Mission Seatrout.

This is the first year that I have managed to devote some time and effort into going after these beautiful fish in Skye. The change of job and availability of spare time have contributed greatly to this. Previously I'd get them sporadically while rock fishing or lrfing for flatfish, especially in the south of the Island. Thus this year I've refined my gear and approach to suit. I use my MajorCraft Crostage Light Game CRX-784LG travel rod as its light yet can cast and work a variety of lures and weights. Moreover, the rod's moderate action limits hook-pulls and its overall performance has managed to prevent me from buying a specialised rod!
I still use my ever faithful Shimano Stradic 1000fc loaded with 0.6PE Shimano Kairiki braid and 6-8lbs fluorocarbon leader.
The lures I've had better results with were 7g-10g slim spoons and hollow jig minnows.
I mainly target areas that I had caught them before and in various states of the tide. Late afternoons into the evening seem best. Found them more localised in bays around low water, while more spread out and near points around high water.
So far, my hook up to landing ratio is pretty good on this setup and sometimes I can't help but think that these fish could actually have a better chance of escaping if they only kept themselves in the water and just made runs like most normal fish! lol
Unfortunately, most of the fish come laden with sea-lice even though there are no fish farms in that area.

Pretty fish...

On one of my most successful lures.

One of the better ones. Notice the lice.

I reckon I'll stick to the trout theme for a bit longer and then hopefully go after some pike and perch in freshwater. Weather's fair so got to make the most of it!

Tight Lines.

A few cucumbers and some lunkers!

Didn't fish much last week but I did manage a short session in a loch targeting trout and instead, getting cucumber sized jacks! Also had a few hours on the SIB after work.
Some pics below.

Good fun on the UL gear.

Starting him young!

Cucumber on the Ryuki.

The loch seems to hold good numbers of jacks and I'm thinking it'll be worth another visit with some bigger lures and also topwaters to get some better fish and more fun!
Off the SIB, the fish were keeping deeper than usual (possibly due to plankton) and were quite picky. I think we're well and truly into early summer patterns here that favour smaller/lighter lures and finesse presentations with the exception possibly of lipless cranks, although they wise up to them faster right now. Some good fish in excellent condition, a tad subdued on the fight though...

Good condition.

Lunker!

Man its good to be out again! We're getting some iffy weather this week but I'll be out first chance I get.

Tight Lines