretch my legs and move, even if the old bike I was riding -- Kathleen's Dad's old bike -- is much too small for me.

I was just getting ready to go next door to the cabin to cut a roll of zinc tape in half -- in order to retrofit it along the cap of the roof of the garage that is attached to the house -- when I got a call from Lainy. Yep, she had another bat in the house. So I grabbed my net, got on the ATV and drove down to the Malay's cabin.

Unlike the bats that I captured yesterday, this bat was either sick or injured because it had crawled underneath the small refrigerator that the Malay's keep in their back, screened-in porch and wedged itself between a bracket and the cooling coils.

I had to use a yardstick to push the tiny bat out from its hidden spot and then easily scooped it up in the net and deposited it outside. Just as I had rid the Malay's of another bat, Dave Levy, the local carpenter who is does work on everyone's cabin in the area, including ours, stopped by to seal up the chimney grating on the top of the house; a suspected entry point for the bats invading the Malay's house.

Once on top of the house and near the chimney, Dave called out that there were several bats nestled in and around the base of the chimney. I quickly scampered up the ladder and onto the roof to get a look myself. In addition to four or five live bats, there were maybe a dozen more than had died. Using a stick, and later the yardstick, I managed to get all of the living bats to vacate the area so Dave could set about his work.

At that point I left the Malay's and went back to the cabin where I spent an hour or so cutting up strips of zinc which I will later install on the roof of the house-garage.

As the day progressed, the temperature climbed in to the mid-80s and the wind calmed to just a slight breeze from the SSE. With the zinc cut, and with lunch taken care of, I decided to do some later afternoon fishing.

I fished in the "honey hole" between our house and cabin in 10-12 feet of water using a jig and artificial bait, but didn't catch a thing. I did have a nice "slow pull" on my line and when I set the hook I could tell there was a big fish on the line, but as I started to play the fish it gave one strong yank on the end of my line and broke free. I tied on a new jig, tipped it with an Northland artificial grub and set out fishing again, but still could not boat a fish.

By 6:15 p.m. I was back on shore. I spent the evening doing some work online, reading, listening to music and watching yet another glorious sunset over Sucker Bay. Good night from Leech Lake; more tomorrow.

Another beautiful Leech Lake sunset over Sucker Bay

August 1, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

The first day of August arrived hot and humid. The temperature today topped out at 86 degrees, while the humidity was up near 80%. The dew point was over 70 degrees so it was a muggy day to say the least. The wind was variable throughout the day ranging from just a light breeze to 15+ mph out of the NW.

Rather than eat breakfast at home this morning I drove into Bemidji where I ate at Perkin's. I needed to go into town to pick up 20 gallons of outdoor stain which I will apply to the house once Joe arrives in MN to help me.

I also ran some other errands in town, like going to the UPS Store to send some of the things Jayden left at the lake back to him, and get some groceries to hold me over until Joe arrives.

I didn't get home until just before 3:00 p.m., which is the time John Newman had invited me over to have an late-lunch/early-dinner with him and Clarence (the guy from whom we purchased our beautiful Leech Lake house). While I was hurriedly put away the groceries my phone rang and it was Lainy Malay. She sounded upset and I soon learned why -- she had a bat flying around in her house. She asked if I'd come down and capture it for her.

I put the frozen and cold grocery items away and left the others for later. I went next door and retrieved my live-well net which is the perfect size to capture the flying rodents. Armed with my net I took the ATV down to the Malay's and met Lainy on her back porch. She let me in and pointed through the French doors toward the kitchen, telling me that there were actually two bats in there. On closure inspection I spotted three bats in flight.

I opened the door and made my way in. I spotted one of the little mosquito catchers resting on the wall. I effortlessly covered it with my net and took it outside where I released it. I then propped the front door open hoping I could herd the other two out without having to capture them. Wrong.

The two bats continued to fly around the house, but in an amazing display of hand-eye coordination I snagged one out of midair in a single fluid motion. But as I carried it to the door it escaped my net forcing me to swipe at it with the net. I clipped it with the metal frame of the net knocking it to the floor. Unfazed, the rodent began crawling across the floor while screeching at me. I went to scoop it up with the net but in the ensuing struggle the bat was injured. I finally got the wounded animal outside where I let it loose in the wooded area between the Malay's and their neighbor's house.

