September 28, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

At 9:00 a.m. this morning the weather outside looked as if it hadn't changed one little bit since last evening. The wind was still very strong at 22-25 mph out of the NW, the lake was covered in rolling waves and white caps, the sky was gray and completely covered in clouds, it was spitting rain and the temperature was 46 degrees. As was the case yesterday, I can see no boats on the water.

I did a quick of the weather online and learned that the forecast for tonight was more wind and cold. In fact, the temperature is supposed to dip to 29 degrees.

Realizing that freezing temps could cause a problem with anything water related left outside, I decided to drain the pump we use to draw water from the lake to water the yard and plants, store the garden hoses and put the power washer back inside the cabin. I don't know if it will actually freeze tonight, but I'm not taking any chances.

After taking care of the pump, etc., I gathered up all the garbage and recycling and took it down to the community center where we dump our garbage and recycling. From there I went on into Cass Lake to pick up a few grocery items, but is always the case, I forget the main thing I went into town for -- Half & Half. I like having that for my morning coffee, but will have to use 2% milk or drink it black.

It is still very windy, with the wind at 25+mph out of the north with gusts up over 30 mph. the water is very rough and covered with whitecaps. Unless something dramatic happens, i.e., the wind stops blowing so hard, I won't be able to get out on the lake for the second straight day.

The temperature at 11:30 p.m. was 46 degrees, the wind was still blowing like crazy, and for the second day in a row I didn't make out fishing on Leech Lake.

September 27, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The roiling water of Leech Lake about an hour before the wind shifted and the rain came

This morning at 9:30 a.m. the temperature was a chilly 58 degrees, the wind was strong at 15-18 mph out of the NNW, with gusts up near 25 mph, and the sky was partly sunny. The lake was wild and covered in white caps. Since we're on the eastern side of Sucker Bay, a westerly wind makes this side of the bay very rough.

As I looked out onto the back deck of the house to check the temperature, I noticed a dead ruffed grouse by the floor-to-ceiling windows of our living room. It had obviously crashed into the window knocking itself out, and eventually died. I removed the bird from the deck and placed it in the woods where I'm sure some animal will find it and eat it. Grouse are great eating birds for humans too, and many people up here at Leech Lake hunt them, but I was not about to eat a dead bird.

The wind continued to blow hard throughout the morning and into early afternoon, picking up to 18-25 mph out of the WNW. The lake is now covered in white caps, and there are no boats in sight.

It's now 5:00 p.m. and the wind has actually gotten stronger! It's blowing a continuous 22-28 mph out of the WNW with gusts to 35-38 mph. The lake is angry and boiling with high waves and white caps. I went out onto the end of the dock to take a couple of pictures of the lake, and was nearly blown into the water. It was as if the wind was blowing back to the house. "Go inside. Stay warm, " the wind seemed to be saying.

At 6:00 p.m., the wind suddenly shifted and began blowing out of the north; although it didn’t lessen in strength at all. With the shift in wind direction came the rain. It wasn’t a hard rain, but with the force of the wind, it pelted the house, the windows and anything that happened to be in its way.

The sun set tonight shortly after 7:00 p.m., but it was nearly dark even earlier because of the dark clouds and rain. It's still raining now after 11:00 p.m., the temperature has dropped to 48 degrees and the wind has yet to let up.

I didn't get out on the lake today to do any fishing, and I have no idea if I'll have a chance to get out tomorrow or not. I've got various business calls that should keep me occupied until early afternoon. If the weather permits, I will get out sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening to fish for walleye and perch on Leech Lake.

September 26, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 54 degrees, the sky was dark and completely covered in heavy clouds and the wind was brisk at 12-15 mph out of the SW. It looked as if it might rain at any moment. Finally a normal Fall day at Leech Lake.

As the morning worn on, however, it didn't rain and the sky gradually began to clear. After I had finished washing the linens and putting them back on the beds at the cabin, the sun finally broke through the clouds casting shadows everywhere. I decided it was a perfect time to go for a walk.

I walked down to Paulsen's house and back -- about a 2 mile round trip. When I got back to the house it was mostly sunny, and the temperature had climbed to 68 degrees although it was still fairly windy. A great time to paint the deck at the cabin I decided.

I changed into my painting clothes, got the paint, tray, roller and other supplies out of the garage and set to work. By 3:30 p.m. I had repainted the back deck at the cabin, and I was hungry.

