August 13, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

I'll state right up front that neither Joe nor I did any fishing today, so there will not be a fishing report in today's post.

The weather this morning was breezy with a NNW wind blowing at 12-15 mph creating choppy waters and an occasional white cap. It had obviously rained during the night because there were puddles in the driveway and the ground was wet. The sky was mostly sunny with some big fluffy white clouds and the temperature at 10:00 a.m. (the first time I checked it) was 66 degrees. The high temp today got only to 74 degrees.

After a light breakfast I got everything ready to power-wash the house in preparation for staining it. I got the 8-foot ladder out so I could reach the really high spots on the house, a six-gallon can of gas for the power washer, moved all the lawn furniture off the decks, shut all the windows, etc. Finally it was time to start washing.

I started on the north side of the house, then moved to the roadside of the house, the south side and finally ended up washing the lakeside of the house. As the day went on the wind picked up and was blowing consistently at 15 mph out of the NNW with gusts up near 20 mph. Perfect conditions to dry the house. Just to make sure it is thoroughly dry, we will not start the staining process until Wednesday.

I had a quick bite of lunch and then went right back to work power-washing the dock at the cabin. It hasn't been done since we purchased the cabin 6 or 7 years ago, and I doubt the previous owner ever washed it. It was full of mold and moss and so the cleaning process was a slow tedious one. I only got part of one section done before the washer ran out of gas; which I took as a signal to stop for the day.

At 5:00 p.m. I came inside after pretty much a full day outside working. I relaxed for a bit before getting dinner going. Joe and I were hungry so we made a feast of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits and a big garden salad. It was very tasty and filling, and we were hungry!

Joe and I finished watching The Godfather, Part II and went to bed soon after. It was a productive day at the lake, even if we didn't get to go fishing.

Oh, and one final note about fishing, early in the day I let the perch go. I had caught it a couple of days earlier and had planned on having it for dinner if we could bag at least one more jumbo, but with no fishing today and the house-staining project coming up, I didn't think we'd have time to catch that second fish. Thus, there's one more jumbo perch roaming the waters of Leech Lake.

August 12, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

This morning was overcast and grey, the temperature was 66 degrees and the wind was very light at 5-8 mph out of the west. The high temperature today hit only 72 degrees.

After a late breakfast and some "hanging around" time at the house, Joe and I eventually made it out onto the water at 1:45 p.m. By this time the wind had shifted a bit and was coming out of the WSW at 8-12 mph which enabled me to position the boat in front of Giza's cabin, deploy the drift sock and have the wind push the boat at a ground speed of .35 to .45 mph all the way to Schiebe's cabin in water depths ranging from 11 feet to eventually 8 feet.

Joe continued to use the Northland Mimic Minnow Spin in a firetiger color while I opted for a Northland Gumball jig tipped with a Lindy Munchie's 4-inch worm. We both caught several small- to medium-sized perch, and I caught a couple of rock bass and northerns, but neither of us could boat that elusive second jumbo perch that we need for a fish fry.

We came back ashore at roughly 4:00 p.m. Once back on land, I got out my Stihl MS 290 chainsaw and finally took down the balsam fir that's along the path between the house and cabin. It had been damaged in the July 2 storm, but was braced upright by a nearby maple. It only took about 30 minutes to drop the tree and cut it into 2-foot lengths which we will later burn in the fire pit at the cabin. Balsam is not really the best wood to burn in the fireplace, so it'll be relegated to outdoor fires.

Joe has baited the crayfish trap with a dead sucker that washed into the harbor and in just a day has probably 15 in the trap. We moved it from the house dock to the dock at the cabin where there appears to be a larger population of crayfish. Once we have 40-50 in the trap, we'll boil them and eat them. The tail meat dipped in butter is very tasty. Maybe crayfish are not Maine lobster good, but they're still a very enjoyable appetizer before a meal.

The clouds dominated the sky at sunset tonight over Leech Lake

Joe and I watched most of The Godfather, Part II this evening, but it's so darn long that we couldn't make it all the way through disc 2 before we had to call it a night. We've got to get up tomorrow morning and start power-washing the house. Until next time...