Now it was time to find the third little night flyer. But despite a thorough search of the living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom neither Lainy nor I could locate the third bat. I figured it must have flown out the open door while I was preoccupied with the wounded bat so I declared the premises "bat free."

I then went home, cleaned up and went next door to the Newman's. I spent several hours with John and Clarence conversing, eating grilled chicken sandwiches and enjoying the nice breeze that had picked up; cooling things off somewhat.

While I was at Newman's, in fact just before we were getting ready to sit down for our meal, John got a call from Lainy Malay. The third bat, the mystery bat, had appeared and she had it trapped on the back porch. She wanted to know if I'd come down and get it outside for her. I went home and repeated the process from earlier -- get net, ride ATV to the Malay's and hunt bat.

I spotted it on the window as I entered the back porch. Sensing that I was there to do it no good, the flying rat leaped from its spot on the window and took flight. In a repeat of my earlier feat of bat-catching, I captured the bat with just one well-time swipe of the net through the air. With it entangled in the mesh of the net, I opened the door to the porch and let the bat go safely outside.

With the bat situation again under control, I went back to Newman's to enjoy the tasty grilled chicken sandwiches. I came home around 7:30 p.m. and spent a quiet evening at home.

I did make sure to listen to some Grateful Dead music in honor of what would have been Jerry Garcia's 70th birthday. Smile, smile, smile.

Leech Lake sunset, August 1, 2012

There was a nice sunset, and I wish Kathleen could have been here to enjoy it with me. I know she went running at the ranch tonight after work, but it's just not the same as having her run down W. Shores Rd. followed by a series of lunges down the driveway. Hopefully she'll be able to return to Leech Lake soon.

Good night.

July 31, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

How in the world can this be the last day in July? It seemed like just yesterday it was early June and I was picking up Kathleen at the airport for the start of her wonderful, spectacular visit to Leech Lake. Now it's the end of July. Wow.

Well, the weather certainly felt like a day in late July. The temperature at 8:30 a.m. this morning was already 75 degrees, the wind was light at 8-10 mph out of the WSW and the humidity was on the rise. The sky was mostly sunny with just a few high clouds.

As the day progressed the humidity went up as did the heat. By late afternoon the temperature was in the high 80s and the humidity was at least 75%. The wind remained fairly steady at 8-12 mph out of the SW.

Around 3:30 p.m. John Newman made his way over to my boat lift in preparation for a couple of hours on the water. Our plan was to pull spinner rigs with nightcrawlers for walleye and if that didn't work switch to jigging with leeches, fatheads and artificial bait.

I motored the Lund IFS 1850 Pro south past Second Duck Point, deployed my 8-hp Honda, 4-stroke kicker motor and John and I then started pulling spinners. John was using a bullet weight in front of a spinner of purple beads and blades while I used an in-line keel weight pulling a chartreuse crawler harness/spinner rig. I kept the boat moving  at 1.3 to 1.7 mph which was sufficient to keep the spinners over the weeds. I took us up Sucker Bay to Schiebe's cabin, but other than a few small perch bites neither John nor I caught a walleye or jumbo perch.

As planned, we switched up tactics and to jigging while drifting. Again I motored us past Second Duck Point in 12 feet of water -- which was 80.7 degrees -- where we deployed the drift sock and dropped our jigs in the water. I tipped my jig with a leech while John opted for a fathead. We caught a few small perch but no jumbos or walleyes.

The wind had died down to just a breeze so we pulled in the drift sock to keep the boat moving at .45 mph ground speed. But our attempts to keep moving were to no avail and we caught nothing more than small perch. So at 6:00 p.m. we decided to give up and come ashore.

I spent the rest of the night listening to music, reading, talking to Kathleen and the kids on the phone before heading off to bed. A week from today, August 7, my son Joe arrives in MN. I look forward to seeing him.

Good night from Leech Lake.

July 30, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was 68 degrees, the sky was sunny with virtually no clouds and it was windy. The wind was a good 12-18 mph out of the NNW which was created a series of whitecaps rolling toward the shoreline in front of the house.

After a light breakfast I took a bike ride down W. Shores Rd. It was good to get out and get moving without the intense heat and humidity of the past few days. The wind was enough to keep most of the deer flies from settling on me and also kept it cool enough to make it a pleasant 5-mile ride.

Throughout the afternoon the wind continued to blow hard, at times topping 20 mph out of the NNW. White caps rolled across Sucker Bay, and I only spotted two boats brave enough to battle the large waves.

I spent the day on shore. John Newman arrived at his cabin next door at around 4:15 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m. invited me over for some malted beverages and conversation. I showed up around 8:30 p.m. and stayed way too late.

As the night progressed the wind died down and the humidity began to climb. It should be a hot day tomorrow.

No fishing today. Good night from Leech Lake.

July 29, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

If the US Weather Service is to be believed, it's supposed to be between 90 and 95 degrees here at Leech Lake today. At 8:30 a.m., the temperature was 74 degrees, and I don't think it dipped much below 70 degrees during the night, so it might indeed be a "cooker" today.

The wind was out of the WSW at 8-15 mph, the sky was mostly sunny with some high, hazy clouds. A warm and pleasant summer Sunday morning, if not a bit muggy.

After a hearty Sunday breakfast, I went next door to the cabin to open up the garage so Tom and his friend Skip could take one of the ice-fishing houses that are being stored there into Bemidji where it will be auctioned off as part of fundraiser to raise money to help Skip's grandson who is in need of heart surgery. As it turns out, the little boy will be having surgery at the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto not more than 20 minutes drive from our house in San Jose. Small world.

I helped Skip and his son Caleb load the ice-fishing house into Skip's pickup truck and just that little bit of movement had us all covered in sweat as a result of the 85 degree heat and high humidity. I think that 90 degrees or even higher is a real possibility. The wind did pick up to 15 mph out of the WSW and that helped cool things off a bit; if you were just standing still.

After Tom, Skip and Caleb left I set about some work at the cabin. I applied water sealant to the permanent wood portion of the dock that leads out to the boat lift. Sitting in the hot, baking sun had me sweating in the hour it took to apply the sealant.

I then mended the fish-holding basket that I keep my catch in. Earlier, I had released the jumbo perch I had hooked a couple of days ago deciding to have something grilled for dinner instead. It was during the process of releasing the perch that I noticed that some of the wire meshing had torn and that there was a hole the size of plum in the bottom of the basket. It wasn't big enough for a jumbo perch to squeeze through, and certainly not big enough for a keeper walleye to escape, but I used some wire to repair it just the same.

At this point the temperature had climbed to 89 degrees and the humidity was up over 75% with a dew point in the 70-degree plus range; very muggy. I was so hot that I decided to take a ride on the ATV to cool off. On my way past Malay's on the way back to the house I spotted Tom who was taking a break from mowing his lawn. He too was covered in sweat. We decided the best thing to do was sit still and enjoy a couple of cold, malted beverages. And that's just what we did.

Once home, I sat out on the back deck and read. The wind was blowing hard enough to keep any bugs and flies at bay, and it was much cooler than being in the house. I made it through "The Merchant's Tale" in Geoffery Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I still have five more "Tales" to complete before I finish this epic work of poetic literature.

Later in the evening, after a beautiful sunset, I grilled a pork steak and had that and a variety of sides for dinner. I then settled in and listened to some music and surfed the web for a while before calling it a night. The wind never let up today keeping me off the water, but maybe tomorrow I can get out for some fishing.

Good night.

July 28, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

Unlike yesterday, this morning was sunny and warm. The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 73 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny with just a few big, white fluffy clouds and the wind was relatively light at 5-10 mph out of the WSW.

I enjoyed a several cups of coffee while sitting on the back deck. It was just a week ago that Kathleen and I drove from St. Cloud so Kathleen could catch her flight to San Francisco. Although it's only been 7 days, it seems like she's been gone for a long, long time. I sure wish we could figure out a way to live here at Leech Lake year round.

I surfed the web for a while reading about the Olympics and other news before deciding to go fishing. I made a sandwich, gathered some cold drinks and then went next door to the boat lift. With the wind blowing out of the SSW I motored out past Second Duck Point and let the wind push the boat north up Sucker Bay and out from shore toward the middle of the bay.

I fished for about 90 minutes and in that time I caught only one medium sized pike and possibly the smallest fish I've ever caught using a jig; a tiny 2 1/2-inch perch that was no bigger around than my little finger. I'll give the little guy credit, he was willing to hit a bait that was the same size as it was, a 2 1/2-inch pearl white Gulp Alive! minnow.

Once back on shore I finished eating my sandwich then set to work applying Thompson's water seal to the stairs next to the harbor. That took me about an hour, and by the time I was done, I was hot and sweaty from working outside in the hot sun and a temperature of 85 degrees. It was time for a plunge in the lake.