I had a quick sandwich then figured I'd hit the water for an hour so. I wanted to be back home by 5:00 p.m. to listen to the season opener of A Prairie Home Companion on public radio.

The wind was still 15 mph out of the SW so there was a good chop on the lake, with occasional white caps. I motored the boat out to 10 feet of water in front of our house, put in the drift sock, tipped my VMC jig with a fathead and started fishing.

Almost immediately I hooked into a small northern. That was followed by several small perch, but none big enough to keep, and no walleye.

I got back to the house a little later than I'd hoped to, around 5:15 p.m., but I was still into time to catch Guy Noir and the News from Lake Wobegon. I had my dinner of BBQ ribs, French Fries and salad, and was finished eating at 7:30 p.m., about 20 minutes after sunset.

I looked outside as the light was fading from the western sky and made the decision to go trolling. "No one ever caught a walleye sitting on the couch," I thought to myself. I grabbed my flashlight, some water and a sweatshirt and hustled over to the boat lift.

I was on the water by 7:45 p.m. The wind was still 12-15 mph from the SW, the water temperature was 68.6 degrees, and the moon was 55 percent waxing (basically a half moon).

I trolled The Alley in 9-12 feet of water using my Rapala Minnow Rap, but tonight I didn't get even a hit and miss. Nothing. No fish. Not even a stupid rock bass. Skunked.

I came ashore around 9:15 p.m. I spent the rest of the evening quietly reading as the wind blew through the trees outside. A nice way to cap off a beautiful Fall day at Leech Lake.

September 25, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

The storm that passed by without dropping any rain on Sucker Bay

As he said they would be, my Dad and Mom were in the car by 10:00 a.m. on their way back to Illinois. I had a very nice visit with them, and I hope they enjoyed their time at Leech Lake as well.

After my parents left, I pulled out the power washer, hooked it up to the hose, started it up, and washed the back deck at the cabin. If it doesn't rain tonight, I'll paint the deck tomorrow morning.

I took care of some business emails and calls, and then around noon I had a chance to get out on the lake to do some fishing. I returned to the spot Duane Paulsen had told me about -- between Schiebe's cabin and the government cabins in 8-11 feet of water -- and immediately hooked a 24-inch northern. I was using a Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with a orange Northland Swim'N Grub. I returned the northern to the lake.

After a few more casts, with no bites, I switched to a live fathead minnow on my jig. I caught numerous perch, including two that bordered on being jumbos, so I put those in my live well. I fished until 2:00 p.m. but then came home.

The weather today was beautiful once again. This morning it started out around 56 degrees but warmed to 72 degrees by midday. The wind was out of the SSE at 5-10 mph, a perfect breeze for drifting for perch and walleye. The sky was partly cloudy and the water temperature was 70.6 degrees.

After doing more work and other household chores, I returned to the lake at 5:00 p.m. Once on the water I was met with dark skies in the south, and I was sure I'd have to scramble off the lake in a hurry to avoid getting pelted by the storm. I estimated that the storm was no more than 45 minutes away. But as the evening wore on, the storm dissipated, and blew to the west of Sucker Bay making it a perfect evening on the water.

The wind had picked up, to 8-12 mph, but was still out of the SSE. I used a jig and fatheads exclusively for my evening drift. I once again got things rolling by hooking a northern pike. This one was smaller than the one I caught earlier, around 18".

I caught numerous perch and one 13" walleye. I hoisted the little walleye into the boat without the aid of a net and as soon as it was over the boat it twisted and cut my line. The jig was still hooked in its mouth. I removed the jig, which was bent and needed to be replaced anyway, and put the little walleye back into the lake unharmed.

I retied using an 1/8 oz. VMC Hot Skirt Glow Jig in blue and tipped it with a fathead. I caught a few more perch, but no more walleye. At 7:00 p.m. I came ashore for the night. I decided to not go trolling tonight.

All in all, it was a fun and successful day of fishing on Minnesota's Leech Lake.

September 24, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

Today was yet another in a series of beautiful Fall days on Leech Lake. The temperature today hit a high of 73 degrees, the sky was clear blue with only some distant clouds to the south. The wind was calm to maybe 3-5 mph out of the south. An absolutely gorgeous September day.

Today is also the last full day of my parents' visit to the Northwoods. Tomorrow they will begin their two-day trip back to Illinois. It's been great having them here, and as usual, their trip went by way too quickly.

