2008 Open Water Season in Review, intro

I'm back in California after spending a spectacular six months at Leech Lake. I know the purpose of this blog it to provide real-time reports on fishing news from Leech Lake, but I was too busy on the lake fishing to take the time to sit in front of a computer and enter my day-to-day fishing experiences.

Luckily, I kept a written log of my time on the water -- including air temperature, water temperature, wind speed, and of course fish caught and lures used.

During the next several weeks/months, I will be posting a review of my 2008 open-water fishing experiences on Leech Lake.

Stay tuned.

May 24, 2008

We planned to feast on fresh walleye for dinner on Saturday night, May 24, so Rick and I limited our fishing to the afternoon. The stats:

Time: 1:00-3:30 p.m., CDT
Location/method: Trolling @ Ottertail Peninsula Point (very rough water), Duck Point and Second Duck Point; drifting with jigs and Gulp Alive leeches and minnows at "The Birches."
Winds: South, 10-15 mph, gusting to 25 mph
Water Temp.: 54 degrees

No fish caught. We did enjoy a tasty walleye dinner from the two fish I caught the previous evening. I cleaned the fish just an hour before cooking them for dinner. That's fresh fish!!

After dinner, Kathleen, Rick and I enjoyed a roaring fire in the fire pit at the cabin.

May 23, 2008

Rick and I went trolling on Sucker Bay on Friday, May 23. Our target fish, as always, was the walleye. Here are the vital stats:

Time: 8:15-10:45 p.m., CDT
Location: Second Duck Point to the Malays
Winds: calm
Water Temp.: 54 degrees
Sunset: 8:57 p.m.
Moon: 88% waning
Lure: Rapala Minnow Raps (Rick: Bleeding Copper Flash; SJ: Hot Steel)

Rick caught 3 walleye; 10", 15", 21" (all went back into the lake)
SJ caught 2 walleye; 16", 16 1/4" (both were kept, and made an excellent dinner the following night)

Summer of 2008, Arrival

On May 22, Kathleen and I left San Jose for an extended stay at our cabin on Leech Lake. Our flight left San Jose an hour late due to mechanical problems and we just barely made our connection in Minneapolis for Bemidji.

On the flight to Bemidji we met up with our friend Rick from Australia, (see the Feb. 20, 2005 post for a picture of Rick with a 50 1/2-inch Leech Lake muskie) who was going to stay with us at the lake for 10 days.

Rick and I launched the boat on morning of Friday, May 23 and instantly discovered a malfunction with the toggle switch on the ShoreMaster boat lift. We were able to use the hand-powered crank to raise and lower the boat until a replacement switch could be delivered by Shore Brothers on Saturday.

We also encountered some trouble with the Lowrance LCX-28C HD recording sonar/GPS+WAAS unit. After many discussions with the good folks at Corner Sports in Bemidji, we figured out it was simply a loose connection between the unit and the fuse panel. With the wire firmly connected, the unit was back in business providing our location and showing us if we were on the fish or not.

What follows is a series of fishing reports from my stay at one of Minnesota's premier fishing lakes, and my home waters, Leech Lake.

Last Ice Report of 2008

As reported here in an earlier post, my fishing expedition to Leech Lake in February did not produce many fish. I caught a few perch, enough for a meal, but not nearly the hot-and-heavy action of years past. My less-than-stellar experience just may have been a matter of timing. The usual pattern for fast-paced perch and walleye action is little- or no-snow cover, and warming weather. Sometimes that occurs in late-February, but this year it didn't happen until early-April.

The report from my fishing buddy John Newman is that the perch fishing was fantastic this past weekend. Above is a picture of a sink full of nice jumbo perch, taken by John in his fish cleaning house on the shores of Sucker Bay.

During his weekend of late-season fishing, John also had TWO run-ins with a big muskie -- both times resulting in a snapped line before the fish could be hauled out through the hole in the ice. He also caught a few nice walleyes, which went right back into the water because the walleye season is closed in Minnesota and doesn't open again until May 9.

There's nothing like a great jumbo perch bite late in the season when you can set up camp outside, on the ice, under sunny, warm skies.

Until open water...

