Higher Ground - Llyn Gamallt and Llyn Gwyddior, May 2014

Wild things

I left my meeting near Blaenau Ffestiniog and drove into the slate mining town ('that roofed the world') to pick up Aled who had been to purchase tickets for the next day at Llyn Gamallt.

We have been going on jaunts to fish upland lakes or llynnoedd for a number of years and have come know them as the ‘annual beer and steak trips’. Gwyddior and Gamallt are two favourites and we had arranged to fish them over consecutive days.


Going equipped

True to form, by early evening, we were on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park relaxing with a pint in The Grapes at Maentwrog (our digs for the night). The pub is under new management and the landlord, Simon, is a keen fisherman. The small hotel has an atmospheric bar and recently refurbished rooms. After a decent steak, we talked with the locals until well after bedtime, one of whom fished flies on a bubble float!

Llyn Gamallt, 30th May

Gamallt is not easy to get to but it's worth the effort; the larger than average fish often look up early in the year to take advantage of the surprisingly prolific hatches. The journey requires a short drive in to the spectacular moelwynion above Blaenau Ffestiniog, and then a crawl along a dirt track to a small car park from where there is a walk.

Fully breakfasted, and only slightly jaded, we arrived at the car park by nine. We had departed with the valley floor bathed in sunlight, but up here it was darker, with an occasional ray illuminating sections of the rugged landscape - the sort of light you get only in high places.

 

Llyn Gamallt

Ready for the off


Suitably attired and loaded, we followed the barely visible path through a peat bog and twenty minutes later, hot and sweaty, we were tackling up. I noticed some caddis and midge and so, fishing only two flies, I selected a pearly pennel on the point and a small muddler for the dropper.

Bring it on

While preparing to launch I spotted a good fish rising tight to a stone drop off beneath a single sapling. Wondering if it was taking sedges, midges or terrestrials, I covered it from the bank. It didn't take. With the position marked by the lonely shrub, I would return later.

Within five minutes Aled, who was bank fishing, had taken a fish on a mallard and claret. As I watched him return it, the line was snatched from my hand by an eleven inch brownie that fancied my flashy pennel.


Golden Gamallt trout / brithyll aur Gamallt

The next half an hour went without seeing a fish. As I neared Aled, he asked politely (!) if I would move away as there were fish rising in front of him. As I paddled out I noticed that there were numerous surface feeders around some weed beds at the windward end of the lake. The sedge were still present, including some huge skaters (that the fish ignored), and I stuck with the muddler on the dropper. The next hour brought four or five savage takes and three fantastically conditioned golden bellied trout to the muddler.








Gamallt surface feeder

Claret dun

With fish still rising, the takes ceased. After unsuccessfully covering two or three I wound in and took time to observe, something I find more effective at water level, when wading or in a float tube. There was a hatch of small, very dark coloured olives - claret duns. 

I changed to a single size 16 dark coloured CDC and Elk. This was the tactic for the rest of the day and numerous fish fell to this simple pattern, cast at rises and fished static.

Dark trout from a peaty lake

By mid-afternoon I remembered the fish near the shrub and decided to paddle back up the lake. As I neared the steep bank I heard a tell tale plop and honed in to see the disturbance beneath the conveniently located sapling. 

Quietly, I paddled into range and cast. The fly hit the water the fish rose confidently. It took me two minutes to land on my five weight rod and, I have to admit, I thought it was bigger than the fifteen inch gold bar that I netted. But I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.


Fish of the day

Happy, and with tired legs, I went to find Aled who had been enjoying some sport pulling dark olive imitations from the bank. I surrendered my float tube to him and he spent a few hours becoming acquainted with this dignified means of fishing transport.


Aled - on the tube

It was early evening before we trudged back to the car, both agreeing to return before the end of the season.


Resting my legs

That night we stayed at the Llew Coch, Dinas Mawddwy. I'll say nothing about the rooms, but food is plentiful and it's a cracking boozer. Despite a tiring, but very rewarding day, we played pool and talked about Dyfi sewin with the locals until the small hours.



It is what it is!

Llyn Gwyddior, 31st May

At nine o'clock sharp we rang the bell of a familiar house in Llanbrynmair (it's best to leave it until then to collect the pre-booked day tickets for Llyn Gwyddior from Emyr Lewis - y dyn o Lanbrynmair). Emyr is a hugely experienced ex-water bailiff fly fisherman, whose Coch-y-Bonddu pattern is known far and wide. He is also a nice man whose house can be recognised by a small sign inscribed with the image of a trout and the words 'Local Trout for Sale'. These rainbow trout are harvested from Llyn Clywedog and he was there that day, so we purchased the tickets from his very helpful wife, the aptly named Dyfi. We would have to chew the fishing fat with Emyr when we dropped the gate keys back to him at the end of the day.

From the village of Llanbrynmair, Gwyddior is a twenty minute drive along rural lanes, through a farm yard, over a brook and up gated forestry tracks. If you're not in an off-road vehicle it's worth checking the weather before you go, as the brook can be very difficult to pass after heavy rain. In fact, it's always worth keeping an eye on the weather when visiting such places...

Five years ago, a friend (who shall remain nameless) and I were in a boat on Gwyddior when a storm hit us. That day I witnessed two things for the first time: a grown man crying while sporting a fishing hat, and a rowing boat surfing a wave only to be deposited on the bank. By the time we descended the mountain, white as sheets, the trees were still and the sun shining.



Llyn Gwyddior

When we arrived at the llyn, I pumped up my tube and gathered my gear. As Aled and I surveyed the water there was a loud bang that triggered a blasphemous exclamation from my friend. One of my tube bladders had punctured! I can only conclude that too much breakfast in the Llew Coch resulted in over inflation.

Bladder malfunction

We had packed an electric engine and some oars so that, if needed, we could use the boat but, in a huff, I elected to bank fish. This proved to be a mistake.

I worked my way over to the opposite side with no success. Then, under a cloudy sky, some large fish started rising in a line about forty meters out, downwind of a large reed bed. Claret duns were hatching on the reeds and being blown onto the water, the fish hitting them as they bobbed past. I persisted with deep wading, trying to cover these surface feeders with a CDC and Elk, catching one and losing two. All good fish but - a schoolboy error - my camera was out of charge.

In the distance, Aled beckoned me over to the boat. By the time we were on the water, the hatch had slowed and we caught no more on the surface.

We tried various methods but it was dead. At these difficult times I resort to shock tactics employing attractor patterns. I attached a slow sinking poly leader and put a size 10 Alexandra on the point. As we approached a submerged fence we knew there would be fish present and, as I joked about a 'fence fish', my rod arced to the pull of a trout of about a pound and a half (which I lost at the boat). Within a few minutes, it was Aled's turn to land a fish of a pound on a large, very flashy claret dabbler.

Then another hour of nothing. In desperation I attached a tungsten cone head black wooly bugger-type streamer. This worked well and I landed a fish of over a pound, losing another before it was time to leave.

With the gear packed away, we started the journey down to civilisation, jobs and families. I was grumbling about a spare bladder for my tube and not taking the boat out soon enough when the sun came out. As we turned the corner I became quiet, stopped and got out to admire the view. I no longer cared.


Higher ground

Upland Lakes on Foot, by Boat and Tube - May 2012

In May I was lucky enough to fish three upland lakes in Mid and North Wales - Llyn Gwyddior, Lake Vyrnwy and Llyn Morwynion. All three are picturesque, contain brown trout and can be very productive at certain times of year and in the right conditions.

Llyn Morwynion on Foot

After a long day of meetings in North Wales I was to stay in Blaenau Ffestiniog (a few miles from the next day's fishing). For the uninitiated I'll describe Blaenau as a unique place and leave it at that, except to say that it has a rich fishing heritage. There are Welsh language books that feature flies from the region, and in times past many of the slate workers were notorious for their use of the 'styllen' or otter board. Locals have told me that they had special hiding places near the the lakes or llynoedd for their boards, and often others would know of these and borrow them.

After a decent steak and chips and a pint at The Grapes in Maentwrog, I arrived at my clean but basic guest house only to discover that the beds were not designed for modern man.



On foot...

It made for a long night, but I consoled myself with a few home comforts!

Blaenau essentials (minus styllen)

The next day I purchased my day ticket at the Post Office in Llanffestiniog (for about £15 I think)and drove a few miles  to the remote roadside car park from where the Llyn is a short uphill walk. Llyn Morwynion contains a good head of small(ish) brown trout and at one time was lightly stocked with rainbows. I had chosen Morwynion and not the more popular Llyn Gamallt,  as I was due to fish Gamallt a month or so later.

Of the Cambrian lakes, Gamallt is my favourite; suited to float tubing, it holds some excellent quality, good sized brown trout. I believe that it was restocked a number of years ago with trout from another Llyn and they have since thrived on the (relatively) abundant terrestrial and aquatic insects. I recently saw a photograph of the stomach contents of a summer Gamallt trout  (in a work meeting) and it had consumed a number of different terrestrial species.

It was a cold cloudy day with some heavy showers and an easterly blast, but from my elevated position you could see for miles. Conditions were hardly ideal but I was happy to be there in my neoprene gloves and fleece jacket.

The view from Llyn Morwynion

The morning session went as expected. Fishless. Dim sosej as my mate Aled would say. I had started out fishing two of the local wet fly patterns on a six weight clear intermediate line but when this brought no success, I tried various tactics, on top and deep with a floating line.

When changing back to the intermediate, I decided to shake things up. These dark thoughts coincided with me being directly opposite where I had started, having cast and stepped half way around the lake. Using 3X (5lb bs) Fulling Mill fluorocarbon, I knotted a 12 foot leader with a single dropper about 4 foot from the point fly. I tied a size 10 black and white muddler (see below) on the point and a size 14 pearly black pennell on the dropper. Also for the first time that day, I waded in very carefully up to my waste. I cast up the bank that I had not yet fished (very close in) and stripped fast in order to try and entice a take from the fish that I knew were in the three foot of water.



Shetland-type muddler 

Hook: 10 wet
Tail: Black marabou with two strands of holo tinsel
Body: Crystal hair wrapped around shank
Wing: Black marabou and a few strands of crystal hair
Head: White deer hair (I've used elk)

This is my version of a fly I saw in an article tied by Stephen Breivik of Lerwick.


It worked like a charm with most fish coming to the dropper and any feelings of guilt being banished by thoughts of the styllen. Over the next two hours I caught over ten wild brown trout to eleven inches, slowly working my way up the bank but remaining in the water. The fish were not very big, but very welcome and the muddler clearly fulfilled its role as an attractor pattern.



Average sized Morwynion trout



By around 4pm the weather took a turn for the worse and and so I walked down the mountain back to the car. I was due to meet my friend Aled at a guest house on Lake Vyrnwy and was looking forward to a meal and a few beers in the hotel. 

Lake Vyrnwy by Boat

On the map it looks an easy journey east from Llanfestiniog to Lake Vyrnwy. You travel over mountains roads past the sweeping Llyn Celyn and down to Bala and Llyn Tegid which contains grayling and gwniad (a whitefish native to the lake). From there you take a narrow road that nearly reaches the wild summit of Foel y Geifr (roughly translated as Goats Hill ) and then delivers you down to Llyn Efyrnwy, or Lake Vyrnwy. On the mountain track, in torrential hail showers, it was pretty hairy and I was glad to be in my small four wheel drive (definitely not a hairdresser's car). It was like a different world when I arrived at the guesthouse and saw Aled sitting in the sunny garden, such is our variable weather.

That evening we ate at the hotel bar and enjoyed more than a few beers over some games of pool. After a terrible night's sleep listening to Aled's deafening snores we picked up the permits, batteries and motor from the hotel.

Unfortunately that day we experienced torrential rain and strong winds and those photographs I did take between downpours were even worse than usual.

We caught fish from the off. Previous experience told us to fish wet flies close to the inlet streams in the shallower north end, and the fish did not disappoint. These Loch Leven derived fish averaged 10 inches with the largest being around 13 inches. What they lacked in size they made up for in number with frantic sport at times. 

The best fly of the day proved to be a size 12 Kate Maclaren variant but I also experimented with the muddler again. With this gaudy mini-lure on the point and a fast strip of my intermediate line the dropper flies definitely took more fish, and a few also took the muddler (much to Aled's distaste). As part of the muddler experiment I moved it to the middle and top droppers, and experienced far less success than when it was in the point position.