This afternoon Duane Paulsen was back in the woods cutting up a couple of fallen trees on John Newman's property. I don't know why, but I had a feeling I needed to go back and check on him. On got on my Polaris Sportsman 500 ATV and went back to where the logging operation was underway.

Sure enough, Duane had managed to get the bar of his chain saw stuck in a large tree trunk and needed assistance freeing it. While Duane used the front loader of his tractor to lift the tree trunk, I grabbed the chain saw and managed to wiggle it free.

At that point Duane said he’d had enough logging for one day and decided to head home. We loaded his front loader with numerous cuts from the tree, and he took them home where he’d split them into firewood later.

At that point my Mom and I decided to go for a walk in the woods. There are many trails that crisscross the woods and while we didn’t take the shortest route, we didn’t go the longest way either. We had a nice walk, and talk, back in the woods.

When we returned it was around 3:00 p.m. The sky was still clear blue and the wind was slight at 3-5 mph. I thought it’d be the perfect time to get a little fishing in. I asked them, but neither my Mom nor my Dad wanted to join me on the water.

While I was helping Duane in the woods, he had mentioned that earlier that morning he’d caught a nice walleye, a northern and numerous good perch in a spot between Schiebe’s cabin and the government cabins in 8-10 feet of water. It had been years since I had fished that spot so I thought that I’d try there.

The water temperature where I stopped to fish was 70.2 degrees. I put a fathead minnow on my Lindy Max Gap jig and lowered it into the water. I caught numerous perch over the next hour, but none that I would classify as “really nice,” or jumbo.

I decided to mix up my presentation slightly, so rather than tip my jig with a minnow I used a Northland Pro Series Swim’N Grub in a silver color. On my first cast I caught a 24” northern pike. After that I caught a couple of small perch, but again, no walleye or jumbo perch.

At 4:30 p.m. I headed back to shore to get the grill going for dinner. The previous day I had started brining a chicken, and tonight I was going to make “beer can” chicken on the grill.

I thought the bird was tender, juicy and very tasty, but it might have been too salty for my parents taste.

After dinner I started doing some work on my Dad’s laptop PC; things like cleaning up the registry, changing the virus protection software on the PC, etc. I finally wrapped up the work shortly after midnight and then hit the hay.

It was nice to have my parents here for a visit at Leech Lake, and I hope they can come up here again during my next visit.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day – with warm temperatures, light winds and clear skies. I plan to get out onto Leech Lake to do some Fall walleye fishing.

September 23, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

Today was another beautiful fall day at Leech Lake. The high temperature today was 73 degrees, the low was right around 50 degrees. The wind was mostly calm, with a slight breeze of 3-5 mph on occasion from the east. The sky was clear and blue. The water temperature was 70.9 degrees in most locations.

My parents, who are visiting me here this week at the lake, and I went into Bemidji today to have dinner, and to pick up some paint I need to repaint the deck at the cabin. We had a nice drive into town and also around the Bemidji State University campus, which is located on the western shore of Lake Bemidji.

We got back to the lake around 6:30 p.m. and shortly before 7:00 p.m. I hit the water to do a little fishing. I started by casting a Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with Northland Slurpie Swim'N Grub. I caught nothing.

Just after sunset, which was at 7:13 p.m. this evening, I switched tactics and began trolling my hot steel colored Minnow Rap in 9-12 feet of water in The Alley. Again, I caught nothing. I decided to expand my trolling area to include the flats between Duck Point and Second Duck Point. Still no fish.

At 8:45 p.m., with no fish caught, I headed for shore. This is one of the few times in recent memory where I've been skunked on the water.

Once on shore, my mother and I went out to the end of the dock to look at the stars. With no clouds, and an early moonset (at 9:23 p.m. this evening) the sky was covered in blinking stars. The Milky Way was again clearly visible.

It was a nice way to end another night on Leech Lake.

September 22, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

When I got out of bed this morning and looked outside, the ground was wet from an overnight rain. The sky was cloudy and looked like it could produce more rain at any time. The temperature was 62 degrees and the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the south.

As the morning evolved into early afternoon, however, no more rain fell and the sun actually broke through the heavy cloud cover. At 1:00 p.m. I decided to go fishing, and to my surprise and delight, my father asked if he could join me.

