August 9, 2011 -- At Leech Lake (Painting Complete)

I woke up at just before 7:00 a.m. this morning and the house was actually cold. The temperature outside was 55 degrees and the wind was howling at more than 20 mph out of the north. The sky was mostly cloudy, with just a few patches of blue sky here and there. The temperature in the house was a cool 66 degrees. After all of the hot and humid weather of the past month, it felt good to have to put on a sweatshirt.

As the morning approached noon the wind continued to blow at more than 20 mph out of the NNW and white caps rolled across the lake. I went to the boat lift and raised the boat up a little higher because the waves were hitting the bottom of the hull. The flag is standing straight out and the flag pole is bending against the wind.

The forecast called for a thunderstorm this afternoon but it actually cleared as the day moved on. As a result of the weather, it turned out to be a perfect day for me and Joe to complete the painting of the fish-cleaning house and then to the green trim on all three buildings.

The "ATV garage" with new paint

The "bunkhouse" with its new paint job

The "fish-cleaning house" with its new paint

After we were done painting, Joe and I cleaned up, grilled chicken wings for dinner and then just hung out at home. The wind had died down a bit, but was still blowing at 12-17 mph out of the NNW making it too rough to go out trolling tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

A good day's work at Leech Lake.

August 8, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

This morning was cooler than the past several weeks with temperatures in the high 60s most of the morning. It was also breezy with winds out of the west at 8-15 mph, with gusts up over 20 mph. The sky was overcast and gray and it rained on and off. It was the perfect day for Joe and I to go into Bemidji.

We need to get more paint so we can finishing painting the fish-cleaning house and since we're going into town to get more paint I decided we should get another gallon of the green paint we use for the fascia board and trim on the out buildings. I have one gallon left over when we painted the cabin, but I'd hate to run out of it and need more.

While we were in town, Joe and I saw a movie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and then had lunch at Mi Rancho. We picked up the paint, got some groceries and then came home.

Once home Joe and I went out onto the dock to survey the weather conditions. It was clear that a storm was on the way and would arrive within the hour. Sure enough, less than 30 minutes later a storm hit. The rain was coming down in sheets, the wind was blowing hard and there was occasional lightning.


A ray of sun shines through the clouds before a storm hit Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

The passed quickly, however, and in an hour the wind had calmed to 5-8 mph out of the west, the skies cleared, although the temperature had dropped to the low 60s.

Joe and I finished dinner, watched the sunset, then decided to go trolling for walleye. Last night Joe piloted the boat, but with the wind a little stronger tonight and the possible threat of another storm blowing through, I took the controls.

I motored the boat off the lift and out into 9 feet of water where we dropped our Minnow Raps into the water. I warned Joe that since a storm had just passed through we were likely to hook big clumps of weeds which had been torn loose from the wind and waves.

Sure enough, we both caught weeds within minutes of starting our troll. But we kept at it and eventually Joe hooked into a fish. At first he thought he'd hooked more weeds, but then he felt that familiar "wiggle" of a fish at the end of the line. Unfortunately, it wasn't a walleye, but a decent sized northern pike. I don't like bringing pike into the boat because of the slime on their bodies and the smell they leave behind, so I unhooked this northern over the side of the boat and immediately released it back into the lake.

We then made one final pass through Duck Bay but all we hooked were more weeds.

We came ashore around 10:00 p.m., watched a DVD then called it a night. We didn't have much time on the water today, but it was still to be out on Leech Lake.

August 7, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

At 10:00 a.m. this morning the temperature was hovering just above 60 degrees, but with the humidity at 80% and virtually no wind, it felt much hotter. The sky was overcast and gray, but as the day went on the clouds parted a bit and some blue sky could be seen.

I checked the walleye that I'd caught the other night to see how healthy it was, and discovered it wasn't doing real well and needed to be filleted immediately. So one of my first chores of the morning was cleaning a nice walleye which Joe and I will eat for dinner tonight.

After getting the fish cleaned, and then cleaning up the fish-cleaning house, I went next door to check on the Coyles. They were already in the process of packing up their car and cleaning up the cabin.