I took a very enjoyable and cooling camp bath that truly did cool me off. After drying off and coming inside it was time for A Prairie Home Companion on MPR. It was a compilation show with bits and pieces I've heard before, but it was still fun to listen to.

With Garrison gone for another week I made dinner and then settled in to do some reading online and listening to music. I sure wish Kathleen was here to play dominoes, cribbage or Scrabble with me. We do have fun playing games in the living room.

An uneventful, but pleasant evening on the shores of Leech Lake.

July 27, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

At 8:30 a.m. the temperature was a cool 65 degrees, the sky was mostly grey and cloudy with just a few tiny  patches of blue and the wind was out of the NNW 8-12 mph. It looked like it had rained overnight because the ground was wet and there were a handful of puddles in driveway.

I made a pot of coffee and while it was brewing I checked the four boards on the north side of the house that  I stained yesterday. They looked good, and the color was a perfect match. Therefore, I called Sherwin-Williams in Bemidji and put in an order for 20 gallons. That should be enough for Joe and I to stain the entire house, although I made need to order more when it comes to staining both the front and back decks.

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games have their opening ceremony in London tonight, but since I don't have TV I'll have to follow the games (to some degree) online.

After breakfast and a little work around the house, I decided to go fishing at roughly 1:45 p.m. The wind had shifted as the day went on and was now coming out of the WSW at 10 mph. The temperature had warmed to 72 degrees and the sky was mostly blue with big, billowy white clouds filling most of the sky. The water temperature remained quite warm at 79.7 degrees.

I started fishing just north of Second Duck Point in 10 feet of water. I was still using a black Northland Fireball jig and again I tipped it with a large leech. I had several bites, and caught a few rock bass, but it seemed I was losing more leeches to the small fish than I was actually catching fish. So decided to change tactics.

I continued to use the black Fireball jig, but rather than using a leech as enticement I switched to a 2 1/2-inch  Gulp Alive! minnow in silver pearl color. I hadn't yet used any artificial bait while fishing for walleye and perch (other than trolling crankbaits) and thought I'd give it a shot.

Almost instantly I caught a beautiful 11 1/2-inch jumbo perch while jigging right in front of the house. I put it in the live well and will have it for dinner either Saturday or Sunday evening. I continued drifting and jigging until I got to the Malay's, but the weeds are so thick there that I needed to relocate.

Even though I'd caught a few nice perch since switching to the Gulp Alive! minnow, I thought I would motor up to the Birches and fish there for a while; it'd been a couple of weeks since I'd fished up there.

After a short time, maybe 20 minutes, I hooked into a good sized fish. I could tell right away it was a northern pike and quickly adjusted the drag on my Shimano Stella reel in order to fight it better. I played the fish for about 5 minutes before getting it along side the boat. I could see it wasn't the typical hammer-handle that is so plentiful in the lake, but a big northern, roughly 30-inches long.

I quickly slipped on my Lindner fish glove so I could more easily grab onto the slimy pike but the fish was so big that my hand would not reach around the fish. At that point, the pike made another mad dash for the depths of the lake and in doing so snapped my line. Although I didn't get the pike in the boat, which I was trying to avoid anyway, it was the largest northern that I've caught on Leech Lake in a long time; maybe ever.

I finally came ashore just before 5:00 p.m. after nearly 3 full hours on the lake. Once I switched to the Gulp Alive! I started catching more fish. Now I'm going to have to rethink using leeches.

Tom Malay and Bro Brosdahl were supposed to stop by this evening to look at the ice fishing houses that they have stored in my garage, but I never heard from either of them, nor could I reach Tom when I called him. Oh well, I guess it wasn't that big a deal that they needed to see them after all.

Tonight's sunset over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

I made a tasty dinner of fried chicken, then spent the evening listening to music and watching a DVD. I was a good day on the water and I'll most likely spend more time fishing Leech Lake tomorrow.

Good night. 

July 26, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

This morning the sky was grey, the wind was 10-15 mph out of the NNW but was shifting to the WNW, and the temperature was a much cooler 70 degrees. In fact, with the wind blowing it was actually a bit chilly and I had to put on a long sleeved shirt.

After some work around the house, I decided to apply some of the stain I picked up at Sherwin-Williams on the patch of the house that I power washed a couple of days ago. The house had had time to dry after the power washing and torrential rains, and with the nice breeze blowing I thought it would be a good day to apply a test coat.