2008 Walleye Opener -- May 9

Minnesota's walleye opener is just over a month away. Officially, we can start fishing for marble-eyes beginning May 9. Here's the link for the Governor's Fishing Opener, to be held this year at Pequot Lakes and Breezy Point.

Live vs. Artificial

The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently ran an article about the expected shortage of shiners in Minnesota to be used as bait for walleye. That got me thinking. I had great success last fall fishing for walleyes using shiners as bait. Every day I fished Leech Lake during the 2007 MEA week I caught at least 5 walleyes. All fish were caught using lime green or chartreuse 1/8-ounce or 1/4-ounce jigs tipped with lively 4-inch+ shiners.

But with shiners expected to be in short supply this year, I decided to conduct a little experiment. This coming season, I will fish exclusively with artificial bait. In the pictures above, the image on top is of a real emerald shiner. The image on the bottom is a Berkley Gulp! Alive! 4-inch minnow in emerald shiner color. This May when I launch my boat and begin my open-water hunt for walleye, I will no longer use real shiners, rather I will fish only with artificial shiners and leeches.

Another part of my usual approach for walleye is using 4-inch Northland Slurpie Swim'n Grubs in either firetiger or Super-Glo ladybug colors on Neon-Tone Gumball jigs. I also will continue to use this very productive method for catching walleyes this season.

Another artificial bait with which I have had great success for walleye is the Northland Mimic Minnow Spin, particularly in the gold shiner color. Hmmm, the Star Tribune says that real golden shiners are going to be in short supply and I've already had great success using artificial gold shiners. Why use the real thing when an artificial will do?

Plus, artificial baits have several advantages. First, they never die. Anyone who has ever shelled out $5 plus for a good scoop of shiners only to find every last one of them floating belly up in the bucket the next morning knows how frustrating live bait can be.

Second, live shiners, or fatheads for that matter, often come off the jig when casting. I've often had my jig go in one direction while my bait sails off in another direction. With Slurpies or Mimic Minnows this never occurs.

Third, you can catch several fish on a single Slurpie or Mimic Minnow before having to replace the bait. With real shiners, I have found that if I don't put a new shiner on after every walleye I catch, my chances of catching another fish goes way down. That's if the fish didn't eat the shiner completely. I've not yet fished with the Gulp! Alive! minnow, but from what I've read, I'm expecting to be able to catch multiple fish with one bait. I know for sure I can catch multiple fish on Slurpies and Mimmic Minnows.

Of course, all of this is nothing but theory at this point. I won't know for sure until I hit Leech Lake in May if artificial shiners and leeches will perform as good as, or better than, live bait. I'll have a detailed report right here at that time, so stay tuned.

Cold, cold, cold

My recent President's Day visit to Leech Lake can be captured in one word -- COLD. As you can see from the photo, the temps were often 25 degrees below zero or colder!

Unfortunately, the fishing was about as cold as the weather. Reports from my neighbors for most of the hard-water season had been about the same -- slow, a few jumbo perch every few days, the occasional 3-4 lbs. northern pike, every so often (mostly at dusk) a slot-limit walleye and even one eelpout. My experience was the same. I caught dozens of 5-8" perch and several small northern pike, but no jumbos and not one walleye. I did see a small "eyeball" swim by while peering down a hole in the ice, but couldn't hook a single one. My neighbors Tom and John didn't have much better luck. John did take a ride over to the "government cabin" area of Sucker Bay where he picked up a couple of nice jumbos. But in our usual spots, the fishing was very slow.

That's not to say we didn't have some excitement on the lake. On Tuesday, Tom, Ron Neustrand and I were out fishing in Tom's fish house. It was a slow fishing day, but we thought if we stayed out until dark we might nab a walleye or two. Darkness descended on Sucker Bay and we still couldn't catch a walleye so we decided to drive back to shore. Tom and Ron had both driven their trucks out to the fish house so we planned to caravan back to land. During our hours in the fish house, the wind had been blowing very hard; upwards of 25-30 mph. The wind, coupled with the recent snow fall made for some very big drifts. The wind also brought the temperature -- which was hovering around 20 below zero -- to wind chills of around 45 below zero. Packing up the trucks and securing the fish house for the night was a cold affair indeed. But it wasn't until Tom got his truck stuck in a snow drift that we really learned how cold it was out on the frozen lake that night.

