October 7, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

This morning the wind was again blowing hard, at 15-25 mph out of the SW. The temperature was 40 degrees and the sky was mostly cloudy, with only moments of sun now and again.

Just before 11:00 a.m. I noticed through the window that my neighbor Don Poage was struggling to get his trailer backed down my boat ramp and into the water. His numerous attempts ended with the trailer and truck cockeyed and skewed awkwardly on the ramp.

I made my way next door to the cabin and offered him some advice on which way to turn the wheels to back the trailer down the ramp. Eventually Don got the trailer into the water, fairly straight, where it was ready for the boat. With the wind blowing as hard as it was, I was worried that the boat would slam into the dock during the docking procedure so I stuck around to offer any necessary assistance.

I suggested that Don get into the water and hook the tow strap onto the boat while T.J., a member of Don's family, motor the boat around the dock and into position. They had originally planned to just motor the boat directly onto the trailer, a process that could not only damage the prop (if it hit a rock) but is generally not allowed on Minnesota lakes.

At last, Don and T.J. got the boat onto the trailer, which they then hauled up the ramp and over to their driveway where Don will do the winterizing on the motor himself.

Don mentioned to me that he, T.J. and T.J.'s wife (or girl friend?) did have success fishing for walleye yesterday. According to Don they caught their limit -- four fish per person -- of 12 walleye. Some, however, were as small as 14- and 15-inches. Technically fish that small are legal, but in my book it's kind of unconscious fishing. I have to wonder how many of the fillets from those 12 walleye will end up freezer burned and completely devoid of taste?

Confident that the boat-removal exercise was out of the way with no damage done, I went back into the house to have a late breakfast. Today I need to clean out the gutters on the house, and it's a chore I really don't like doing and so procrastination set in. Finally, at 1:30 p.m., I went outside and gathered the materials necessary for cleaning out the gutters and got to work.

Finally three hours later, at 4:30 p.m., I put away the ladder and other tools; the gutters were clean. Well, as clean as possible. By the time I'd cleaned out four 5-gallon bucket loads of gunk and crap, the strong SW wind blew leaves off the trees and into the gutters. It's a losing battle, and I have to realize that the gutters will never be 'clean' for very long. Yet twice per year I climb up onto the roof and clean them out just the same.

With the messiest and most time consuming of my 'winterizing' chores behind me, I went over to the cabin garage, got the bike out and went for a ride to the Harbor and back. I love that ride and will miss it when I'm back in California.

West Shores Rd. during my bike ride on a cool, windy Autumn afternoon

After my bike ride I went back to the house, cleaned up myself and then cleaned the kitchen. I also prepped the fireplace for a fire after dark. The temperature is supposed to drop to around freezing again tonight and a nice fire will keep the living warm and toasty.

With the sun sinking quickly into the western sky, I donned my sweatshirt and hat, grabbed a Wild Blue and made my way to the end of the dock to watch the sunset. One thing I never tire of up here at the lake is the fantastic sunsets. Every night since my arrival several months ago, I try to make time to watch the sunset. Of course, when I first got here the sun was setting close to 9:00 p.m. or later, and today it was long gone by 6:45 p.m. Once the time changes the sun will set here in the northwoods around 5:00 p.m.

October sunset over Leech Lake

For dinner I had the walleye that I filleted the other night, beer battered, along with Cole slaw and French fries. It was delicious. Then I settled in for the evening with a roaring fire in the fireplace and classical music on MPR. A good end to a long and productive day.

Good night from Leech Lake. Three days and counting.

October 6, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

Although it was cold this morning at 9:00 a.m., only 35 degrees, the wind wasn't blowing nearly as hard as it had been the past two days. The wind was out of the north at 12-15 mph, definitely breezy, but not as strong as it's been. The sky was mostly sunny, so the leaves shown bright yellow across most of our properties.

After a hearty breakfast, I set about with many winterizing chores. I started with taking the power cord off the dock. For the past several years my good friend Rick has helped me run the power cord out to the end of the dock in May -- to provide electricity for the boat lift motor and canopy light -- and for the past several years I have taken the cord off the dock in October by myself, usually in cold and windy conditions much like today. As much as putting the boat in and out of the water signals the start and end of each open-water fishing season, so too does running power out to the dock and then wrapping it up. And since the power is the last thing removed from the dock before the dock itself comes out of the water, today signaled the definite close of the season.