Kate Maclaren variant



Hook: 10-14 wetfly (this is Varivas 2400)
Tag: Silver mylar
Tail: Golden pheasant tipped (hot orange)
Body: Black spectra
Palmer: Black cock / hen (I've used cock here but I also use hen especially for middle dropper flies)
Front hackle: Brown hen

I think I saw this variant, or something like it, in FF&FT.




By late afternoon the weather had dried up and Aled and I were happily tired after a successful day talking nonsense in a boat. It was a long journey home but as I travelled back through Welshpool, Newtown and Builth Wells I felt lucky to have the opportunity to fish with my good mate in such surroundings.  

Llyn Gwyddior by Tube

Through the winter, there is probably not a week that goes by without me tying a 'fly for Gwyddior'. The lake is managed by Llanbrynmair Angling Association and is one of two that you can float tube (the other being Llyn Coch Hwyad). I first fished Gwyddior six years ago making a few trips per season ever since. It is a secluded spot and the lake is relatively prolific with larger than average hard fighting brown trout.

May usually sees the fish preoccupied with olives and this can be a good time to catch a specimen. The largest fish I have witnessed caught there was by Aled and it measured around 16 inches. I have also heard reports of others (including a well known fishing journalist) catching a larger fish than this.

It was the last week in May and I met a friend Dick in the car park at Llanbrymair. Being a relatively recent convert to float tubing it is reassuring to fish with an experienced hand like Dick.

After calling in to see 'Emyr Lewis of Llanbrynmair' for some permits -Emyr is a very experienced fisherman and has provided me with some excellent advice on brown trout and sewin- we travelled the narrow road and then the forestry track that leads to the Llyn. While it is not essential to have a four wheel drive for this journey, it certainly helps, particularly where a brook fords the road. During wet periods this road can become impassable in a car and fishermen need to be mindful that it is possible to become stranded (as Aled and I once were).

When you arrive you can either take an off-road vehicle (through some boggy ground)down to the lake, or you can walk. When boat fishing it is preferable to drive down with electric motor and batteries, but there is no need with a float tube on your back.

It was a a sunny day, warm for the time of year, with a stiff south westerly blow. I was using a 9 foot #5 Partridge rod (that I bought on ebay one night after the pub) with a floating line. My cast included a sooty olive with two small jungle cock cheeks on the point and an olive dabbler on the dropper. Dick fished a Harry Tom and a  black palmered fly. We both experienced some excellent sport and I returned ten fish over 10 inches.  

Typical Llyn Gwyddior trout

The highlight of the day came around lunch time when there was a large hatch of olives with the airborne adult upwings being blown to the north end of the lake. Dick and I held our positions about 15 meters from a weedbed and cast to some rising fish for thirty minutes or so. Most of the fish fell to the dabbler (see below) stripped  quite fast, and all were highly visible takes. It was hard work remaining in one spot in the stiff wind, but it caught us fish.



Olive dabbler


Thread: Olive powersilk
Hook: 10-14 wet
Tail: Bronze mallard
Body: Olive seals fur sub (I tie this in light, medium and dark)
Rib: Pearl tinsel
Palmer: Olive cock (I also use hen depending upon the effect I want)
Front hackle: Bronze mallard (for this version I cloak the top half only)



 
After this action, with the sun high in the sky, things went quiet; this prompted a change to a heavily weighted nymph on the point and a jungle cock HE diawl bach (see below) on the dropper. Fished with a slow figure of eight retrieve, three good fish fish smashed the diawl, snatching the line free from my left hand. 

 

HE diawl bach

Thread: Red

Hook: Size 12  heavy wire (I think this is a Kamasan B175)

Tail: Three strands of fine crystal hair

Body: Hare's ear

Cheeks: Jungle cock

Thorax: Hair's ear

I copied this from a fly I saw in a shop.

By early evening I was exhausted and must admit to getting cramp every ten minutes or so. All in all, we achieved a good return in the bright conditions and I was very pleased with the the quality of the fish, the savage takes and way they fought on the five weight. Worth every minute of those winter nights on the vice and the two and half hour drive home.