Went out to harts lake hoping for the best as far as wind goes.hit the lake around 3:30 and it was windy .Decided it wasn't too bad so i went straight too the other side of the lake (west side).i fished worms along the lily pad edge for cats but only managed to get small bull heads.while i was fishing water temp was pretty warm to the touch , it was windy and some rain on top of it but was do able.While out there i observed a boat catch a nice cat trolling ,from what i could see it was nice sized (later i ended up weighing it at 8.8 lbs)and they were hootin and hollering and having a blast .Then after a running thru my worms i decided to troll for trout .I put on a kokanee small copper and silver dodger and red wedding band and started trolling the 30ft plus water on the west side same spot as the guy who caught the cat trolling.I got a couple take downs but couldn't get one to stick but trolled on thinking soon one has to stick so i trolled away and next hit my pole went to the water and i had to pry it out of the rod holder as i got it out of the holder it hit the surface and made a huge wake and the fight was on .I could only hang on it was ripping my 6lb like butter.I noticed it was making a be line to the lily pads which were at strart of the fight 50 yards away.so i was in a dilemma i couldn't stop it so i tried to get around it and cut if off from the lily pads and i just beat but wasn't in control by any means and i cranked and short stroked him up and it was a big cat in the 10-12 lb range and just as i was thinking i was in control he took off and out came the wedding band ,all i could do was smile at him he won he was outsmarting me by running to the pads instead of open water which meant a 50 yard run.I remember Toni and his son were there and he hooked his by trolling so i wonder if we should treat them like salmon and troll for them since they are very aggressive and even hit a dodger and wedding band.the guy who caught the 8.8lber he caught his on a rapala in grey and orange (wish i would have gotten his name ).Anyway the water turned too glass about an hour before dark and it was nice .I was never bothered by mosquitoes at all.Next round I'm gonna fish for em trolling and or mooch for them get some sort of pattern and consistently catch em.Oh i used berkleys chicken liver bait and i didn't catch a single cat on it they hit the worms every single time.IF you have kids all you have to do there is throw your worm on the edge of the pads and usually you get bit right away and just work your way around the lake when you get slow in that area.The locals like chicken liver for the big cats so next time I'm getting real livers not berkleys chicken livers.Anyway that's my story and I'm stickin to it.
p.s. they have a camera in the area where u park so it makes u feel better about not getting your catalytic converter stolen off your rig(mines a toy 4x4)while u fish like what happened to me at American lake wile parked at the launch.

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