North Wales Premier Fly Fishery

Back in February, 2001, we had the privilege of a visit by Shane Jones of the Trout Fisherman magazine. We have waited in great anticipation of his report on the fishery and now have the greatest of pleasure in reproducing it here for you to check out for yourself how we rated. The original report is to be found in the Trout Fisherman, dated August 2001, on pages 64 and 65. How did we rate...? Judge for yourself !

By Ceri Jones

BRYN AND NEIL wandered over. "Good morning gents, you've picked a good day to visit since two doubles of 11lb and 13lb have already been caught this morning". I glanced at my watch — it said 9.45am! We had barely taken our first breaths of the chilly North Wales morning air when Bryn, the owner of the Tan-y-Mynydd complex, was proud to announce the captures to us. What a greeting — the prospects looked good!

It was the first time I'd ever been to Tan-y-Mynydd Trout Fisheries and at first glance we were very impressed. On arriving at the fishery entrance, you drive around a complex of luxury lakeside cottages that can be rented on a weekly basis. In addition to this there's a lake-side pub.

The estate has four lakes with one lake separated by an arched footbridge. Named Home and Shallow, these are the lakes closest to the Lodge. Behind these you find Farm and Deep pools with Top lake located independently at the far right as you view the lakes from the lodge front.

 Warmth of Welcome 
On walking into the lodge for a morning brew, I was impressed by the warmth and welcome. Tan-Y-Mynydd have teamed up with Foxons of St Asaph to provide the visiting angler with a big range of tackle to buy. The potential customer also has the privilege of"trying before buying".

Bryn was certainly right when he said they considered the fishery to be a 'Three F Fishery' — friendly, fun and flexible. After picking Bryn and Neil's brains — they have run the fishery since November 1999 — I ventured outside to sample the fishing.

Quite a few of the keener anglers had already built up impressive bags of fish, with one chap having caught and released 12 rainbows out of the Top Pool - including one of 11lb! Thinking I would be clever, I slotted into the platform next to 'Mr Dozen' to make my first cast.

The wind was from the east and, for the time of year, unexpectedly cold. From the position on the platform I'd chosen, I was forced to cast into the wind. However, you have to take the rough with the smooth in the fly fishing game, and all the goose-pimples were soon forgotten when the first cast was made.

"Fish deep" was Bryn's advice, so allowing my slime line intermediate time to descend to the bottom with a count of 75, I knew that I was fishing some nine feet down. The water in front of me was 14 feet deep so my fly would just skip the bottom.

 A smiling Shane Jones with his 13lb rainbow. 

 Lightning take 
RETRIEVING my Black Concrete Bowl lure with a slow figure of eight, my line tightened with a take so quick I just couldn't strike fast enough. Cursing my misfortune, I fished on for another half an hour on the same platform — but to no avail. A change of location was needed, so I went in search of a fish from one of the other lakes.

Passing Deep Pool, I was intrigued by its character, so I stopped here for a cast or two. Although not big, maybe an acre in size, it has two islands. One side was completely overgrown with trees. The depth averaged around seven feet throughout and I was told it was stocked with quality browns.

Overhanging branches that stooped lazily into the water provided ideal cover for the wily brownies to hide. In addition to this, it was also a good place for a hungry fish to pluck unfortunate terrestrial insects from the surface. I replaced the slime line and lure with a floating line and size 14 Black Hopper and pitched the outfit out across the lake so that my fly feathered down within inches of the overgrown canopy.

Almost immediately my Hopper was attacked in a shower of spray by a good-sized brownie. My rod bent into the fish, but its sheer speed had it in the branches before I could have said 'Jack Russell' ! One fish lost and, even worse, it had my Hopper in his jaws. This was the worst example of hook and release!

The whole commotion had disturbed the area and the chances of a cunning brownie being deceived again was quite unlikely. I moved to fish Home, Farm and Shallow lakes and, although I tried a multitude of different tactics from deep buzzer fishing to a little emerger in the surface film of Farm pool when the fish began to feed on hatching chironomids, nothing bent my rod or tensioned my line.

 Last Resort 
As a last resort, I decided to return to my original position on Top lake. With nothing to lose, I put on the slime line and Black and Green Concrete Bowl again and decided to work through the depths by employing the count-down method.

First a count of five; then on the next cast a count of ten, was allowed before retrieving. On the third cast on the count of 15, I felt a slight tensioning of the line. However, it wasn't enough of a pull to strike into, so I just kept on retrieving. Just as I thought the chance was gone, my line flicked upwards as I lifted my rod to hang my fly by the bank.

I swept the rod sideways to set the hook and a big rainbow immediately cleared the water displaying its rich cerise flank. In a foaming spray of protest, the fish displayed acrobatics I have rarely seen in the fight of a double-figure fish. Generally they are lifeless and slow, but this Tan-Y-Mynydd fish was exciting.

At last the fish became tired and slid over my waiting landing net. At 13lb it was the second biggest rainbow I had ever caught. It just felt right to return it back into the depths of Top pool.

After all, I was impressed with the fishery and it won't be long before I revisit Tan-Y-Mynydd. I want to catch that fish again!