Getting Wild In North Wales

This trip had been booked for a few weeks and one I was eager to experience, myself and a couple of mates had planned a weekend fishing some of the lakes in the wilds of North Wales.

Erw Fawr cottage...base for the weekend.

Arriving at our base situated in Garreg...a small village close to the foothills of Mount Snowdon on Friday we unpacked and headed straight out to inspect a couple of nearby lakes as possible venues for Sunday as we had set aside Saturday to travel a little further south to spend a day at Tall-y-llyn.

Talyllyn is a natural 220-acre, shallow, Brown Trout Lake nestling in the southwest corner of the Snowdonia National Park and below the peak of Cader Idris. It has a most spectacular setting and is very well equip to accommodate the many visiting anglers it receives each year with boats and tackle available to hire.

Steve and Martin assessing the conditions on our arrival at Tal-y-llyn

Conditions on this weekend would have been a holidaymakers dream with wall to wall sunshine and temperatures well into the high twenties but for fishing it was not what was wanted at all, we also had to content with some very high winds.

This  'loch' style of fishing is not something I have had a go at before and although getting used to the pace of the boat drifts with the strong winds took some getting used to I soon felt comfortable with the techniques but there was no doubt today was going to be tough and so it proved with me ending the day with a blank and my boat partners catching half a dozen between them (their loch style experience showing through).

'Whitewater' showing as the wind sweeps westward down the valley

View from the Pe-y-bont Hotel where we retreated for lunchtime refreshments!

A rapid retreat to a local pub followed where we deliberating the day and what might be the venue for the following day, Steve had come armed with a portfolio of local waters so we had plenty to choose from. In light of the kind of day we had and the weather forecast for Sunday we thought best not to hire boats and opted to try out a remote lake which is also the source of the Afon Artro.

Turning off the main road we winded our way five miles up to Llyn Cwm Bychan which could not have been more appealing to the eye with its crystal clear blue water and its mountain surrounds.

First sight of Llyn Cwm Bychan

There is no supplementary stocking carried out here and the trout are all totally wild, fishing charge is three pounds which is worth paying just to admire the scenery!

View looking from the eastside car park

We fished from the banks on the north shore and had to contend with similar conditions as experienced on Tal-y-llyn. The day proved to run a similar course with very little fish action due mostly to the extremely bright conditions, Steve and Martin again proved to be one step ahead of me and both caught a couple of these wild beauties but I was left licking my wounds again and had nothing to show for the weekends fishing other than a few lost fish and a good sun tan...but more importantly I had visited what must be some of the most prettiest lakes in one of the wildest parts of the UK and now have the taste for this unique style of fly fishing.