While my dad always took us to various northern Michigan locations for summertime vacations in remote cabins, he was never one to get out on the lake for any angling action. On this occasion I was more than happy to have him join me in the boat, even if he chose not to fish.

Once in the boat I noted that the water temperature had cooled to 70.2 degrees. The air temperature had warmed to the low 70s.

I started fishing in front of our house in 9-11 feet of water using a Lindy Max Gap jig tipped with a fathead minnow. I caught one small perch. There were seven other boats very close to us, many with licenses that showed them to be from Wisconsin and Iowa, so I decided to move to another location. I don't like fishing in packs of boats.

I moved the boat to 12-14 feet of water in front of the Malay's cabin, and again used a jig and minnow presentation. Again, I caught only a couple of small perch.

I decided it was time for another change of venue and presentation. I motored over to Norm's cabin and began throwing a spinner bait for bass. Using my MinnKota electric trolling motor I navigated along the edge of the reeds while making my way north toward Schiebe's cabin. I didn't catch any bass, but a big muskie broke the surface just in front of the boat. I caught a quick glimpse of its back, and both my dad and me saw and heard the big splash it made as it disappeared back into the water.

With the boat in front of The Birches, I stowed the electric trolling motor and moved the boat out into 9-10 feet of water. I fished The Birches for 20 minutes or so, but caught only one rock bass; again on a jig and minnow presentation.

At just after 3:00 p.m. we made our way back to shore. Within 30 minutes of coming ashore, the sky darkened and the wind shifted to the north and picked up to 12-15 mph. It looked like we were going to get some rain, but the dark clouds passed overhead without dropping any moisture.

The wind was still fairly strong as evening turned to night and rather than go out fishing by myself, I stayed inside and visited with my parents.

Tomorrow we'll be going into Bemidji to run some errands and to eat dinner in town. If the weather permits, I'd like to get out trolling tomorrow evening so I can attempt to catch a 16-18 inch walleye or two so we can have a fish fry dinner before my parents have to leave for home.

More from Leech Lake tomorrow.

September 21, 2009 -- At Leech Lake

The rain approaching from the south; Goose Island in the distance

This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 62 degrees, the sky was mostly cloudy and the wind was light at 5-8 mph out of the south. As the day progressed, the sky continued to darken until 1:15 p.m. when it started to rain.

It rained lightly for about 45 minutes, then absolutely poured for about 20 minutes, before letting up to a light sprinkle for the next couple of hours. The high temperature today didn't get much past 70 degrees.

At 4:00 p.m. my parents arrived at the cabin. They had been at a wedding over the weekend in western Illinois, then spent Sunday night in northern Wisconsin before making their way to Leech Lake today. They'll be here for four days. I hope we get some good weather so we can get out onto the lake to do some fishing and go hiking back in the woods.

I had a number of business calls and other work related activities that took up most of my morning and afternoon, so I didn't get a chance to go fishing before my parents arrived. Then between the on-again off-again rain and cooking dinner, I didn't go fishing this evening either. That's fine, however, because it gave me a chance to visit with my parents.

I have more work to attend to tomorrow morning that should keep me occupied until the early afternoon. If the weather permits, I'll go fishing both tomorrow afternoon and then trolling tomorrow evening. My mother would like a fish fry while she's here at the lake and I'd love to accommodate her.

Until tomorrow...

September 19 and 20, 2009 -- On Leech Lake

WEEKEND EDITION

Saturday -- Z-Man Invitational Walleye Classic

The 7th Annual Z-Man (Glen Zimmerman) Invitational Walleye Classic -- as it was listed on the hand towel Glen gave out -- began on Saturday, September 19 at 7:00 a.m. on Leech Lake. Glen, who lives in the grouping of houses collectively known as The Harbor, puts on this little get-together as part of his birthday celebration. His birthday is September 19, same as Rick's. Happy birthday Rick.

To ensure an early start for the one-day tournament, I met John Newman at his place at 6:15 a.m. for breakfast. I had awakened around 4:00 a.m. this morning and had not been able to go back to sleep. So by the time I got to John's I'd already been up for more than two hours.

We ate a Hearty Angler's Breakfast® consisting of ham, bacon, eggs, home-fried potatoes, and English muffins along with coffee and orange juice. By 7:00 a.m. our bellies were full and we were ready to do some walleye fishing.

We hit the water just after 7:00 a.m. under clear skies and a temperature of 65 degrees, on its way to a high of 80. The winds were light in the morning hours at 5-8 mph out of the SSE, but as the day progressed, so did the winds shifting to the south and increasing to 12-18 mph. The water temperature was 72.4 degrees.

John and I started the morning by trolling Minnow Raps in The Alley in 9-12 feet of water at a ground speed of just over 2 mph. We caught three big northern pike, including one John hooked that was close to, if not, 30 inches. But no walleye.

Around 9:00 a.m. we switched tactics. We both used jigs tipped with fathead minnows. I used an 1/8 oz. Lindy Max Gap jig in chartreuse, and John used a round jig head similar to a Northland Gum Ball jig. We took advantage of the wind, and drifted north from Second Duck Point to past the Malay's cabin in 9-11 feet of water.

After several drifts, numerous perch and a northern pike or two, I finally boated our first walleye of the day, a nice 16" fish that I kept (Although I subsequently let it go because it was just 16" long and fairly skinny. I prefer to keep 16 1/2" to 17 1/2" walleye if they've got some weight to them).

I recorded my catch on my official tournament scorecard, and got back to fishing.

John and I made several more passes between Second Duck and the Malay's, but neither of us caught another walleye; but we did continue to catch perch, and I hooked into at least a couple of pike because twice I lost my jig to a "toothy" biter and had to re-tie.

We decided to motor over to Big Hardwood Point because the word was the walleye were active over there. When we arrived it was obvious we weren't the only ones who had heard about the walleye biting at Big Hardwood because there were at least a dozen other boats in the area.

John and I spent about an hour or more jigging fatheads around the point, but we didn't get so much as a perch bite. Finally we decided to head north to another location I know, which I've dubbed the "Hole." It consists of 15-18 feet of water surrounded by shallower water of 10-12 feet. It's located in front of the old Bay Shore Resort on the north end of Sucker Bay. I've caught walleye there before, so we thought we'd give it a try.

We made numerous passes through the Hole, around it, along side of it, near it, etc., but we only caught a few small perch. At 2:20 p.m. we came ashore for some lunch, to regroup, and map out a plan of action for the final few hours of the tournament.

John and I hit the water again around 3:45 p.m. and fished for another three hours. Our location this time was the only place where we'd seen a walleye today -- the Alley between Second Duck Point and the Malay's cabin in 9-11 feet of water.

We both caught numerous perch, in fact John keep several of them, but no walleyes saw the inside of the boat. At 6:45 p.m. we made our way back to the boat lift and eventually to Glen's cabin at the Harbor for the tournament wrap up and dinner.

The winner of this year's Z-Man Invitational Walleye Classic did so with a total of 83 1/2 inches for four fish, a nice group of fish indeed. Lainee Malay and Lenette Gabrielson made the dinner of shredded beef sandwiches, beans, pasta salad, etc. After dinner, door prizes were handed out and by 8:30 p.m. John and I were on our way back to our respective houses.

We had been on the water for the better part of the day, and even though we only caught one walleye between us, we had another great day on Leech Lake.

Sunday

Today was cooler than yesterday with a temperature of 77 degrees as a high and the mid 50s for a low. The sky was filled with big billowy clouds early in day that darkened by noon, but eventually gave way to a clear night sky filled with stars. Even the Milky Way was visible overhead in a north-south arc. The wind varied from 10-12 mph early in the day to more than 20 mph midday, with gusts up over 30 mph, before calming to 8-12 mph after dark.

The moon was 5 percent waxing and sunset was at 7:19 p.m. The water temperature was 71.2 degrees.

I made it out onto the water for the first time today around 11:45 a.m. I went south toward Second Duck Point but pulled up in front of Giza's cabin in 9 feet of water. I deployed the drift sock, put a fathead minnow on my Lindy Max Gap jig and started drifting north. I made only two passes before the wind started to really kick up, so by 1:00 p.m. I was back on shore. I had caught no fish.

John Newman invited me over for dinner, and we dined on brined then oven-roasted chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn. Sure, the meal lacked any green leafy vegatables, but is sure was tasty.

At 7:15 p.m. John and I went onto the water for an evening trolling session. We trolled The Alley in 9-12 feet of water pulling Rapala Minnow Raps. I caught a small pike and a 22" walleye. Those were the only fish we caught, however, and by 9:30 p.m. we were back on shore.

It was a beautiful autumn day in northern Minnesota and I feel blessed to have spent it on Leech Lake.