August 11, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

It was a beautiful morning in the northwoods of Minnesota on the shores of Leech Lake. The temperature was 65 degrees at 8:30 a.m., the sky was sunny and blue with some high, hazy cloud cover and the wind was light at 8-10 mph out of the WSW. The temperature hit a high of 75 degrees, a bit cooler than the rest of the country is experiencing.

Joe is feeling better today, but is still not back to 100%. I spent the morning reading the news online, checking on the perch to make sure it was still in good health (it appears stronger than yesterday after I first caught it) and enjoying a couple of cups of coffee.

Duane Paulson stopped by at about 9:30 a.m. to see if Joe and I had started on our house-staining project; which we have not. I think it's the first time in a couple years Duane has stopped by to see me. Usually I stop and talk to him when I see him outside at his place. And speaking of the staining the house, the plan is to start the power-washing of the house on Monday, and if we're lucky, we'll be able to finish washing the house in one day. Then we'll let the house dry thoroughly all day on Tuesday and then we'll begin the staining process on Wednesday. That's the plan as of Saturday at any rate.

After lunch Joe and I went fishing. I noted that the water temperature had fallen to an even 76 degrees. With the wind blowing out of the south at 8-10 mph I set the boat out in front of Giza's cabin and let the wind push  us north on Sucker Bay. Joe was using a chartreuse green Northland Mimic Minnow Spin and I was using a Northland Gumball jig tipped with a 4-inch plastic worm.

When we were directly in front of our house Joe hooked into a good-sized perch, maybe an 11-inch jumbo. As he was lifting it into the boat it came off the hook and it fell back into the lake, which is too bad because it would have been the good second keeper for our fish-fry dinner.

For the rest of the afternoon we caught several more perch, but none big enough to keep. I also hooked into a small pike and a bigger one which snapped off my jig. We came back ashore about 4:30 p.m. in time for me to listen to A Prairie Home Companion, which was a compilation of all his baseball skits, songs and a 30-minute "News" about Babe Ruth's visit to Lake Wobegon in 1934.

We grilled pork steaks for dinner accompanied with baked potato and broccoli; very tasty. After dinner we cleaned up and the watched The Godfather on DVD. As many times as I've seen it, it's still a great movie. Maybe tomorrow, or later this week, we'll watch part Two.

We'll have to go fishing again tomorrow to see if we could catch that second jumbo perch. Both Joe and I want a fish-fry for dinner.

Good night from Leech Lake.

August 7-10, 2012 -- In Minnesota

Here's a quick recap of the past few days to get caught up on my posts.

August 7
The weather today was warm, with high temperatures up near 80 degrees. The sky was sunny with just some big fluffy clouds, and a wind out of the north at 8-12 mph. It felt muggy as I did some cleaning around the house, took the garbage and recycling down to the community center, locked up the cabin, out-buildings and house, and then started on my drive to St. Cloud. I made a stop in Walker to pick up a case for my Stihl MS 290 chainsaw, but other than that, and a quick stop in Pine River for gas and something to eat, I drove straight through to St. Cloud. I spent the late-afternoon and evening at Kathleen's mom's house before heading down to the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport to pick up Joe. His flight arrived at 11:15 p.m. and we arrived back in St. Cloud around 1:30 a.m., where we spent the night at Marge Coyle's house.

August 8
The weather in St.Cloud was relatively cool at 74 degrees in the morning, and it was overcast and looked like it could rain; although it never did. Joe and I had breakfast at Perkin's near Marge's house and the highlight was just as we were being seated the table next to us was leaving. It was then I noticed that the man at the next table was none other than fishing-legend, Fishing Hall of Fame member, Al Lindner, founder of the In-Fisherman empire and Lindy/Little Joe tackle company. I've been a fan of Al's since the early-1980s when my interest in fishing was renewed with trips to local bass lakes near San Luis Obispo, California. And at last, my path had crossed with the greatest fisherman of our era.

