Wildcat Lake was our destination on Saturday. We got a late start and arrived about 10am. Still, only 2 vehicles parked at the WDFW ramp meant only 2 boats on the water. A couple more arrived while we were preparing our paddleski, but once out on this 100+ acre lake, we headed across to the far shore. We left the few other boats to the trout in the deeper northwest half, aiming for the shallower southeast section. There was a pretty decent breeze coming out of the NW, so we drifted our favorite little Phoebe spoons with a piece of crawler, headed down the lake about 50 feet from shore. Suddenly I had a fish on. No trout, this. I reeled in a nice 10" perch. We didn't even know there were perch in this lake! The sounder marked a loose school, so we anchored and cast about. I pulled in another 10 incher. We found pockets of loose schools all the way down to the southeast corner. I had about 9 fat perch on my stringer, all in the 9-10" range.

Then the weather turned nasty with the rain and wind. I had just reeled in my 10th perch and turned to add it with the others...only...no stringer. They were gone - 3 dinners worth! The advantage of a simple cord stringer is that the fish can get off if you drop it. So I started a new stringer. (Is it bad luck to carry several?) That would prove to be the last fish I caught. We lost both of our Phoebes to structure on the bottom. I made a long cast with my favorite rod and saw my whole combo fly out of my wet hand, plop into the water just out of reach and sink out of sight. We waited for the squall to pass and when the sun came out we could see in the clear water down 10 feet to the bottom. Thank goodness this is not a weedy lake, at least not that section. After many passes, we finally located my gear on the bottom and fished it out with a big spoon. Then we went in search of my lost stringer, but it really was lost. By this time it was getting late. While we trolled back up the lake against the wind to the ramp, the hubby caught a fat 12" trout and I lost mine at the boat. We left the lake at 8pm with one trout, one 10" bass and five 9" perch between the 2 of us. I figure we overstayed our welcome by 2 hours. At least I got my favorite combo back. We'll be back another day for those perch. Tight lines.