So it was with an intrepid mind, that I set off for Claerwen on the Tuesday morning of this week ….. bright and warm by nine bells, was I going to be in luck??? Were the Cochybonddu beetles going to be out on parade??? and, were the resident brown trout, of the huge sea of Wales going to be looking up !!!!! I needn’t have worried, the next three mornings were to be absolutely sublime sessions, with probably the best dry fly sport on a wild lake in Britain that anyone could have had, ‘twas just fabulous……….hectic too at times !!!
So a little bit about the Cochybonddu ….. it’s Latin name Phyllopertha horticola, garden chafer beetle …. Not popular with lowland gardeners, as its larvae kill and damage lawns. In the upland moorlands , when the bracken is out and the first fronds are bright green, opening out and lighting up the hillsides in a sea of green , hence its name the Bracken Clock…with the wind over the last three days , conditions for me on the rocky northern shore were just about perfect …. As they were hatching in waves, clumsy beetles landing on the water of the great reservoir. It took a few hours for the trout to lock on , but by day two the dry fly sport, on a single long leader with a dry beetle pattern was so much fun ……. And a goooooooood stamp of fish too from this shoreline. Its deep water and craggy features house some huge brownies along here…. Very dark in colour, almost bronze looking ….. spectacular!!!. I think just over sixty I managed during the three, four hour sessions ….. jeeeeeeeeez, hot though….. a few hours was enough, with sport pretty manic on all three days …. Petering off on the Thursday ….. maybe the hatch was finishing or just weather conditions, not sure, but I’d certainly had my fill of Claerwen brownie fun ….. I couldn’t have asked for more ….. where were all the other local anglers ????? I’d mentioned it on Facebook ….. surely word gets around …. This phenomenon isn’t here for long….. it’s more of a “thing” than mayfly on the Test !!!! Yes, that good !!!!!! But obviously cheaper …. A day ticket will cost you a mere tenner here …… yeah, land of trout , big air and serenity ….. no neatly mowed banks here and club houses to rest up in … it’s the Elenydd, it’s wild, it’s rugged and it’s right where I’d want to be fly fishing for totally wild brownies !!!!
I can honestly say it’s been the best few days on the “Coch beetle” here that I’ve ever experienced ….. just superb …. I did hit it right about ten years ago up here, but the stamp of fish weren’t as chunky …. To top things off I did net one donkey too …. The third day , when the hatch was petering out , I rang the changes and put on a team of two , a wet black and peacock spider, and a tiny bibio ….. savage hits to both patterns just sub surface using a hover polyleader, just to bed the flies in nicely !!!! One rise, I cast to it, one almighty swirl and a huge brownie had smashed my point fly !!!!!! What a specimen, I’d say three plus pounds a very quick piccie; as fish welfare was paramount …. I like to keep them wet and in the net….. rested him and he was awaaaaaaaay …. With a begrudging splash of water which soaked me !!!…… fantastic ……. And during the time I spent up there since Tuesday I saw some huge swirls too beetles caught in the water …. There are massive specimens in Claerwen …. Old timers that cruise the deep ….. makes you think what is the biggest one in here ….. after all, they’ve got nine hundred acres to play around in …. Surely there may be some ferox trout in here????? Who knows …..
So there we have it , the Elan Valley angling club is having a competition up there shortly ….. it’s a jewel in the crown …. And I had her all to myself for not one day but three priceless mornings ….. fantastic sport ohhh and the season permit is cheap too , sixty quid … that these days, doesn’t buy you a three course meal for two with a few drinks thrown in !!!! so I guess I do feel smug, I hit it right this year …..more by luck than judgement, but hey, sometimes the dice just roll right don’t they folks ….😉😉😉😉😉😉🎣🎣🎣🎣🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
As I close down this wee blog ….. I’m hoping we get another good amount of rain over the weekend …..we certainly need it … the Irfon flowing into the Wye at Builth looks very sad, and in fact the Wye itself looks like it could do with three or four good days of rain ….. let’s see no more of this green algae in the river, with high phosphate levels..…. And I’m not getting on my proverbial soapbox but please no more blasted chicken farms ….. why put them right next to a river …. It’s not rocket science …. Simple’s !!!! Planners use your brain cells, refuse them and if they must be built, then away from water sources …. It’s not tooooooo dificult is it !!! You’re a major link in a clean environment … it’s not all about money … we are mere custodians on this planet, sharing it with other life forms …. That includes animal and plant life we can’t see….. under water !!!!! So contaminating it isn’t ethical, isn’t professional and isn’t right, So quite simply put, us as anglers, and other river users, don’t want chicken waste, human waste or any other waste in any of our delightful waterways …. Here endeth the lesson ….. thankfully more folks are doing more testing of water courses these days…..Big brother is keeping an eye on our rivers at long last ….. and I’m going to be testing water soon too !!!! It may be in a river near you ……………. 😉😉😉😉🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🧐🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟
