Trawsfynydd Fishing- Fly Fishing in Wales
I had heard a lot about this water and Fly Fishing in Wales from England and my welsh friends who raved about it. Having ventured over the border pre covid to Llyn Brenig stunning water up in the hills of Carmarthenshire and also Lyn Clewyedog. Both these are amazing fisheries and have their own features but the one commonality that I like is the stunning landscape. So Traws, as Trawsfynydd (http://www.trawslake.com/activities/fishing)is called, had a lot to live up to.
My good friend Steve Williams who is a keen angler had acquired his own boat engine and had been eager to test it after an overhaul. I had also spoken to some other friends who spoke highly about this water, so I was sold. We arranged to meet early and during a break in covid lockdown, fully equipped with a face mask, we met in the car park with several other anglers after having played at the office. It was nice to see some friends in the car, some who used to be regulars at Brenig. Fly Fishing in Wales has its own experience, just like the lakes og England or Lochs of Scotland.
The place,Trawysfyndd used to be a power station but was decommissioned in the 1990s and the views are stunning, the only blight is some of the concrete buildings are still there. They don’t lend themselves to their surroundings and stand out. I also noticed a good few people on mountain bikes cycling around the water.
The consensus was an intermediate line or Di3 with blobs and boobies, so I went with one of each, two flies, 6 ft to the first and then 8ft to the second fly. Also, I usually stick to international rules flies as I’m used to fishing these and have very few others e.g. long lures or snakes. So having got our boat and after some usual banter, we set from the jetty, Steve at engine and me on the pointy end as it’s called. We motored across to several bays and Steve had a few fish before I finally hooked into one on the blob and landed it. We had a few fish and decided to move so we could explore the water, as Steve was keen to show me its full potential. We fished several bays and had fish in most areas with honours almost even and Steve just edging me before breaking for a lunchtime break.
We had arranged to meet some fellow anglers on the water for lunch and with social distancing in mind met up with them, they had also had some fish and a productive day on similar methods.
We had caught fish most places and moved again to explore other parts of this water, that is truly stunning and rugged as welsh waters are. The landscape alone is worth the trip as is the drive from Manchester through some really picturesque villages.
It was now late afternoon and time to leave, but as usual, we had found areas with a good head of fish and it was tough leaving them as most anglers know.
But it’s always nice to leave when you are ahead, no point in hammering the fish all the time, we all do it at times to compensate for the tough days.
We motored back to the car park, had a quick chat with others, at social distancing rules to share our fly fishing stories as is part of the day of one’s day angling.
The one thing about fly fishing, it is a sport or leisure activity that lends itself well to social distancing, bar the car park and office you are easily 5oft and the rest away from anglers. Also, the numbers are usually small so you are easily safer here than going to your local shop or high street.
So Traws, had lived up to its hype, it was stunning, fish were quality all 2lbs plus and fought like stink, had a host of bays and little drops off to fish.
Word of caution, you need to know the water and stick to the rules, there are no fish areas as there are rocks and tree snags just below the water. I would definitely recommend this water when allowed to visit and look forward to my next trip.
The drive back again is a real pleasure , driving through some stunning landscape , even though the A-roads can slow you down due to the traffic but it a sacrifice worth making.
