Leech Lake Info

FishyJere

FishyJere

Nee Jerry Metcalf
Forum Supporter
It's that time of year again, answering the big question: Is the gate to Leech Lake open yet?

So, have any of you intrepid travelers going to be traversing White Pass in the next couple of weeks? How about a short detour and perhaps a picture of the access road? I will call the Forest Service and ask the status, but later. It is really painful to be subjected to the lack of information from them, so I put it off.

Poor ole Leech, the last few years have been really downers. Last year I noted few mayflies, two whole species of Caddis missing (black and cinnamon), and rock snot in the leafy cabbage patch area. Really huge changes in the biology of the place and it's been a trend for a few years. I remember blizzard hatches of mayflies and damsels. They would crawl under your glasses. I've been fishing the lake once or twice a week for 20 years so I do have a time line of observation. As Forrest Gump said, "Stuff happens". Well, it sure has here.

Anyway, intel, curious minds need intel.

Thanks,
Jerry
 
FishyJere said:
It's that time of year again, answering the big question: Is the gate to Leech Lake open yet?

So, have any of you intrepid travelers going to be traversing White Pass in the next couple of weeks? How about a short detour and perhaps a picture of the access road? I will call the Forest Service and ask the status, but later. It is really painful to be subjected to the lack of information from them, so I put it off.

Poor ole Leech, the last few years have been really downers. Last year I noted few mayflies, two whole species of Caddis missing (black and cinnamon), and rock snot in the leafy cabbage patch area. Really huge changes in the biology of the place and it's been a trend for a few years. I remember blizzard hatches of mayflies and damsels. They would crawl under your glasses. I've been fishing the lake once or twice a week for 20 years so I do have a time line of observation. As Forrest Gump said, "Stuff happens". Well, it sure has here.

Anyway, intel, curious minds need intel.

Thanks,
Jerry
Click to expand...
@Shawn Seeger posted this yesterday.
"Oh ya.... There was about 3-4 feet of snow at the gate and on the road into Leech lake on my way home. Only a sliver of open water in the lake on the north side."
 
FishyJere said:
It's that time of year again, answering the big question: Is the gate to Leech Lake open yet?

So, have any of you intrepid travelers going to be traversing White Pass in the next couple of weeks? How about a short detour and perhaps a picture of the access road? I will call the Forest Service and ask the status, but later. It is really painful to be subjected to the lack of information from them, so I put it off.

Poor ole Leech, the last few years have been really downers. Last year I noted few mayflies, two whole species of Caddis missing (black and cinnamon), and rock snot in the leafy cabbage patch area. Really huge changes in the biology of the place and it's been a trend for a few years. I remember blizzard hatches of mayflies and damsels. They would crawl under your glasses. I've been fishing the lake once or twice a week for 20 years so I do have a time line of observation. As Forrest Gump said, "Stuff happens". Well, it sure has here.

Anyway, intel, curious minds need intel.

Thanks,
Jerry
Click to expand...
I agree with you Jerry.....the lake has gone through many changes in the last 4-5 years, and not for the better. I’ve fished this lake since the early 90’s and it just isn’t the same. Sucks that in our age we have to say “the good old days”.....already!
 
I fished it yesterday June 1st. The lake is totally ice free. The gate is locked with 2 feet of snow in spots. I would not expect to see the gate open for at least 3 weeks, the F.S. always wants the road to be dry before opening and with The White Pass Ski Company running the camp ground now, I believe Russ from WPSC feels the same way. Caught EB's but no RB. With over 40 years on this lake I whole hearty agree with the above comments and could add a few but it would start to sound like a rant.
 
Interesting, no RB. In the years when they planted triploids, they studied it and I talked with the Bio. There was a number of studies done and the results (as my old brain remembers) was that about 20% of them survived. There was not a lot of growth year to year, only about 1". Either the habitat has become more hostile and/or the fish they are putting in now are not as well suited to the Lake. Some used to survive, and the early fishers caught them. Regularly.

Sigh.
 
Jerry I think there are probably some there but they may have wanted some thing difference than the EB's did. The lake has only been ice free for a week or so, water temp was 40 degrees. Of course it could have been just me. We can hope.
 
Have not fished or even seen Leech Lake but a good place to start in considering a changing fishery is to look at the planting strategy.

A quick look at the state annual planting plans it appears since the switch from triploids to jumbo rainbow plants the typical annual plant was 500 jumbo rainbows. In 2021 the plan called for a plant of 250.

A couple questions for the long-time Leech Lake fishers. How long have the rainbows been planted in the lake? Are you noticing changes in the brook trout population, such as abundance or size?

It is not uncommon over time to see invertebrate populations changes due to predation by a fish population. Those changes can include the essential elimination of the more vulnerable species.

Curt
 
Curt, I was there for the first plant of triploids, remembering the year is the problem. I think it was in the early 2000's. As far as I know, no bows before that, but I only date to the late 1990's. The early trip plants were prolific, 700 to 1000 one year. Those were the years of epic hatches. The decline has happened mostly since the jumbos started going in and there have been fewer of those than the trips. Might probably not be the cause., just association.

The water level has also come up a little, about a foot. It was enough to flood out one of the massive reed beds on the South East side of the lake. Again, cause?

I have noticed a change in the weed quantity and placement. The lake has/had a big population of native milfoil. I learned this from a very cute Dept of Ecology researcher I met there. The bare patches are larger now, much larger. Years ago, there were bare patches that marked the springs. They were small and generally round. The brookies used to lay in them to stay cool. Its more like a desert now. Last year there were few fish in the dark green weed, it used to be where they held in numbers. probably where the food was.

Jerry
 
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