After breakfast Joe and I went to visit Marge at St. Benedict's and took her to see her sister and her husband had recently moved into the nursing home section of St. Ben's. We spent a couple of hours visiting with them before heading back to Marge's house. Later in the evening, Joe and I met Tim, Sandy, their boys, Marge and Tom S. and his daughter for dinner at Bravo Burritos, a favorite dining establishment of ours. We had a nice meal and had plenty of time to talk and catch up before parting ways. Joe and I, along with Tim and his boys continued the evening by taking in the movie, The Dark Knight Rises, the third of the new Batman trilogy.

August 9
The weather was again fairly cool in the morning, but warmed throughout the day. We cleaned up Marge's house, did the laundry and then started on our way north to Leech Lake. We made stops in Baxter and Walker for supplies, but managed to be sitting on the dock looking at the beauty of the lake by 5:30 p.m. We spent a fun evening at home listening to music and just hanging out. It's good to have Joe at the lake. I hope he enjoys his time here.

August 10
The temperature this morning at 8:00 a.m. was a cool 63 degrees. The wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the NNW and the sky was sunny with hardly a cloud visible. Joe wasn't feeling too good today so he spent most of the day resting and taking it easy. Travel has never been easy for him. After spending some time cleaning up around the house and doing some laundry, I decided to fishing.

The water temperature has dropped as a result of the cooler weather and is now 76.7 degrees. There is another algae bloom going on right now, about the fifth or sixth one this summer, which is a sign of a healthy lake and strong ecosystem. I decided to start the day by pulling a spinner rig with a nightcrawler at a ground speed of roughly 1 1/2 mph using the kicker motor. I took the boat south well out into Duck Bay before looping out into the bay and heading north. I got a couple of light taps, but didn't hook a fish. When I had gone as far north as Schiebe's cabin I changed tactics and switched to a jig and plastic grub-like bait. I hooked into something big, most likely a pike, but despite playing the fish carefully (with the drag set properly), the bit through the line and escaped. I quickly tied on another jig and tipped it with another artificial plastic bait and set about fishing. A short time late I boated a nice jumbo perch that measured a full 11-inches. I put that fish in the live well. With one more perch like that, Joe and I will have enough for a fish fry dinner.

The night was spent quietly after dinner with Joe going to bed early and me spending some time online. All in all, a very nice day on Leech Lake.

August 6, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

This morning was warmer than it's been in previous mornings. At 9:00 a.m. the temperature was already 74 degrees on its way to a high of 84 degrees. The wind was variable at 8-15 mph out of the WSW, but was blowing hard enough throughout most of the day as to create some white caps on the lake. The sky was sunny and blue, with hardly a cloud in site.

At 9:30 a.m. this morning Lainy Malay called me and asked if I'd seen a dog wandering around the neighborhood. It appears I'm not the only who's seen "Buck." In fact, it seems that everyone on the peninsula has seen the "German Sheppard-looking" dog. According to Lainy, the consensus from people as far south as Moose Lane off of Ottertail Point Dr. to those of us on West Shores Rd. is that the dog has been abandoned. Many people are keeping an eye out for the dog in hopes of corralling it and either keeping it themselves (as a couple of people have stated) or taking him into Bemidji to the SPCA Rescue Center. Either way, it seems unlikely that "Buck" and I will cross paths again.

After some PR work this morning, I decided to get out on the water for a little fishing even though the wind was still creating rolling waves and the occasional white cap. I managed to get the boat off the lift with no trouble and motored out past Second Duck Point where I put the drift sock in the water to slow the boat's drift northward. The wind was blowing out of the WSW at near 15 mph so even with the drift sock in the water the boat was moving between .83 and .92 mph ground speed. I noted that the water temperature had dropped to 78 degrees.

I used a Bass Pro Shops XPS jig in cherry-red color tipped with Northland grub. I caught a couple of medium-sized perch which I threw back into the lake. As I drifted in front of the cabin, something big grabbed my jig. I could feel the distinct motion of a big fish shaking its head before the line snapped. I quickly retied, using the same type and color of jig, and within a minute or two was fishing again.

No sooner had I lowered my jig into the water when I again hooked into something big. And again, a couple of heads shakes later my line was snapped and my jig and bait gone. It is entirely possible that a northern pike, or maybe a walleye, has two red jigs stuck in its mouth.

I retied a second time, but caught only a couple of small perch the rest of the trip. I made way back to shore around 5:30 p.m. and got dinner started. After eating I enjoyed watching the sunset and then did some cleaning around the house in preparation for Joe's arrival.

The August 6 sunset over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

Joe gets into the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport late tomorrow evening. Rather than drive all the way up to Leech Lake, we'll spend Tuesday night and all day Wednesday in St. Cloud so Joe can see his grandma, as well as his aunt and uncle and cousins. More than likely we'll head up to the lake on Thursday morning.

It'll be nice to have Joe here, not only to help me stain the house and do other chores around the property, but to hang out with him, listen to music with him, have a fire in the fire pit, go fishing and of course watch The Big Lebowski.

At midnight, the temperature was still 72 degrees, and with a dew point of 65 degrees, the humidity is hovering around 80%. Plus the wind has died down, so it's a still, muggy night. But I can hear the loons calling across the lake. I never get tired of that sound.

Good night from Leech Lake.

August 5, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

Like yesterday, the wind today is the primary feature of the weather. The wind was blowing at 15-20 mph, with gusts up over 25 mph, out of the west creating a series of rolling white caps across the lake. The temperature at 9:00 a.m. was a cool 60 degrees, and by 1:30 p.m. had warmed only to 67 degrees. The skies today were mostly sunny and blue, with some big, fluffy white clouds moving across the sky due to the high wind.

No sign of my lost dog friend "Buck" this morning or afternoon. With the wind blowing as stiff as it was, I stayed off the lake and focused my attention on on-shore activities. I started with a ATV around the peninsula, with a stop at Norm's for a 30-minute chat. I continued down the to the community center then up Sucker Bay Road and down Ottertail Road. During the entire circuit I kept my eyes peeled for Buck, but I didn't see him.

After my return and a brief bite of lunch, I went next door where I spent some considerable time trimming off dead branches from the red pine trees that are next to the cabin. I now have plenty of kindling to start a good fire in the fire pit once Joe's here.

I also transplanted a small sugar maple tree from a spot near the game room -- where there are literally a hundred or more little sugar maple saplings -- to a spot near the harbor over at the house. I gave it a full bucket of lake water afterward and will keep an eye on it to make sure it adjusts to its new location before Autumn and Winter set in.

A sail boat on Sucker Bay,  Leech Lake

I spent a quiet night at home having dinner, listening to music and surfing the web. The wind continued to blow hard as the light faded from the sky and well into the night. I hope tomorrow it's a bit calmer so I can get out on the lake to do some fishing.

Still no sign of Buck. Good night from Leech Lake.

August 4, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

The primary feature of today's weather was the wind. From the early morning hours throughout the day and into the evening and night, the wind was blowing at 15-20 mph with gusts often up over 25 mph. It was not, however, out of the same direction all day long. It started this morning blowing out of the WSW before gliding northward to a west wind, before it settled in as a NNW wind later in the day and into the night.

The temperature this morning was a cool 61 degrees at 9:00 a.m. and climbed to no more than 72 at its warmest. The sky was filled with clouds most of the day, with only brief periods of blue sky and sun. And by 7:00 p.m. it started to rain. A hard rain fell at least three time between 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., but never for more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

This afternoon I spent quite a bit of time on the roof of the house putting zinc stripping along the peak of the roof to keep the mold and moss from growing. There is some mold and moss already present, so I may need to spray it with a diluted bleach solution. That should kill what's there and along with the zinc prevent any new mold and moss from growing.

I also took a long ATV ride around the peninsula today; not fast, just a slow, steady pace to enjoy the beauty of the Ottertail Peninsula.

Later in the evening, just after sunset, I spotted a German Sheppard-looking dog wandering on the road and at the end of our driveway. I had seen this dog earlier in the week when I was at the Newman's and their dog Bernard chased it away. I also saw it wandering in the area mid-week. I figured it must be lost. The poor dog was soaking wet from the rain and looked scared. I got some of our old dog food and put some in a bowl. I took it out to the driveway and put the bowl on the pavement. I then called to the dog before retreating to the porch in order to give it some space and not scare it.

The dog, which I've dubbed "Buck" from Jack London's Call of the Wild slowly made its way down the driveway toward the bowl. Cautiously the dog made its way to the bowl and then very quickly devoured the food. I also brought the dog a bowl of water but as I approached, it trotted up the driveway keeping its distance. I left the bowl of water and went to refill the bowl of food.

When I returned with a fresh bowl of food, Buck again moved away, waiting for me to leave the bowl of food. I placed the food on the driveway and again walked up to the porch. Slowly, Buck made his way to the bowl of food and again quickly ate the entire bowl. He was obviously very hungry. I think someone drove him out here and abandoned him. Just to make sure I checked with several neighbors and the resort, and while some people report having seen him, no one knows whose dog it is. It has no collar or tags, and it won't let me get close enough to him to pet him which would enable me to feel for a microchip in his scruff.

I'll keep on feeding Buck as long as he keeps coming back. I hope that over time he'll begin to trust me enough to where I can pet him and try to find out who he is and where he came from. Stay tuned.

"Buck" the abandoned dog I fed tonight.

I didn't get out to do any fishing today because it was too rough for me, but John and Karen Newman were brave enough to make it out and they reported catching a couple of good-sized perch which they kept, and a 22-inch walleye, which they immediately put back into the lake.

A break in the clouds over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

Leech Lake 2012 -- Flashback

I discovered this photo on my phone of my wife Kathleen which I took on the evening of July 13, 2012. That  was the week we spent together alone at Leech Lake before she had to go back to California. With any luck, she'll be able to return to Leech Lake to celebrate the beautiful colors of Autumn.

My beautiful wife Kathleen on our dock at Leech Lake

August 3, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

As was the case yesterday, at 8:00 a.m. there was low rumbling of thunder, a light rain falling, a cool temperature of only 61 degrees and a light breeze out of the north at 3-5 mph. But unlike yesterday, as the morning progressed the weather didn't clear up.

At 10:30 a.m. the rain finally did cease, but the ground was wet, puddles stood in the driveway and sky remained grey and overcast. The temperature was steady at 61 degrees, and with a dew point of 61 degrees, the humidity was pegged at an even 100%.

Just before noon the clouds began to part and the sun came out. By 12:30 p.m. the clouds were nearly gone from the sky, the temperature had warmed to 82 degrees and a good wind of 10-15 mph was blowing out of the south.

It was right around this time that I gathered my wallet, phone and keys and drove the truck into Cass Lake. I had invited John and Karen Newman over for pizza this evening so I needed to go to the Great River Pizzeria to pick up a couple of unbaked pizzas. I'll bake them fresh and hot for dinner.

Once home from "town," I decided to go fishing for an hour so. With the wind coming out of the south, I positioned the boat so that the wind would push it out into the Bay and north to a spot between the house and cabin in 12 feet of water. I noted that the water temperature had dipped a bit to 79.3 degrees.

I jigged with a Northland grub for a full hour but caught only one medium-sized perch. At 4:30 p.m. I came ashore to prepare for the Newmans arrival.

We enjoyed a beer or two while the oven heated, and then had a wonderful pizza dinner -- a classic combo pizza and one with pepperoni, mushrooms and anchovies. It turns out that all three of like anchovies so that pizza took the biggest dent.

The Newmans left by 8:00 p.m. as the sky darken not only with the sun dropping toward the horizon, but with a severe thunderstorm moving into the area. I checked the Weather.com "maps in motion" and saw a band of very heavy storm activity moving toward Leech Lake and scheduled to hit between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Given our experience with the bad storm on July 2, I lowered the flag pole, shut the windows and prepared for the worse. Luckily, it the storm that hit tonight was no where near as bad as the one in early July. Sure, we had lots of lightning and thunder claps directly overhead and tons of rain, but the wind was only 20-30 mph compared to the 80+ mph wind with which last month's storm hit us.

By 11:00 p.m. the storm had passed for the most part, although we did get some rain throughout the night. I kept the stereo unplugged -- due to the close proximity of the lightning -- so I watched a DVD rather than listen to music tonight.

Good night from the shores of Leech Lake.