A superb three days was had this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with three enthusiastic chaps ready to wet a line on the hallowed waters of the Elenydd….. fortunately they had organised accommodation on the Sunday evening, just on the edge of Rhayader….. we met up on the Sunday to discus my itinerary with them and tactics that may be required in quite tricky, bright sunny conditions, not ideal, but it’s becoming the norm now for the three months of summer when even the big rivers resemble a brook !!!! This is where the cold deep reservoirs come into their own, especially in the glooming and early bells in the morning, if you’re mad like me, and quite happy to be up at sparrows fart !!!!!!!!! That’s half four to the uneducated !!!!
So on the Monday morning onward to a sunny Craig Goch reservoir …. I’d bowled up a bit earlier to sort out some admin and boy it looked tricky, flat calm !!! Aaarrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..… thankfully when the chaps arrived, as if by magic a lovely breeze kicked in, which pretty much stayed all day thankfully, making small wet fly and nymph tactics feasible…… One of my clients took to dry fly tactics like the proverbial duck to water ….. a tiny black klinkhammer did the business … ohhhhhh but that’s a river fly I hear some of you bluff old traditionalists say with an edge of uncertainty….. You’ve got to ask yourself, do the trout read the books ? No !!! …. Fly angling can be very snobby and unless you haven’t got the latest overpriced rod, from across the pond, or the most fancy fly line that money can buy, slim profile, extra supply blah blah blah …. The list goes on …. I enjoy good quality gear, but your best tool in the box is knowledge and local knowledge at that ……….. The black klinkhammer just after the Heather fly hatch is deadly here … I’ve had great success, as it sits at a lovely angle in rippley water too … and that white post is nicely visible at range also…
The gents enjoyed all three days, some lovely wild trout being brought to the net by all three ….. interestingly the various colours of the Cambrian mountain trout were very very varied on all locations during the mini break for the chaps …. Feisty fast takes on dry, nymph and wet flies all worked during different parts of the day …Ringing the changes was uppermost in my mind, the wind direction can change so quickly in the Cambrian Mountains……. Peer who joined his good friends from Germany fished an exquisite cane rod, bespoke in every detail, and made by his skilful hands … an absolutely superb piece of rod building and lovely to see a thumping wild brownie from the Elenydd putting a nice bend in it too … just a joy to watch …
The weather wasn’t the ideal in fairness, bright sun …… fairly consistent all three days … day two was enjoyed by all three chaps exploring the Afon Elan, where I covered upstream dry fly tactics with them, and likely fish holding areas in a typical Welsh river ..…Great fun and a change from the vast reservoirs of the Elan Valley, although the latter half of Tuesday we did venture up to Garreg Ddu reservoir …. The relentless sun made for a tricky last day on the great sea in the middle of Wales …. Claerwen Reservoir … that beautiful sheet of water that seems to swallow all of the surrounding mountains ….it’s a landscape that goes on for ever, quite literally !!! Twas windy all day on the Wednesday … but I got the chaps into fish, beautiful wild Claerwen brown trout … absolute perfection …. Tactics ranged from dry fly to nymphs just sub surface …. The wild fish quite prepared to smash a dry in the early part of the day …. As things progressed and the wave increased, nymphs scored well with some lovely savage hits to a small Montana or a Diawl Bach ……. As we packed up at around fiveish the gents agreed they had had an awesome, extremley varied three days wild brown trout fishing, in the most beautiful landscape …. Well, as we know folks, wild brown trout live in gorgeous places …….. and so to round off a fantastic few days, for me personally , three smashing gents who are passionate about this gentle, delicate sport of ours …. It takes us to distant places, secretive, remote and windswept … it brings us new friends who share this special bond …. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last few days … off out again tommorrow…. But for now as we wrapped up the fishing, it was time to think about some chilling in town, and more importantly some good food and good ale … onward to The Crown in Rhayader…. First on the agenda, a freshen up at home and meet the chaps for a well earned pint of Rev James …… just the icing on the cake hey !!!!! …. Cheers 🍻😉😉😉😉🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣
