So an early start yesterday , I wanted a full day up at the lovely Claerwen Reservoir …. Two fold really, some good fitness, and some fishing of course !!! The plan was to work the Northerly shore ….. as I parked up early bells by the dam wall, the mist was lifting and a slight southerly breeze had kicked in, with a very trouty ripple in play on the massive sheet of water ……Leaving the sleepy Rhayader at half seven ….. although life was beginning to stir, as it always does in this bustling, lively market town ….it’s everything you would want in a little town, from its fabulous pubs and eateries, to the excellent leisure centre, Post Office and two superbly stocked supermarkets ….. oh and the library is very good too !!!! I quite often leave there with two or three books on the history of the local and surrounding area …. Lesley there is a wealth of knowledge too …. Long May the Library stay in Rhayader, it’s a great facility, and one which if it does ever go, with these increasing council cutbacks, then I for one, will be most upset ….. as will lots of other users …… There we go, I’ve said my peace, moving swiftly on to the days activities …… well, tricky fishing, with lots of leg work in a nutshell !!!!! Hot, sweaty, calorie burning stuff, with some good sport thrown in to keep my enthusiasm alive ……………….
I did do some serious clambering up and down the slopes, especially the spurs, which the resident brownies do seem to like, and with the water low, there is that kind of convenient ledge that the wave action creates in the scree…… it makes it reasonably pleasant to stand on in waders ….. you still need to take care … it plummets off into deep water only a couple of rod lengths out, you’ve been warned …… play it safe if you don’t know Claerwen, like anywhere in the Elenydd, take it for granted and you’ll be swallowed up by Mother Nature, and either be soaking wet from an unexpected bath or a nasty twisted ankle from disco grass on the moors …….. so please take care!!!!
The fishing was my usual cast and move tactic…. Small dark wets doing the business, particularly a clan chief and a tiny bibio, that said I did take three fish off the top on a black hopper, lovely savage hits too…. As there were a few cochybonddu beetle still clumsily flying around …. I figured that the brownies would still smash one, should it land haphazardly on the water, and every now and again, in the wave, a good splashy rise. I must admit by midday it was a fair old pokey southerly wind …. Making casting hard work but that said fish weren’t that far out, ….as is the case on most large wild brownie waters …..
By the end of the day …. Having had my lunch there too…. I had managed a dozen beautiful brownies to the net ….. the spots on these Claerwen fish are just gorgeous, absolute jewels !!! I must admit I was dead beat by half four,tired legs and feet … I was ready for a scoop @ The Crown ……I’d put in some serious miles and had earned my sport today ….. seems an age away that the fish were easy pickings during the Cochybonddu fall …. But now, you have to work for them …. It’s fun, it’s wild, and it’s what wild brownie fly fishing is all about !!! It’s about effort and going that extra mile, to that remote spot where no one ever bothers to go, or that little mountain stream that’s overlooked, because it’s a trek and a half to get out there ………..And while I’m on the subject of effort and just putting in that that little bit extra , a huge congratulations to the gents of the Welsh team, who took gold in the International Rivers competition on the Ebbw over the last few days . The administration and organisation are immense in such a prestige sport with so many variables in play ……The competitive edge of the keen river anglers has to be one of focus, skill and all their knowledge thrown into one !!! So a fantastic effort to those chaps and the other competitors, and all the other guys and girls who make this possible ….. lovely job 🎣🎣🐟🐟🐟🐟
So there we go , another superb day in the Elenydd….. serene yes…. Blissful yes…… hard work, yes !!!! …..but does it hurt, a bit of graft ….. after all, why should catching the wildest of fish be easy ??? …. I love the challenge, the next venture, the next wild stream… what’s around that next bend, ahhh I wonder if that pool will hold a good fish, hey that’s a nice little run ….. and that trouty ripple with the threatening, leaden sky, that’s perfect to wet a line on Lyn Egnant or Bugeilyn !!! These wild fish take me to beautiful places, and I meet fantastic peoples who are as free spirited as me …. Salmo Trutta has been here for a very long time, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, they truly are the special forces of the fish world …… happy days 🎣🎣🐟🐟😉😉