If you are a fly fishing purist then stop reading this article now as it contains material that you will find offensive. My girls have gradually drifted away from fly fishing in recent years, in part because they are in their teenage years and it holds less appeal than social media or in the case of my youngest, her sketchbook. However, in the main it is a function of us not fishing regularly enough that casting comes naturally with the result that we spend more time untangling lines than fishing and blank more than is ideal. The adrenaline rush that you get when the line goes taught is long forgotten and it is getting harder to convince them to come fishing at all. So I came up with a cunning plan for the Easter break …. lets improve the odds of catching a fish by spin fishing. In theory, casting is easier (I would like to say no tangles but that would be a lie, lets say less tangles), they can cast further into the lake to access more fish improving the odds and casting and reeling in constantly helps the time pass.
I dug out the cheap Shakespeare rods with fixed spool reels that I bought from Go Outdoors for the girls many moons ago, when we started out their fishing journey on the local canals. They were perfect. A couple of spinners from the tackle shop in Aberystwyth, debarbed and we were good to go. I decided on Llyn Blaenmelindwr as spinning is allowed on this lake and I fancied a fly fish at the same time and was on my list of Llyns to fish during the Easter break. It took a little time for the girls to get the hang of it but soon they were casting deep into the lake and retrieving comfortably. That isn’t to say that Rachel didn’t almost brain Neve a few times somehow casting more down the bank than into the lake and low flying birds were occasionally at risk as the spinner travelled more vertically than horizontally but they were fishing and having a blast. The fish were definitely feeding on small gnats/midges getting caught in the ripple about 10 m out. The girls were retrieving the spinners right through the zone of activity and the fish didn’t pause their feeding nor change their target. I had a sneaky cast at a large brown that I could see feeding just beyond the lily pads on the western bank of the lake and was rewarded with a cracking brown trout, but that is for another article, sometimes when your luck is in it is well and truly in.
The girls were getting cold and tired after about 45 minutes. Time for a change of plan but when in doubt, and spirits are waning …. bribe them with food. A break in the car with sandwiches from Two Hoots Cafe, which they love, and a steaming cup of hot tea in the car did the trick. I suggested we try Llyn Rhosgoch just up the hill as there is also a geocache up there on the far side of the lake that we could find at the same time. As we crested the dam wall we were pommelled by an icy wind with spatters of rain/sleet and the girls promptly demanded we head back down to Llyn Bleanmelidenwr where the hill obviously afforded more protection from the wind than I realised. I decided we would try Llyn Syfydrin instead, also on my list to fly fish and it also has a geocache we can find en route. The squall had passed by the time we got to the east bank of Llyn Syfydrin and while it was windy and cold at least the sun was making an appearance. The sustenance had kicked in and the girls set about exploring the shallow bay while I decided to work my way up the dam wall using it to shelter my fly line from the wind. Within 20 minutes Rachel was into a good sized brownie that was putting up a good fight and calling for me to come and net it. She was extremely chuffed and so was I …. “I love it when a plan comes together”. Extracting the debarbed treble hook with my forceps was straight forward and the browine was barely out of the water for 5 seconds. Time for a quick photo after a rest in the net and then we released it. Unfortunately that was to be all the action of the afternoon with the next 45 minutes passing without event. It was bitterly cold in the wind so decided to call it quits while we were ahead, especially as the girls agreed to give it another go the following day.
The next day we spent the day exploring the modern art gallery, book stores, gift stores and curiosity shops of Machynlleth with fishing planned to coincide with the dry spell at the end of he day. Just as well as it was freezing cold and raining sideways for much of the day. Neve decided it was too cold and windy but Rachel enthused with the success of the previous day was keen. She started in the shallow bay at the bottom of the lake where they had left off the day before. Again 30 minutes in Rachel had success. At first she thought she had snagged the spinner on something, she had caught several pieces of litter the day before, but soon realised that the moving line indicated that she had a fish on. Another stunning little brownie. While we worked the bank between the wall and the cattle grid on the south bank for another hour nothing came to the net despite obvious feeding activity at the surface.
Timing is everything so we called it quits before the shine wore off the experience. Rods stowed, we decided to find the geocache quickly before heading home for a warm cuppa in front of the gas fire. From my perspective it was mission accomplished. Now just need to find way to keep the momentum going.
Tight lines
Greg