Using a small roller, which coincidentally was the same size as the cedar planks that make up the siding of the house, I applied stain to the bottom four boards on the north side of the house. From the very early looks of the stain, it is a good match to the original color and should do fine. But to make sure, I will give it 24 hours to dry thoroughly.

As is often the case when you paint the house, or wash the car, a light rain storm moved in at 2:15 p.m. and dropped a light, but steady, rain for nearly an hour. By 3:30 p.m. the rain had stopped and the sun popped through the still very heavy and dark cloud cover.

Using this brief break in the weather, I decided to go fishing. I got the boat off the lift, motored out to a spot in 12 feet of water directly in front of the Giza's cabin and let the 10 mph WSW wind push me toward shore and north toward the boat lift.

As I have for the past several times on the water, I used a black (with red eye) Northland Fireball jig tipped with a large leech. But unlike my past four or five times on the water I was skunked. I didn't even get a bite. So after 45 minutes or so, and with storm clouds and rain again moving into the area, I headed back to shore.

I wasn't in the house 5 minutes when another light, steady rain began to fall. With the heavy rain we had a couple of nights ago, coupled with the rain off and on today, the grass, the plants and the trees were literally shining a bright emerald green.

By 6:15 p.m. the wind had shifted yet again and was blowing out of the NW and with the change in wind another mild storm front rolled in. At 6:30 p.m. a light, steady rain was falling. While the rest of the nation is baking in unprecedented drought and heat we here at Leech Lake are staring at 113,000 acres of water while a gentle soaking rain falls. Climate change is a bitch.

Tom Malay called me this evening and asked if tomorrow evening he and Brian "Bro" Brosdahl could come by and look at the ice fishing houses that the two of them have been storing in my garage. Bro wants to donate one or two of them to a fundraiser for a friend of his who has a grandson who needs heart surgery and is scheduled to make a trip to California for the required procedure.

I do plan to be around tomorrow evening and look forward to hosting Tom, my friend, and Bro a fishing legend here in the northwoods. Bro has been featured in In-Fisherman magazine and on the magazine's TV show, as well as appearing in/on numerous other TV fishing shows, magazine articles, sports shows, seminars, etc. I once met Bro years ago on the water while fishing on the north end of Sucker Bay, but we were both in boats and just chatted while fishing for largemouth bass. Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I'll meet him face-to-face.

I went out fishing one last time at 8:15 p.m. I only fished for about 45 minutes, and caught only one measly rock bass. I came in just around 9:00 p.m. and again no sooner did I get inside the house than it started to rain. The shower only lasted a few minutes, but once again everything outside was wet, green and fresh. The level of oxygen in the air is high, and it feels amazing to take a deep breath. I could really get used to the northwoods life.

I spent the rest of the evening online, listening to classical music KCRB out of Bemidji, and reading. A wonderfully soothing evening. Good night.

P.S. One last item. My granddaughter Ashley attended the Yahoo summer picnic in Silicon Valley today -- her stepmother works there -- and she met the new CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer.

Ashley in the middle, Marissa on the left.

On Leech Lake -- July 24/25, 2012

Tuesday, July 24 was a hot day. It reached into the high 80s with mostly sunny skies and an off-shore breeze blowing from the east at 8-15 mph. I had work related things to do for some of the day, but still managed to get out on the water for a bit of fishing.

As I was putting some cold drinks into my cooler preparation for a warm trip onto the water, I noticed a boat inside my harbor. In the front of the boat was a woman who was leaning over the bow of the boat picking weeds out from around the boat lift. I stepped outside and asked if everything was OK; since boaters are allowed to use any harbor on the lake in times of distress. She replied that all was fine, and that she was a marine biologist working with Bemidji State University and that she and her intern (who was manning the tiller motor in the back of the boat) were looking for samples of Eurasian milfoil, an aquatic invasive species that has been known to grow so thick as to choke the life out of the other native aquatic plants and make it difficult to even motor a boat through it.

As it turns out, she did find some Eurasian milfoil floating in my harbor, but none actually growing there, which was some good news. Of course the bad news was finding some at all. They then made their way next door to the Newman's harbor and again found some of the invasive species floating in his harbor. Their only advice to me was if I see any Eurasian milfoil floating in my harbor, or anywhere else, to take it out of the lake and throw it far enough onto shore where it will be sure to dry out and die. And if I happen to see any growing, to pull it out and again make sure it dries out and dies. At this point, they told me, Eurasian milfoil is in the lake and there is no way to completely eradicate it.

Within 10 minutes of me first spotting the boat in my harbor, the two biologists were speeding their way north on Sucker Bay to pull out the boat at the new boat landing where Maple Leaf Resort used to stand. Now it was time for me to do some fishing.

The water temperature, which has bounced a degree or two above and below 80 degrees for weeks now -- was exactly 80 degrees.

With the wind out of the east, not ideal fishing conditions by the way, I motored out into 9 feet of water between the house and cabin and let the wind push the boat out to the middle of Sucker Bay. I decided to forego the drift sock and just let the wind push me as it may.

I tipped my black Northland Fireball jig with a fathead and within 10 minutes had hooked into a beautiful 11 1/2-inch jumbo perch. I put it in the live well for a future meal. I fished for about another hour and caught several more perch, but no more jumbos, a couple of small pike and a few rock bass. It's been some time since I've hooked into a walleye. And from what I'm hearing from the owners and dock hands at Birch Ridge Resort, the walleye fishing as reported by the guests of the resort is very difficult. Basically no one is catching walleye.

I came back on shore just before 4:00 p.m. The temperature was hovering near 85 degrees and it looked like it might rain. I decided to clean the perch right away to make sure it was fresh, although I ended up not eating it for dinner tonight. Definitely tomorrow night.

It was a quiet night and one that had me missing Kathleen. Even if we weren't in the same room or weren't actively engaged in conversation, just knowing she was here at the lake with me made me happy. Hopefully she'll be able to return sometime soon.
-----------------

During the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 25 the had a big thunderstorm. The extremely loud claps of thunder directly overhead shook the house and woke me from a deep sleep. I lay awake in bed and watched a tremendous light show with bright flashes of lightning happening every couple of seconds followed by crashes of thunder. At the same time a torrential rain was falling. The next morning I would learn from a couple of my neighbors, who have rain gauges set up outside, that more than 2 1/2-inches of rain fell during the night.

By 8:30 a.m. the rain had stopped, but the resulting humidity from downfall just hours early, left the dew point at roughly the same as the temperature -- 75 degrees. Just a simply walk down our road left me soaked in sweat. The skies were mostly grey and the light wind was out of the NNW at 5-8 mph.

I spent the morning hours taking care of some personal business issues, but by mid-afternoon I was set to go fishing. I checked on the fatheads, but unfortunately all had perished despite being in a minnow bucket in the lake. I guess the warm water temperatures and the bouncing from the waves during the night were too much for them to handle. The leeches I had purchased at the same time as the fatheads, however, were in fine condition. So once I had motored out to my usual spot on Sucker Bay, I tipped my black Northland Fireball jig with large leech and began fishing.

The water temperature remained at 80 degrees.

I fished for about an hour but caught nothing more than a few medium-sized pike, rock bass and small perch.  No jumbos or walleyes. I did enjoy eating my lunch on the water. A good sandwich always tastes a little better when it's eaten on a boat while fishing. And a cold cream soda tastes better when sipped on a boat too.

I came ashore around 3:30 p.m. in preparation for a work call at 4:00 p.m. After my work call and follow-up emails, I went down to visit with Lainy and Tom Malay. With all of the activity at our house during the past few weeks, I've not had much of a chance to visit and catch up with my Peninsula neighbors. We had a good conversation and I'm now up to date on all the happenings on Otter Tail Peninsula.

I did not eat the jumbo perch for dinner last night, but I did enjoy it tonight. I modified my beer-batter recipe by adding some Panko crumbs to the batter which gave the perch fillets a bit of crunchy texture; which I enjoyed. The fish was accompanied by sides of Minnesota wild rice and buttered green beans. A tasty, and somewhat healthy, meal.

After dinner I did a bit of reading, watched a beautiful sunset from the dock and then watched an old Sherlock Holmes movie on DVD. Given my interrupted sleep from the night before -- because of the storm -- I tried out early and went to bed before midnight. If the weather permits, I plan to do some test staining of the house to see if the color I got from Sherwin-Williams in Bemidji matches the current color the cedar siding.

Second Duck Point in the foreground, Duck Point in the background at sunset
(Notice the moon beginning to set)

Good night from Leech Lake.