From there I folded up the boat lift canopy cover and stored it in the garage. As I was putting the canopy cover on the shelf I bumped into one of our bikes. That got me thinking that it was a good time for my daily ride to the Harbor and back.

On my ride I had a brief stop and chat with Glen and Gabe, two of the residents of the Harbor. They were out mulching and vacuuming up leaves on their properties. They share a property line and working together to clean up the fallen leaves is obviously a task they've tackled together before.

Back at home it was time to climb up onto the cabin roof and clean out the gutters. With that chore out of the way I removed the solar lights from the two paths between the house and cabin and stored them for the winter. Next, I took apart the hammock and stored it for the winter. I also collected firewood in anticipation of a fire in the fireplace later tonight.

I also cleaned out the fireplace. Then it was time to get cleaned up before driving down to the Ottertail Peninsula Town Hall for the annual pot luck and association meeting. I realized that this is the twelfth consecutive year that I've attended the pot luck/meeting. Many of the usual attendees, including the Malays, the Newmans and Norm Hanson were obvious in their absence. But other regulars, such as the Boyds, Porters, Schiebes, Gepperts and Snyders were there.

Getting down to business at the Ottertail Peninsula Township meeting/pot luck

As is tradition, after the meeting there is a raffle with door prizes (usually handmade) contributed by area residents. Tonight I won a cribbage board made by Mark Boyd.

Once home I immediately went to the end of the dock to watch the sunset. It's been so overcast the past few days that there's been no real sunset to watch, just grey skies turning darker until it's completely dark. But tonight there was some good color to the sunset.

Another in an endless series of great sunsets over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

Sitting on the end of the dock got me chilled, so I went inside and got a fire going to warm up the house, and myself, since the temperature outside had dropped to just above freezing. I enjoyed a quiet evening listening to music and enjoying the fire. I also kept up with the day's sporting events, including the Tigers win over the A's in the first game of the ALDS

There is still a lot more work to do to winterize the house and cabin before I leave on Wednesday, including cleaning the gutters on the house, cleaning the house and cabin, laundry, cleaning out the refrigerators, etc. It'll be another busy day tomorrow, but at least I'll be at the lake.

Good night from Leech Lake.

Four days and counting.

October 5, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

Today was another cold, very wind, grey day with snow flurries on and off all day. The temperature may have hit 38 degrees today, but for most of the day it hovered between 32 and 36 degrees. The sky was grey nearly all day, with just a brief few moments of midday sun. Snow flurries, which melted upon landing on the ground, fell from sunrise to sunset.

My first order of business for the day was going down underneath the house in the crawlspace and closing up all of the vents. While I was down there I emptied out the 'stair way to heaven' mouse trap, which yielded enough mice to fill a plastic grocery bag half full. I then rebaited the trap, added new antifreeze to the bucket and set it up for more rodent eradication.

Despite the inhospitable weather, I did spend several hours outside. I planted fertilizer stakes around our crab apple tree and next to nearly a dozen pine trees. I also went on a bike ride to the Harbor and back -- although gloves would have been a good idea. Then around 5:00 p.m. I removed the 17-inch walleye, which I caught earlier in the week, from the basket from the lake and cleaned it in preparation for dinner.

As it turned out, I wasn't very hungry and a full-on walleye dinner just didn't sound good tonight. I put the fish in a resealable bag and stored it in the refrigerator for either Saturday or Sunday night dinner.

The snow flurries continued long after dark. I meanwhile, spent a quiet night listening to music and having a fire in the fireplace. Weather permitting tomorrow, I need to fold up and store the boat lift canopy and clean out the gutters over at the cabin. At that point the 'winterization' of the cabin should be complete.

Good night from Leech Lake.

Five days and counting.

October 4, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

This morning at just after 9:00 a.m. I got in the truck and left for Bemidji with boat in tow. The temperature was 47 degrees, the wind was 10-15 mph out of the NW and the sky was overcast and dark. It looked as if it was going to either rain or snow, or maybe both.

By the time I hit Sucker Bay Rd., just 3 miles away, the temperature had dropped to 44 degrees and a light rain had started to fall. Eight miles later as I came to Hwy. 2, the temperature had fallen to 39 degrees and the rain was now steady. When I got to Cass Lake, which is only an additional 12 miles, the rain had turned to sleet and the temperature had dropped to 36 degrees.

When I came up to the first exit off Hwy. 2 Bemidji the temperature was down to 32 and the sleet had turned to giant snowflakes. With the wind blowing at 25+ mph, huge snowflakes falling and driving down the highway at 50 mph it was close to a 'white out' on the road.

I finally made it to my exit, took it carefully and then drove the finally couple of miles to Corner Sports, where they will winterize my boat and store it inside for the winter. Big, fluffy, wet snowflakes fell while I was unhooking the boat/trailer from the truck. By the time I went into Corner Sports I had nearly a half an inch of snow on my hat and shoulders.

I spent a few minutes with Jimmer and Rhonda chatting with them about fishing, what I wanted done to my boat over the winter, etc., then it was time to leave the boat and head into Bemidji to run a number of errands. I made stops at L&M Fleet, Target, Gander Mountain and Lueken's Village Foods.

I made one additional stop after leaving Bemidji. I stopped at Cass Lake to visit a friend of Kathleen's, Elizabeth, and her mom and brother. They have a cabin on the west shores of Cass Lake and were in the process of closing it up for the winter. We had a nice visit, and within 45 minutes or so I was on my way back to the lake.

Although it was very windy and cold, and occasionally spitting sleet, we really didn't have any snow at Leech Lake.

I had a quiet night after dinner. I simply had a fire in the fireplace and listened to music.

I have lots of 'winterizing' chores to complete before I leave for California, I just hope the weather cooperates so I can get them all done. I simply refuse to climb on the roof to clean out the gutters when the wind is blowing at 25-30 mph and the temperature is only 35 degrees. If the forecast can be trusted, Saturday should see temperatures near 50 degrees and lighter winds. That's the day I'm targeting for all of my outside chores.

Six days and counting.

October 3, 2012 -- At Leech Lake

The forecast for today called for strong winds out of the north, yet temperatures near 70 degrees and sunny skies. Yet this morning the wind was very light out of the south, and while the temperature did get close to 70 degrees later in the day the sun only broke through the clouds and haze a couple of times throughout the day.

I spent a good portion of the day power-washing the boat lift canopy to clean off an entire summer's worth of seagull guano. After sitting in the hot sun for months, that 'crap' didn't want to come off easily. But I stayed with the chore and I can now report that the canopy is clean and is hung up to dry. Since I had the power washer out I also washed of the boat and trailer and cleaned off any weeds I could find. There are no aquatic invasive species on my boat and trailer.

At roughly 4:00 p.m. the light southerly breeze that had been blowing all day shifted and began coming out of the north at 15-20 mph. And with the north wind came the smell of smoke. There are 8 separate wild fires burning in the northwest part of Minnesota and the smoke from those fires made its way to Leech Lake on the strength of those strong northerly winds.

The haze from the NW Minnesota wildfires drifted over Leech Lake

It was about this time that I took my daily bike ride to the Harbor and back. Along the way I had stop and chats with Lainy Malay, Norm Hansen, Dick Schiebe and Ron Geppert. A very sociable bike ride!

Once home again I did some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, showered and ate dinner. Then I listened to the first of the presidential debates on MPR.

Tomorrow I plan to take the boat to Corner Sports in Bemidji despite the winter storm warnings that have been issued for the area. If the forecast is to be believed, the Bemidji area is going to experience rain turning to snow midday and then into Friday with a possible accumulation of a foot or more of snow. We'll see.

Generally a quiet day at Leech Lake. No fishing report today since my boat is on a trailer sitting in front of my garage. More tomorrow...

Seven days and counting.

Favorite Lures for Leech Lake Walleye Fishing

With the boat out of the water for the year, it is time for me to do some reel maintenance, put new line on the reels and do an inventory of any tackle I may need for next year's open-water fishing season.

During my tackle review process I marveled at two lures in particular on which I caught more than 90% of all jumbo perch and walleyes this season.

The first is the simple jig. During this season I must have tied on and lost dozens of jigs. Northern pike and walleye are known for their very sharp teeth, and in Leech Lake we have an abundance of both fish species. Getting your jig and fathead (or leech or crawler) bitten off is just part of the game when fishing on Leech.

I prefer a pill-shaped jig, which differs from the more common round-head jig by way of the indentations on either side of the jig. It's roughly the shape of an aspirin. Round-head jigs can be found by the hundreds in my tackle box and I have caught plenty of fish on them, but my go-to jig is pill-shaped. Many manufacturers make them, and I've probably used them all -- VMC, Northland, Cabela's, etc.

When considering what weight of jig to buy, buy many. On calm days, I favor an 1/8-ounce jig although I occasionally drop down to a 1/16-ounce jig if I'm using a slip bobber. Leech Lake is known for its rough waters and high winds, so also plan on having 1/4-ounce, 1/2-ounce and even bigger jigs in your arsenal if you plan to fish deep water on rough-water days.

As for the color of the jig, more often than not on Leech Lake chartreuse, lime green or green works best. But at the same time, I've hooked plenty of jumbos and walleye on a full rainbow of colors -- red, blue, white, pink, black and even Northland Tackle's "Vegas" jigs in sparkle gold, red and purple. I think as long as you target productive water and entice the fish with the correct live bait, they could care less what color jig you're using to serve up dinner.

Rapala's #9 Minnow Rap in 'bleeding pearl' and a typical chartreuse jig

Most of the fish I catch using a jig and live bait tend to be perch. Some of the perch I catch are jumbos, which I consider to be any perch 11-inches or larger. I've also caught walleye, northern pike, rock bass, largemouth bass and even bullheads and eelpout on jigs. And I once had a large 45-inch plus muskie follow my jig and fathead all the way to the surface before turning tail and swimming out of sight. Jigs are a great lure for fishing Leech Lake.

When I want to target walleye specifically, my tactics change. I catch the vast majority of my walleye on Leech Lake during a time period from just around sunset until the sky has been dark for an hour or so. The method I use to fish for these evening walleye is trolling crankbaits in 10-12 feet of water at a ground speed varying from 2.00 to 2.50 mph. And the bait I use nearly 100% of the time is the Rapala #9 Minnow Rap, that for my money is by far the best walleye lure on the market today.

I was first introduced to the Minnow Rap several years ago by my neighbor Tom Malay, who had received a couple as a Christmas present. He said he had pretty good luck catching walleye on them so I thought I'd give them a try.

At the time, the Minnow Rap was a brand new lure that had been on the market for less than a year making it somewhat hard to find. I did find a couple at Gander Mountain in Bemidji (that for some strange reason have since stopped carrying the lures) and immediately started fishing them.

Prior to the Minnow Rap my primary trolling bait had been the Rapala Husky Jerk. The Minnow Rap had a similar profile to the Husky Jerk, but incorporated the swimming action of the Shad Rap; also a very effective walleye bait. In essence, the Minnow Rap was the offspring from the marriage of the Husky Jerk and the Shad Rap.

Almost immediately upon tying on the Minnow Rap I began catching walleye. And not just one or two, but often 8-10 in just an hour or two. One night my friend Rick and I hooked an astonishing 20+ walleye in just over two hours. We were actually getting tired of catching walleye!

Initially my favorite color of the Minnow Rap was 'purpledescent' but I quickly realized that the 'hot steel' color produced just as many big walleye. Since I first started using the Minnow Rap I've caught hundreds of walleye on them. My favorite 'hot steel' lure caught so many of the toothy critters that the last fish I caught on it literally bit it to pieces.

I've learned over the years that all of the colors of the Minnow Rap catch fish, including the short-lived, limited-edition Tennessee Shad color -- a lure that I unfortunately lost to a big fish when it bit through my line. During the past couple of months, I've been pulling a 'bleeding pearl' colored Minnow Rap with great success. It was the lure I used when I caught 7 beautiful walleye on October 1 of this year. If you look at the photo in detail you will see several holes in the lure made from the sharp teeth of hungry walleye.

Be sure to buy extra split rings and hooks for your Minnow Rap lures. Walleye and northern will often hit the lure with such force that they bend the treble hooks. Plus, in some instances it's necessary to cut the hooks in order to release the fish unharmed. And no matter how much time you spend trying to sharpen an old hook it'll never be as sharp as a new hook. For the relatively low price, getting a box or two of replacement hooks is a must.

Sporting goods stores and online merchants are willing to sell you millions of different fishing lures in hundreds of different colors, shapes and sizes. But if you're planning a trip to Leech Lake to do some walleye fishing, you can get away with just two types -- the classic jig (in varying weights to match the wind conditions) and the Rapala Minnow Rap in whatever color you like. Bring several of each, however, because the fish in this big Minnesota lake will take a few from you no matter how good a fisherman you might be.

Good night from Leech Lake.

Crazy Leech Lake Weather

Almost anywhere you travel in the United States some local will tell you, "if you don't like the weather wait 30 minutes." It's supposed to be funny and indicative of the rapidly changing weather patterns in that particular region. Personally, I don't find that old saw very funny, and since it can be applied to nearly every part of the country, not very helpful when it comes to predicting the weather.

I was reminded of this when I checked out the 5-day weather forecast for Federal Dam, Minnesota, the "town" closest to us on Leech Lake. It appears that if I don't like the weather I won't have long to wait for it to change. Within four days, from Wednesday to Saturday night, the temperature will drop by 50 degrees -- 72 for a high and 23 as a low.

Federal Dam Weather

5 Day Forecast

Updated: Oct 2, 2012, 5:09pm CDT

TonightOct 2

68^°FObserved High3:05 pm

43^°F

Clear

CHANCE OF RAIN:

0%

 

WIND:

S at 11 mph

Details

WedOct 3

72^°

43^°

Mostly Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

20%

 

WIND:

NNE at 10 mph

Details

ThuOct 4

42^°

29^°

Rain / Snow Showers / Wind

CHANCE OF RAIN:

60%

 

WIND:

NW at 24 mph

Details

FriOct 5

39^°

25^°

Mostly Cloudy / Wind

CHANCE OF PRECIP:

20%

 

WIND:

NW at 20 mph

Details

SatOct 6

45^°

23^°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

20%

 

WIND:

W at 8 mph

Details

• 10 Day Forecast

ADVERT

October 2, 2012 -- In Leech Lake

According to the weather forecast the wind this morning was supposed to be 4 mph out of the SSE. But according to the weather at the end of the dock, the wind was out of the SW at 10-15 mph. Beyond the shelter of Second Duck Point there were white caps and fairly big waves.

Along our shoreline, however, we had no more than some rolling waves about 2 feet high. A bit higher than I would have preferred when pulling my boat out of the water, but starting tomorrow the wind is supposed to be more than 20 mph and out of the north and NW meaning large, crashing waves along the shoreline by the boat lift. Therefore, today was the day, from a weather perspective, to take my boat out of the water so I can store it for the winter.

At 8:30 a.m. the sky was sunny, the ground was covered in morning dew, and the temperature was 50 degrees. By 8:40 a.m. I was in the boat undoing the bungee cords that hold the boat lift canopy in place. With all of the tie-downs removed I was able to remove the canopy and drag it down the dock and onto the yard. Later I will power-wash it and let it dry thoroughly before storing it for the winter.

With the canopy off, I then lowered the boat so it was just above the water, backed the trailer down the boat ramp and into the water, donned the waders, finished lowering the boat so it was in the water, got in the water myself and guided the boat around the end of the dock and onto the boat trailer. I then hooked the tow strap to the bow hook, cranked the winch and got the boat securely on the trailer. Within minutes the truck was up the ramp and parked next to the garage, boat and trailer attached. The entire process from start to finish took me 35 minutes, from 8:40 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.

Truck, boat and trailer, with the boat lift canopy in the foreground

I put a few of the things from the boat in the garage for storage, but will get to most of the clean up and prep for taking the boat to Corner Sports later today. First, it was time to warm up a bit with a fresh pot of coffee and some breakfast.

My afternoon was spent unloading all of the gear from the boat -- rods and reels, landing net, tackle, maps, electronics, flashlights, life jackets, etc. -- and storing it in the "fish garage." With the gear stowed for the winter and the cover on the boat, I took the time to take a bike ride down to the Harbor and back. Later I went for an ATV ride around the neighborhood. I also had a nice "stop and chat" with Norm, one of the old-timers here on the Peninsula.

By 5:30 p.m. the sun was already dropping into the western sky and I was getting hungry. I had a simple meal of spaghetti and meatballs with a fresh green salad. Then it was time to settle in and listen to some music and do some reading.

It was a long, busy and productive day. Good night from Leech Lake.

Eight days and counting.

October 1, 2012 -- On Leech Lake

Let the countdown begin.

I made arrangements today to fly back to California on October 10. I've had a good long run here on the shores of Leech Lake but now it's time to get back to my "real life" in Silicon Valley. While I was able to do some work from home here, there's just no substitute for being face-to-face in the work environment.

Although I was up, dressed and ready to go (where I don't know) by 8:30 a.m., I actually eased into the day. I handled some business calls early, made my flight arrangements, sent emails and took care of some other business up until lunch time.

After lunch I worked in the yard, finishing some of the clean up of the flower beds. While yesterday was near  80 degrees, I don't think it got any warmer than 65 degrees today. The sky was mostly sunny and the wind was howling at 20-30 mph out of the north. The stiff wind had leaves raining down all around me as I worked outside and covered the lake in white caps.

I had checked the weather forecast for the coming week and it looked like starting Wednesday it is going to be cold and windy. There is a possibility of some snow showers on Thursday. With a forecast like that I figured I better pull the boat out of the water on Tuesday since although it'll be windy, it'll be from the south which means that it should be calm along our shoreline. That will allow me to get the canopy off the boat lift without too much trouble and enable me to get the boat onto the trailer. I can then take a day or two to clean out the boat, store the tackle, rods and reels and then prep the boat for its trip into Bemidji for winter storage.

In advance of the boat removal operation tomorrow, I got the trailer positioned at the top of the boat ramp and hooked it to the trailer hitch on the truck. Everything is now ready to go for tomorrow; weather permitting.

After dinner I noticed that the wind was dying down and the lake now had a nice 'walleye chop' rather than rolling waves and white caps. I figured, "heck, why not go out fishing one last time?" Great call.

I got on the water at 7:30 p.m., about a half hour after sunset, got the lights on, got the landing net ready, put the rod holder in place and removed my baitcasting rod and reel from the boat's storage locker. As I have for most of this year, I trolled my favorite lure, the Rapala Minnow Rap in a 'bleeding shad' color, 50-60 feet behind the boat at a ground speed of 2.25 mph.

There were four other boats from the Malay's to Second Duck Point also trolling so I had to do some weaving and dodging through traffic at times.

For the first 30-45 minutes all I caught was a northern pike, although I did have two or three 'hits and misses.' I figured even if I don't catch any walleye tonight what a gift it is to be on Leech Lake and watch the near full moon, in bright orange, rise over treeline in the east.

An orange moon rising over Leech Lake on the first day of October

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. my patience was rewarded and I hooked a beautiful 22-inch walleye, which I immediately returned to the lake. But that was just the beginning. Within the next hour I would hook and boat a total of seven walleye. In addition to the first 22-inch walleye I caught, I landed others that measured 17-, 18-, 20-, 21-, another 22-, and 27-inches.

The 27-inch monster was so big I could hardly get my hand around it. Luckily the fish spit the lure once I'd netted it so I didn't have to battle it to get any hooks out of its mouth. Not only was the 27-inch beauty the biggest fish I've caught in 2012, it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, I've caught on Leech Lake. Sure, I know guys pull 30-inch walleyes out of Leech on a fairly regular basis, but I'm not one of them. I seem to recall catching a 27-inch walleye off Big Hardwood Point several years ago, but this was the biggest fish I'd landed in the stretch I call 'The Alley,' which runs from Malay's to the north to just past Second Duck Point to the south.

By the way, I kept the 17-inch walleye; it's a perfect 'eater' size and I plan on having one last walleye dinner before I have to leave Leech Lake.

Finally at 9:30 p.m., with the bite cooling off, I stowed my rod and reel and slowly motored the boat back to the lift for what is likely to be the last time this year. Although it was bittersweet to end my last fishing expedition of the season, it couldn't have gone any better -- seven beautiful walleye, including the biggest fish of the season and a perfect fish for the dinner plate.

As for the countdown, nine days and counting.

Good night from Leech Lake.