Both Ron and I tried to shovel the snow out from Tom's truck, while Tom intermittently tried rocking the truck forward and back in four-wheel drive trying to break free from the snow drift. When we were unsuccessful at digging Tom's truck free, we decided to use a strap attached to Ron's truck to pull Tom's truck out of the drift. But as Ron backed his truck closer to Tom's truck so we could attach the strap, Ron's truck also got stuck in the drift. At this point we were all nearly frozen and had to take a break in the trucks to warm our frozen hands, feet and faces. After digging the snow away from Ron's truck, Ron put the vehicle in four-wheel drive low, and then Tom and I began pushing. At last we got Ron's truck free. We then repositioned Ron's truck on the side of the drift and just close enough to Tom's truck to attach the towing strap.

By this time nearly an hour had elapsed and not only were the three of us nearly frozen solid, but our wives on shore had become very concerned. They could see the truck lights out on the ice, but couldn't figure out what we were doing. I used Ron's cell phone to call Kathleen to let her know we were stuck, but that we were working on the problem ourselves and there was no need to call for back up, yet.

With frozen fingers crossed, Ron put his truck and drive and hit the gas. Tom was in his truck and began gunning his engine as well. With both trucks in four-wheel drive low, and strapped together, we finally got Tom's truck free from the drift.

I don't think any of us realized just how cold we were until we got inside our respective houses. Sixty-eight degrees inside was more than a 100 degree difference from the weather we were just battling outside. That's quite a delta. I think my face, back and hands were cold for an hour before I finally began to warm up.

When I wasn't out on the ice fishing, I was usually inside enjoying the company of my beautiful wife Kathleen. We made food together, enjoyed watching a little TV and had our best times near the warmth of the fireplace. Yes, it was cold during my recent visit to Leech Lake, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it for all of the 70-degree days here in California.

Better Late Than Never

Here's a picture of Leech Lake taken by my neighbor John Newman from my property looking south in early December. The ice is already 10-inches thick and is blanketed with nearly a foot of snow. I haven't received any ice-angling updates from either John, or Tom Malay, so for this post I'll dig back into my notes from my mid-October visit. I know, that's nearly two months ago, but that trip did provide some excellent late season walleye fishing. Better late than never.

Day 1: Friday, Oct. 12, 2007
I arrived in Bemidji around 4:30 p.m. CT and proceeded to go straight from the airport to Gander Mountain. My goal was to buy an aeration unit for my minnow bucket because I planned to buy a scoop of shiners, and without a good supply of oxygen, shiners tend to die over night. After my stop at Gander, I made a stop at the grocery store, liquor store and finally, Bluewater Bait. I picked up two scoops of fatheads and one (very generous) scoop of shiners. Once home the shiners went into the aerated minnow bucket and out to the cold of the garage. Just the ticket to keep shiners alive.

Day 2: Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007 (Happy Birthday Melissa)
I awoke to a beautiful day with a light wind out of the southwest under partly sunny skies. John and I drifted from Second Duck Point to the "Birches" several times pulling fatheads on Northland Fireball jigs and Johnson Beetle spins with very limited success. John caught a few small perch and I was skunked. Rarely do I have to use this old saw, but today it was right on the money, "the worst day fishing is better than the best day working." It's rare that I don't catch anything, but today was one of those days. Still, I love being out on the water of Leech Lake.

Day 3: Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007
I didn't record the exact weather conditions for this day, but I can say it was windy (small white caps) from the north. I fished by myself in my Lund Pro V 1800 IFS using jigs and shiners and had a much better day. I caught five beautiful walleye, including a very nice 24-incher. I also caught a perfect 'eater' walleye -- 16 1/2 inches -- that I kept for dinner.

Day 4: Monday, Oct. 15, 2007
Today I fished with Tom Malay. That outing yielded only a few perch, but it was fun to be out on the water with Tom. I always enjoy angling with Mr. Malay -- either in a boat or on the hard water. After returning to shore for a mid-afternoon snack, I went back out onto the water by myself to battle the cold (mid-40s) and windy (20 mph winds from the north) conditions. As is often the case, these nasty conditions can provide some of the year's best fishing. I caught four walleye in about 1 1/2 hours, including a nice 23-inch beauty.

Day 5: Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007
Went out onto the water myself again today and caught five more walleyes. All were caught on 1/4-ounce, long-shank shiner jigs (that I purchased at Cass Lake's only bait and tackle shop, Froggy's) tipped with shiners. The fish were fairly well dispersed between the "Birches" and Second Duck Point, including a nice 24-incher caught right in front of my house.

Day 6: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007
Another solo trip out onto the cold and choppy water. Water temperatures had dropped to around 50 degrees, and the air temperature was a good 5-10 degrees cooler. The wind had calmed some, but there was still a good "walleye chop" to the lake. I caught four eyeballs using the same jig and shiner set-up as the previous day. The biggest fish of the day was a 23-inch beauty taken in front of the Newman's cabin. It was an interesting catch because as I was drifting along I felt the classic "weight" on my line, so I let out 20-30 feet of 6-pound, Trilene XT line from my Shimano Symetre, closed the bail, set the hook and BANG, the walleye was on. But before I could get the walley' in the boat, it came off the hook. I quickly began reeling in the jig for another pass over the spot. The jig was in sight, a foot or so under the surface, when I saw a flash! The walleye, or a walleye, appeared, inhaled my jig and shiner, turned and headed toward the bottom. This time I didn't mess around with feeding him any line and instead immediately set the hook. A few quick turns of the handle on my reel later, I netted a beautiful golden walleye. That's the first time I had a walleye chase my minnow back to the boat. It behaved more like a largemouth bass that a finicky walleye. A great way to finish another day out on Sucker Bay.

Day 7: Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007
This is beginning to sound a bit redundant, but I fished alone again today, there was a slight chop to the cool water and the weather was cold and grey. But the fishing was again good. I caught several perch and four more nice walleyes. I didn't keep any, but I did finally clean the fish I had caught earlier in the week. I planned to have a nice Friday-night fish fry.

Day 8, Friday, Oct. 19, 2007 (Happy Birthday Kathleen)
I had planned on pulling the boat out of the water today, but it was so windy that all on-water activities were scrapped. No fishing today. I spent the day cleaning up around the house, and began the "winterization" process for the house and cabin. For dinner I had a fantastic meal of walleye fillets! Mmmmm.

Day 9, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007
The forecast for today was light winds in the early morning, but picking up as the day went on. Therefore, I decided to pull the boat out of the water early. By 8 a.m. John Newman and I were on the water's edge putting my boat onto the trailer. By 10:30 a.m. I had pulled the boat out of the water, cleaned out all the tackle, rods, and other miscellaneous items on board, drove into town and dropped it off at Corner Sports where she'll be housed for the winter. Later that day I cleaned out the gutters of the house and did various other chores before joining John Newman and his boys out in the woods for a beer and a look at his new deer stand (the picture below). We then all went home, got cleaned up and went to the Ottertail Peninsula Fall potluck. I can't believe this was my seventh potluck. I'm getting to be an old-timer.

Day 10: Sunday, Oct. 21, 2007
More cleaning around the house -- fireplace, bathrooms, kitchen, etc. Around 3:30 p.m., Tom called and asked if I wanted to go out fishing one last time before heading back to California. You bet I did! By 4 p.m. Tom and I were out on Sucker Bay trolling Rapala Minnow Rap crank baits. We only had one good hit. Just before dark I had a big fish on. The way it fought and rolled, both Tom and I thought I'd hooked a northern pike. Since neither of us like having "northern slime" in our boats, I reached for the fish glove so I could take the "snake" off the hook without bringing him into the boat. But as the fish got close to the boat, we could see it wasn't a northern at all, but a big walleye. Quickly we scrambled for the net, but too late. The momentary slack in the my line was all the time the big eyeball needed to unbuttoned himself from my lure. We both got a good look at the fish, and by our humble estimates, we put him at roughly 25-inches. We didn't get the fish in the boat, but it was nice to hook a big walleye one last time on open water in 2007. The next day Tom drove me to the airport and I caught a plane to Minneapolis then San Jose. As I type this I am already looking forward to my visit to Leech Lake in February for some hard-water angling. More then. <*)))><