So, i did mention in my last blog, a grand slam was carried out on three of the reservoirs close to Rhayader. The chosen area was the Lakeland of Wales, the Elan valley, well strictly speaking, Claerwen Reservoir is in another valley, and not the Cwm Elan ….. Needless to say, as I started off on Garreg Ddu, I felt pretty smug, one brownie to the net after forty minutes, not bad, so I thought !!!! A lovely westerly breeze, overcast, perfect, again, so I thought !!!! Trout can be fickle, and today was their day to be just that !!!!! Gggggrrrrrrrrrrr……. I had one more from Garreg Ddu, then it was time to move on ….to its neighbouring reservoir, Caban Coch. Please don’t take it for granted that these reservoirs are a walk in the park , I’ve seen recently on social media somewhere that Claerwen is a “fish a cast” ….. mmmmmm you may be disappointed if you think that !!!! …. Weather plays a massive part in the movements of these wild trout in these large reservoirs ….. I’ve been wetting a line on them for a fair old time, and today was a tricky day, trust me !!!!!
Caban Coch was fickle to me to be honest, I managed two fish again over an hour and a half, it would be today wouldn’t it …. I’ll come here when it’s blowing a south westerly and snaffle out four in twenty minutes !!!! Cest la vie I guess …. But two small fish is two fish, so I mustn’t complain…… clock was ticking, and my favourite was left till last …. The sea in the middle of Wales, the great Claerwen Reservoir, and I absolutely love her !!!!! In all her moods too ……..
As I drove up over the dam, she looked as though it May be tricky , that hunch, and that wind direction, mmmmm !!!! ….. I’ve studied the winds that she favours over the years, and it’s like the KFC recipe, so I’m not divulging it on here, I’ve kept records that go back many moons on Claerwen, Craig Goch and a couple more big wild brownie waters …… on each of them they have their favoured wind. Ahhhhh I hear you say , overcast and a good westerly, yeah ! yeah ! yeah ! …….that’ll catch me fish !!!!! Possibly , but there’s the finite detail, and that’s what I’ve collated over the years …… trust me it works !!!!! On the right day, I can go up to Claerwen, and winkle out a dozen in three hours…… it’s a kind of magic !!!!! Not really, just observing, collating and recording over the years, simples ….. Anyway, three brownies from here took an age !!!! My personal wet fly collection for here, eventually doing the business, and was I relieved when that first fish slid over the net ….. it was actually four hours forty mins then, but I then caught another two, making the grand slam total to seven in just under five hours ……. Pheeeeeeeeew !!!!! Certainly not a breeze I can tell you, but hey not being a drama queen, as always it was superb fun ……. Would I do it again, you bet, mixing it up even more, Craig Goch, Penygarreg and Claerwen …… in early May I think ??? …… yes, I’ll plumb for that, see how the mop flops as they say ……
It’s beeen a hectic week on the wild streams, hence why this blog is a little belated, so the next one, again, is a variety of locations and some tantalising streams that I had the pleasure of wading up slowly casting either a tiny Parachute Adams, a size twenty f fly, or a cdc and elk ….some fun and games over the last five days….. I think tommorrow things will have to come to an abrupt halt as heavy rain is due. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind it lashing it down at all, but dry fly sport in the confines of a wild stream aren’t fun, and it makes seeing takes to your dry nearly impossible ….. so I either hit the big lakes, or tie some flies …… till the next time I release a piscatorial epistle into the worldwide web, stay safe folks and hey it wouldn’t be a blog would it if I didn’t say it ……… ssshhhhhh !!! TIGHT LINES !!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🎣🎣🎣🐟🐟🐟
