Taking advantage of the low water levels at Llyn Efyrnwy Lake Vyrnwy

During the summer of 2018 the water levels at Lake Vyrnwy/Llyn Eyrnwy dropped as supplies to urban areas like Liverpool were under pressure. The water level was down to 68% and the banks were exposed allowing a good look at their shape and structure. In addition, the low water had exposed a number of old stone walls as well as the ruins of old farm houses and Eunant hall. In his book “Guide to fishing Lake Vyrnwy” G.V. Westropp notes that old hands use low water periods to study the underwater structure. The opportunity was too good to pass up so we rented canoes from Bethania Adventure and had an explore of the southern part of the lake. We also drove around and stopped at key points along the northern bank where the lake was easily accessible and took some additional photos. The photo archive below is linked to the points on the embedded google map.

Point 1 – Cownwy tunnel
Point 2 – South bank at the dam wall
Point 3 – Marchnant tunnel
Point 4 – East bank below hotel
Point 4 – East bank below hotel
Point 5 – Pont cynon
Point 5 – Pont cynon
Point 6 – Low water launch for boathouse pool
Point 7 – South of straining tower
Point 7 – South of straining tower

The outlet of the Cownwy Tunnel is rocky and has plenty of structure. The bank between this point and the dam wall is steep and rocky. The bank between the dam wall, below the hotel, and Pont Cynon is shallow with minor rocks. This steepens around the bridge itself and is very rocky to the point at the low water launch for the Boathouse Pool boats. The bay at the low water launch is similarly shallow in slope with minor rocks. Between this and about 50m before the straining tower the bank is steep and structure is minimal. South of the straining tower the bank is shallow and appears to be sandy.

The bank north of the straining tower is steep and rocky. This shallows out as you approach Moel Fron-goch with a major bar near Fron-goch with the occasional stump from trees felled when the dam was filled. The bank near the low water launch at Rhiwargor is shallow and somewhat sandy. Rocky portions are associated with the submerged farm house ruin and stone walls.

Point 8 – North of straining tower
Point 8 – North of straining tower
Point 9 – Submerged wall near Moel Fron-goch
Point 9 – Fron-goch
Point 9 – Fron-goch point with old tree stumps
Point 10 – Submerged farm house ruin near Pont y Garnedd-wen
Point 10 – Submerged road to Pont y Garnedd-wen flanked by walls
Point 10 – Low water launch for Rhiwargor boats across submerged road/walls

The head of Rhiwargor bay is very silted up with old submerged farm walls having trapped lots of sediment entering the lake. The opposite bank at Nant Llwyn-ynn is steep and rocky.

Point 11 – Rhiwargor bay with submerged stone wall that ran alongside the submerged road to Pont Rhiwargor visible
Point 11 – Rhiwargor bay with submerged stone wall that was located alongside the footpath to Pont Rhiwargor visible
Point 12 – Rhiwargor bay with submerged stone wall that was located alongside the footpath to Pont Rhiwargor visible
Point 12 – Rhiwargor bay with submerged stone wall that was located alongside the footpath to Pont Rhiwargor visible

Point 12 – Rhiwargor bay panorama with submerged stone wall that was located alongside the footpath to Pont Rhiwargor visible

The bay at Eunant is steep and comprised of rocky and sandy stretches. The island in the bay is founded on the remains of Eunant Hall, the foundations of which are visible in the photos. The floor of the bay appears to be rocky and the fisherman in the shot seemed to be having plenty of success in the bay. The river channel at Pont Eunant is deep and flanked by a rocky outcrop on the right hand side. The bank between the picnic site at Llechwedd-du and the boathouse is shallow and sandy with some good structure created by large boulders and fallen trees/branches.

Point 13 – Eunant bay panorama with the island that was Eunant Hall

Point 13 – Eunant hall ruins with foundation stones visible
Point 13 – Eunant Bridge
Point 14 – Pantyffynon bank
Point 14 – Pantyffynon bank
Point 14 – Pantyffynon bank
Point 14 – Pantyffynon bank

In his book “Guide to fishing Lake Vyrnwy” G.V. Westropp condensed more than 60 years of experience into a concise summary of the drifts and locations to fish and those which you can confidently motor/drift past. Looking at the drifts he recommends it seems that the shallower rockier banks are more likely to have brown trout waiting to snack on insects falling into the water from the bank side vegetation. Zoom into the map below, a photograph of the 1886 OS 6 inch map hanging in the Tavern Brasserie of the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel, and explore where there may be other stone walls, bridge and building ruins that may provide structure to target when fishing. The photos in the archive in this post as well as my previous post give you some idea of what these might look like now when targeting these. It might also be an idea to read my other blogs posts on Lake Vyrnwy: