Llyn Frongoch

Over Easter we fish at Llyn Frongoch, a 7 hectare (18 acres) lake, located in the wonderfully rural location of Trisant, Ceredigion, Wales.  Run by the Aberystwyth Angling Association, said to be the jewel in the crown of their lakes, this lake is stocked with rainbow and blue trout and holds a head of brown trout that apparently breed in the small river that feeds the lake.  There is plenty of easy bank access as well as boat fishing for either residents staying in the caravans or boat permit holders.  The lake is reserved for caravan residents on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and open to permit holders on the other days.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located 10 minutes drive from the popular tourist location of Devils Bridge you will be surprised by how rural the location is.  You turn off the A4120 onto the single lane track and within minutes you reach the lake where there is plenty of parking in laybys towards the dam wall.  Surrounded by sheep farms and woodland the tranquility of the location is enhanced by the sound of sheep and bird song. Occasionally the peace is broken by fighter jets or other military aircraft on training exercises.  At an altitude of 280m (920 ft) between two peaks of ~340m, the location can be quite breezy which while increasing the challenge of casting at distance and creating wind knots in leaders and tangling droppers does produce a ripple to disguise both fisherman and line. 

 

Bank fishing from the dam wall is popular, especially between the outlet and the seat at outlet bay point where stockies often hold and also covers fish cruising into the bay to feed in the shallows.  Bibio, montana, GRHE, damsels and red tinged crunchers & nemos are tried and tested flies.  The outlet bay is full of brownies, including some decent sized ones, which are lightning quick to snap up shipmans buzzers, shuttlecocks and black & peacock spiders.  Brownies are found throughout the lake, especially around structure at the margins like over-hanging trees and rushes.  While fishing along the horse paddock bank, one small brownie of 5 centimetres that took a midge pattern got launched into the air and landed on the bank behind me when I struck a bit too hard. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lake produces a healthy buzzer hatch with warm spells during the day, at Easter this included midges, black gnats and pond olives.  As a result if you are an avid dry fly fisherman like I am then this a fabulous location to fish. Green/black shipmans buzzers, black gnats, F–fly, yellow owls and other shuttlecocks are good flies to try. This year 2017, Sandys Blank Buster CDC shuttlecock proved to be an absolute killer fly out fishing other shuttlecocks by a mile and I had one cracking afternoon catching six 1kg+ rainbow and brown trout including three savage takes that resulted in breakoffs of 6.8 lb tippet.  With the ever present easterly breeze, following the ripple line between the mirror clear water and that stirred by the breeze just off gorse bush point proved to a very successful tactic. Landing blue, brown and rainbow trout.  The blue trout are extremely fiesty, with one swimming so hard at me that I struggled to take up the slack fast enough, with it smashing headlong into the side of the boat which dislodged the hook but almost knocked itself out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with all of my “Recent Adventure” blog articles, I include a section on the kids.  My two girls, 14 and 11, love going to Frongoch each Easter.  This is a function of three things (I) food, (ii) fun and (iii) relaxation. My girls’ fishing attention span is 2 to 4 hours if we are catching fish, on a slow day it will be shorter.  It is important to not only accept that is the case but to plan for it.  I take plenty of tasty snacks that the event is a treat, take plenty of breaks to keep energy levels up and let them take non-fishing breaks. They enjoy the fact that the whole thing is unscripted and relaxation is the key.   Juniors (primary school children) do not pay to fish here and youth day tickets (secondary school) are £20/week. Note that tickets are not available at the venue and need to be purchased in advance.  I also make a conscious effort to include non-fishing activities into the schedule and here are a few of our favourites:

1. Walk devils bridge falls circular walks (30 mins to 2 hours)

1. Have lunch at the railway café, station at Devils Bridge (1 hour)

1. Have an ice-cream at Devils Bridge falls (20 mins)

1. Visit the chocolate shop at Devils Bridge (20 mins)

1. Walk the circular walk around Llyn Frongoch (1 – 2 hours; See separate walking map)

1. Explore local geocaches on the way in or out (30 mins to 1 hour)

1. Catch the Vale of Rheidol steam train to Aberystwyth (2 – 3 hours)

1. Visit the butterfly farm (1 hour/visit; combine with StatKraft Visitor Centre)

1. Visit the StatKraft visitor centre (30 minutes if you get out before the kids spot the café)

1. Have a lemonade (pint for dad) on the Hafod Hotel patio overlooking Devils bridge (Duration depends on how many “lemonades” you have)

Most of all, have fun and relax spending time with your kids.

Tight lines

Greg