I helped strip the beds and get the laundry going while Sandy swept the floor and Connor vacuumed the carpets.

At 1:15 p.m. Tim, Sandy, Connor and Jackson got into the car and drove off, ending their six day visit. It was nice having them here, Joe and I both enjoy their company, but Joe and I are looking forward to having it just be the two of us up here for the next couple of weeks so we can concentrate on finishing the painting, and on doing some serious fishing. We've got plans to do some bass fishing, trolling for walleye, and doing a full-day trip of muskie fishing.

Shortly before 2:00 p.m. I decided to go fishing. I checked the fatheads only to discover that they had all died. Without fatheads to use as bait on my jig, I switched gears and went bass fishing. I asked Joe if he wanted to accompany me, but he wasn't ready to go out on the water and elected to stay on shore.

I motored over the the reeds just out in front of Norm's cabin, dropped the MinnKota trolling motor into the water, grabbed my Shimano Calcutta reel on the St. Croix Triumph rod rigged with a spinnerbait and started fishing.

I slowly worked my way from Norm's north toward Schiebe's along the edge of the large expanse of reeds that come out of the water. About half way between Norm's and Schiebe's I hooked into a bass. The fish immediately began fighting back in a manner bass fishermen can appreciate and made two leaps into the air before I could boat it. I'm guessing it was a 15-inch fish and had to weigh at least two pounds.

After releasing the beautiful bass back into Leech Lake I continued moving north at a very slow pace. I made numerous casts along the way and had one decent-sized northern pike follow my spinnerbait right up to the boat before turning tail and diving into the algae stained water.

Just before I reached Schiebe's cabin, which I had designated as my end point, I hooked into another bass. This one felt a little bigger than the first one, and like the one I'd caught earlier, this one too made two airborne leaps before I could get it into the boat. Once the largemouth was in the boat I did a quick measurement and found out it was a 16-inch bass, which weighed an estimated 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. A nice fish by any measure.

I continued down to Schiebe's but didn't catch another fish. I slowly motored back to the cabin, got the boat onto the lift, came ashore and had some lunch. At this point in the day, approximately 3:00 p.m., the temperature had warmed to 73 degrees, the wind had shifted and was now blowing out of the SSE at 5-10 mph and the sky remained partly cloudy with some blue to be seen.

Joe was interested in getting a fire started in the fire pit at the cabin, but not in the traditional manner. He wanted to use his magnesium strip, knife and flint to get a small spark of a fire going and then use a smoldering ember to start a bigger fire. Joe likes to practice his wilderness survival skills when he's here at the lake.

While Joe was at the cabin working on his fire, I took a ride on the ATV. When I reached the point on Sucker Bay Road where it's a dirt road I passed by the area where people shoot their guns. It's a plot of land that is kept mowed with a high dirt bank at one end where targets can be set up. Today, my neighbors Marty and his son Anthony were there shooting skeet and taking some target practice with their deer rifles and a revolver.

I stopped the ATV and talked with them for a few minutes when Marty asked me if I'd like to shoot the revolver. I took him up on the opportunity and squeezed off 15 rounds. I only hit the target 6 times because the sight was misaligned and so the gun shot high and to the left. I only figured out how to compensate for it with my last few shots. It was fun, and something I had never done.

I then got on the ATV and rode home. Once home I checked in on Joe and then got dinner going -- the walleye from the other night. We enjoyed a tasty meal of beer-battered walleye fillets, French Fries and salad.

Just as the sun was setting into the western horizon, Joe and I went fishing. Since the wind was calm I had Joe take us out. He lowered the boat lift, got the motor positioned correctly, backed the boat off the lift and then piloted the boat while we trolled Minnow Raps for walleye.

As is usual we focused most of our attention in Duck Bay, but since Joe was driving the boat we tended to fish in slightly deeper water than typical. About an hour into fishing I hooked onto something. Initially it was hard to discern if it was a fish or just a large clump of weeds (many large clumps of weeds have been floating throughout Sucker Bay this summer).

I continued to reel into whatever was on the end of my line and soon it became clear it was fish. Joe put the motor in neutral and got the landing net ready while I continued to reel in the fish. When it was close enough to the boat Joe got the net underneath just as it spit the lure.

We got the fish into the boat and measured it to be a 23-inch walleye, roughly a 4 1/2 pound fish. We admired the beauty of the big fish for a moment or two then I gently released it back into the lake.

That was the only fish we boated, and after nearly two hours on the water we headed home.

We watched a DVD and then called it a night. Another good day of fishing on Leech Lake.

August 6, 2011 -- At Leech Lake

This morning was gray, cool and wet. The temperature at 10:00 a.m. was 65 degrees, the sky was gray with intermittent rain falling, the wind was out of the NNE at 5-10 mph. Every now and then the low rumble of thunder could be heard.

As the day progressed, the wind picked up to 10-15 mph out of the north and at times gusted to more than 20 mph. Rain fell for most of the day, and at times quite hard. With the weather less than ideal to take Tim and Jackson out fishing, we elected to stay inside and play liar's dice and watch a movie on DVD.

Then at about 7:00 p.m. everyone fell asleep. Joe was in his room resting. Tim fell asleep on the couch at the house, while Sandy and the boys were next door at the cabin resting. I was the only one who didn't take an early evening siesta.

Eventually everyone woke up and they were all hungry, so we decided to grill some hamburgers. I also made some French fries. The burgers tasted great, even if we were eating them after 10:00 p.m. After we cleaned up we sat around the table and talked for several hours. The Coyles went back to the cabin around 1:00 a.m. and shortly there after I showered and went to bed myself.

We didn't get any fishing in today, but it was still a nice day at Leech Lake.

August 5, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

This morning was another beautiful day at Leech Lake. The temperature at 10:00 a.m. 76 degrees, the sky was mostly sunny with some big billowy white clouds, the wind was relatively light at 5-8 mph out of the SSE.

The Coyles had planned on heading home sometime midday today but are having so much fun that they've decided to extend their stay through early Sunday. As a result, Jackson and Tim were anxious to get out on the water and do some fishing.

The clouds today were of particular interest. The were gigantic, bright white and very billowy. They almost looked unreal, like someone had painted them against the blue backdrop of the sky.


Big, white billowy cloud over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake. Big Hardwood Point on the left.

With a cooler full of drinks and sandwiches, Tim, Jackson and I lowered the boat into the water and motored to a spot in 12-feet of water off Second Duck Point; the spot where we'd been catching perch the past few days.

We spent maybe a half an hour jigging fatheads in this previously good spot without so much as a bite. The water was relatively calm, with just small ripples on it from the breeze out of the SSE, so we decided to take a run south of Big Hardwood Point; a spot which in the past has produced good walleye fishing.

The run to that spot took about 10 minutes at 35 mph and soon we were again jigging fatheads in search of walleye or perch. We fished in 17 feet of water, and although we saw huge schools of baitfish, most likely shiners, we couldn't produce one bite. So after 30 minutes of unproductive fishing we motored north to Big Hardwood Point.

I've caught several big walleye and perch off Big Hardwood, including a few walleye in the 25-inch range and jumbo perch over 11 inches. But not today. We fished for probably 45 minutes with only a couple of bites and no boated fish. It was time to move again.

This time I motored the boat to the tip of Ottertail Peninsula, which has in the past been home to big walleye, perch and muskie. The three of us again jigged fathead minnows. About 15 minutes into fishing this spot Jackson caught a small perch; our first fish of the day. Unfortunately, it would be the only fish we could coax into the boat in more than a half an hour at the spot.

Off we went toward Sandy Beach, south of Two Points in Portage Bay. Back in June when Rick was visiting from Australia he and I fished this spot and I caught several perch and a very nice walleye so I had high hopes that this spot would produce something today. We fished for about 40 minutes and had only a couple of nibbles, but no hooked fish.

As our last effort of the day we headed back into Sucker Bay and made our way to Second Duck Point, the first spot we'd fished today some 3 hours previous. We gave our "home" spot about 20 minutes and when it produced no fish, or even bites, we finally gave up and went ashore.

While we had been out fishing, Sandy had driven into Cass Lake and had picked up pizzas at Great River Pizzeria. Since we had plenty of food we invited John Newman to join us. During our dinner of pizza and salad, John told us he'd been out fishing all afternoon as well, in spots we didn't fish such as Submarine Island and other spots on the main part of Leech Lake, and didn't have any success either. He didn't catch one fish. The fish must have taken today off.

As the afternoon wore on, those big white billowy clouds darkened and grew more menacing and by 6:30 p.m. a thunderstorm had developed and moved right over us. It rained extremely hard for about 20 minutes and was accompanied by strong winds, lightning and thunder. Within an hour, however, the storm had passed, the skies cleared and all signs of the treacherous weather were gone.



The storm clouds as they moved south over Sucker Bay, Leech Lake

With the lake again relatively calm and the weather stable, we decided to go out trolling in Duck Bay. Tonight, Joe joined Tim, Jackson and I in the boat. Jackson fished the port side of the boat while Joe and I traded off fishing the starboard side. During a southward pass off Second Duck Point I felt that familiar tug of a fish on the line. I quickly gave the rod to Joe who reeled in a very nice 17-inch walleye, which went into the livewell for a future meal.

That one walleye was the only fish we caught during our nighttime troll, and only one of two fish caught all day. Although the fishing wasn't the greatest, we all still had a great time on Leech Lake.

August 4, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

Today was another beautiful day at Leech Lake. This morning at 9:00 a.m. the temperature was 74 degrees, the sky was blue and the sun was shining and there was a good wind blowing at 12-15 mph out of the SSW.

Since I was the only one awake, I decided to start painting the fish-cleaning house. I had found a gallon of paint over at the cabin so I thought I'd use that since I only had about a third of gallon from the five gallons I'd purchased earlier in the week.

I got the front part of the fish-cleaning house with the remaining third of a gallon of paint and went to use the unopened can of paint when I realized it was an oil-based stain rather than the latex paint I had been using; although the same color. Rather than mix oil-based and latex on the same building, I decided to wait and buy some more latex-based paint. So the fish-cleaning house will have to sit unpainted until our next trip into Bemidji.

Once the Coyles were up, Tim, Jackson and I decided to go fishing. Joe, Connor and Sandy elected to stay on shore.

We got out onto the water just after 2:00 p.m. and I found that the SW wind to be stronger than I originally expected, blowing at 12-18 mph with gusts up over 20 mph. The sky was sunny and the temperature was close to 80 degrees. The water temperature was 80 degrees.

With swell of 18" to 2 feet I keep the boat moving slowly as we motored out past Second Duck Point into Duck Bay in 10-12 feet of water.

We deployed the drift sock, tipped our jigs with fathead minnows and began fishing. We caught numerous perch during our three hours on the water, but only one 10-inch keeper. Together with the 6 perch caught from the other day, we'll have 7 filleted perch to eat for dinner tonight.

We came back to shore shortly after 5:00 p.m. I cleaned the perch, and then jumped into the lake to cool off and to clean off.

I got the grill started at 7:30 p.m. and then went home to prep the fish for beer-battering. Joe and Sandy prepped the "danger dogs" and brats. We had a very tasty and filling meal of beer-battered perch, brats, danger dogs, salad and fruit.

We decided to stay on shore tonight and play games rather than go trolling. We played several rounds of liar's dice, the set Rick brought over from Australia, which was a lot of fun. Eventually Tim and Sandy made their way back to the cabin while Joe, Connor, Jackson and I watched the new remake of True Grit on DVD.

It was another fun day at Leech Lake. Good night.

August 3, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

I woke up this morning at 9:00 a.m. to a perfectly clear blue sky, a light breeze from the SW at 5 mph, a temperature of 76 degrees and humidity at 80%. A wonderful Leech Lake morning.

I walked over to the cabin and moved the fatheads from the aerated bucket by the garage to a minnow bucket I could put in the lake. With the fatheads recharging in lake water I started back to the garage when I encountered Tim Coyle coming out of the cabin. The rest of his family was still sleeping, as was Joe back at the house, so I suggested that the two of us go fishing.

We got the minnows into the boat, lowered the boat into the water and slowly motored out past Second Duck Point to a spot in 12 feet of water. I got the drift sock in the water just to keep the boat from turning in the breeze, Tim and I tipped our jigs with minnows and began fishing.

It wasn't too long before I caught a perch. Then Tim caught one. And soon we'd caught numerous perch including three jumbo perch which we kept and added to the live well.

After about 1 1/2 hours on the water we came ashore. Tim went to the cabin to get something to eat and see his family, while I went home, where I cooked Joe and I a hearty breakfast.

At 1:30 p.m., Joe, Jackson, Tim and I went out fishing for perch. Again I motored the boat out past Second Duck Point in 12 feet of water and deployed the drift sock. All four of us put a fathead minnow on a jig and began fishing. During the next 2 1/2 hours we made several drifts and caught numerous perch, but only three jumbos big enough to keep; bringing our total to six perch for the day.

When we got back on shore we found that Sandy had prepared a wonderful lasagna dinner, complete with fresh garden salad and garlic bread. It was very tasty.

Just before sunset, Jackson, Tim and I went out onto the water to do some trolling for walleye. While we were on the water, Joe was to clean the perch that we caught earlier in the day.

The water temperature was 80 degrees, the air temperature was around 70 degrees, the wind was out of the SSW at 8-10 mph and the sky was almost completely clear, with just a few wispy clouds on the western horizon. It was so clear, in fact, that after sunset when the sky was dark enough, we could easily see the Milky Way while on the water trolling.

Jackson used my trolling rod while I set up Tim with Joe's. Both were pulling #9 Rapala Minnow Raps -- Jackson had a perch colored lure while Tim's was purpledescent.

There is a lot of new weed growth in Sucker Bay, so to avoid getting hung up on the weeds, we trolled from Second Duck Point south toward Duck Point in 10-12 feet of water.

On our second pass through Duck Bay Jackson hooked into a very nice 22 1/2 walleye. We took a picture of it on his phone since it was the biggest walleye he'd ever caught. On the very next pass Jackson hooked an 18-inch walleye that was just a tad too big to keep since it clearly measured 18 inches which put it in the Leech Lake slot limit. So like the 22 1/2-inch walleye before, the 18-inch fish went back into the lake.

We came ashore at 10:30 p.m. and I checked with Joe to see if he'd cleaned the perch. Unfortunately he had an accident with my custom-made Leech Lake fillet knife, and had broken off the tip of the knife. Luckily Joe didn't cut himself, but it was unfortunate that the knife was damaged since it was not only a very nice knife, but a gift to me from Kathleen.

The knife wasn't damaged enough to where I couldn't use it, however, so I ended up cleaning five of the perch. I'm hoping we can add another few perch or a small, eater walleye to the mix so we can have a nice fish dinner tomorrow night.

After cleaning the fish, I cleaned myself --in the shower. Being on the water three different times throughout the day, as well as handled dozens of fish and bait fish, and cleaning the perch, required that I clean off. It felt great.

Joe and I then talked to Kathleen on the phone for a while, listened to some music and watched a DVD before heading off to bed. It was day spent mostly fishing on Leech Lake, which meant it was a great day.

Good night from Leech Lake.

August 2, 2011 -- At Leech Lake

It obviously had rained during the night because when I got up this morning everything outside was wet and there were still puddles in the driveway. The temperature at 9:30 a.m. was 74 degrees, the humidity was 94%, the sky was mostly cloudy and the wind was very strong at 15-22 mph out of the north.

It was perfect weather in which to paint because the paint set up quickly in the wind, despite the high humidity.

I talked to the Coyles around 11:30 a.m. and they confirmed that they are coming up to Leech Lake today. I'm not sure how long they'll be staying, but I think they'll be here until sometime on Friday afternoon.

By noon I was out painting the bunkhouse and shortly thereafter Joe joined me. He was painting the side of the bunkhouse where there had been a wasps' nest, and sure enough, one stung him in the neck. We applied ice to it and he got the stinger out, but it still caused him some significant discomfort.

We continued to paint the bunkhouse all afternoon, and finally wrapped up around 4:30 p.m.

The Coyles arrived at just after 5:00 p.m. and we quickly got pizzas in the oven since everyone was hungry. After dinner we went next door to the cabin where we got a fire going in the fire pit and spent the next several hours just talking and enjoying the cool breeze off the lake.

We all headed inside to read and get ready for bed around midnight. We plan to do some fishing tomorrow weather permitting, and Joe and I also want to try to wrap up our painting project.

Until tomorrow, good night from Leech Lake.

August 1, 2011 -- On Leech Lake

I awoke this morning to gray overcast skies, a light wind of 5-8 mph out of the SE, a temperature of 70 degrees, with the humidity at 84%. The ground, and everything else outside, was wet from an early morning rain.

I checked the paint on the ATV garage to see if the rain had caused it to run, since it is a water-based latex paint, but it appears to have set up before the rain did any damage. The threat of more rain this morning, and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, kept Joe and I from doing any painting today. Instead, we may try to dodge the precipitation and get out on the lake for a little fishing.

Nature Update: This year there have been dozens upon dozens of leopard frogs in the area. Every time I walk around the properties numerous frogs are jumping here and there. For years I hadn't seen even one leopard frog (their population in Minnesota has been on the decline for decades) but this year they're everywhere. I don't know if it's because of the large amount of rain we've had, which has kept the swamps full all summer long, or because of the high water level in the lake, or some other reason altogether, but it's good to see the return of the northern leopard frog on the shores of Leech Lake.

Just before noon I decided to go fishing. Joe elected to stay on shore. The wind was out of the south at 15-20 mph, which meant that it was fairly calm at the boat lift, but windy once I motored the boat out into 10 feet of water. Since all of the leeches I had had died, I opted for trolling rather than drifting.

The wind was so strong that when I was headed south I had to set the Mercury SmartCraft control speed at 700 rpm just to keep the boat moving at 2.0 mph ground speed. The water temperature was 78 degrees and the swells on the lake were 18" to 2 feet. I pulled a yellow perch-colored #9 Rapala Minnow Rap behind the boat out into Duck Bay with no bites.

On the return trip, heading north, I had to adjust the speed down to 550 rpm because the boat was being pushed so quickly by the wind. I had a couple of taps while heading north, most likely small perch hitting the lure, but I hooked no fish.

After an hour on the water I came ashore. It still wasn't raining and I was half tempted to start painting, but every weather forecast I checked called for mid-afternoon rain followed by thunderstorms starting around 5:00 p.m. and getting severe after 9:00 p.m.

The Coyles called from St. Cloud and said they were postponing their trip up to the lake until Tuesday because of the severe storms in that part of the state. While I was on the phone with Tim I could hear loud claps of thunder on his end, and he added that that wasn't even a loud one compared to those that were so strong that they were shaking the house. It looked like that storm was heading north, which put it on the path to hit Leech Lake later in the afternoon.

A light rain fell for a few minutes right around 3:00 p.m. then stopped almost as soon as it had started. A similar rain fell for a few minutes just before 4:00 p.m. The humidity was 82%, the temperature was at 80 degrees and the wind was around 10-15 mph out of the SSE. Every now and then the low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance. The air was heavy and muggy.

As an appetizer before dinner Joe made Leech Lake crayfish. He boiled up about 30 crayfish and then we dipped the meat from their little tails in garlic butter and they were very tasty. We then ate our dinner and then watched a movie.

We kept waiting for the storm to arrive, but we had already headed off to bed before it hit.

Good night from Leech Lake.