Fishing with Aberystwyth Angling Association

In 2007 I discovered Aberystwyth Angling Association. I was introduced to the Aberystwyth area when my daughter went to university there. I really liked it so in 2007 decided to have a break there and do some fishing. I used Google and came up with AAA. They have fishing on 9 lakes, and 2 rivers, in this most beautiful, and remote part of Wales and own 2 luxury caravans at the side of one of  them. Having got the bug in 2007 I repeated the holiday in 2008 and most recently in June 2009.  This is not “duffers” fishing in fact it is hard. The “easy” lake which is stocked with both rainbows and browns, and is 20 feet from the caravan I stay in, has previously been a blank for me, although this year I did have a few. In fact I had a rainbow and brownie take flies simultaneously on my last night. Just as well they were both small. 

Fish magnet and AAA committee member, Ray Blackburne introduced me last year to the mountain lakes about 6 miles west of the caravan, in a remote, beautiful mountain glen. We parked in a stunning spot overlooking one lake, climbed a stile, walked a quarter mile uphill and came to Rhosgoch which is a remote mountain lake with a head of wild brown trout and a trickle stocking of brownies. The wind, as always was wrong, blowing straight down the lake quite briskly. It was possible to wade out about 15 feet and cast across the wind with the fly line then drifting round in the wind towards the dam. Ray as always fished a team of wets, and fairly quickly had a 1.5 pounder landed. I decided to try my luck with a dry (my kind of fishing), put on a very natural looking daddy, and fairly soon had a vicious take from a tiny little brownie which was landed and returned. Hey, I thought, am I on the right track here? So I kept going. I could see the fly drifting round in the wind, and all of a sudden there was a swirl, a splash and it was snatched by something that felt different. Ray got my net, which promptly broke, but even so we landed it. It was a bit under 2 pounds—not bad for a brownie and the biggest I have had to date—I have had much bigger rainbows, but they are just not the same. It had beautiful markings and I grinned a lot. 

The wind got up, as did the waves. Wading amongst white caps, trying to keep my balance whilst casting gets less fun the longer you do it, so we moved on to another lake, this one really remote, involving 2 miles of forest track in 4x4, followed by ¾ mile hike. This is a Welsh Water reservoir supplying Borth. All the trout are wild browns and it is considered difficult. However the trout were obliging. I had one on my first cast, too small to keep so returned as they all were. They were rising, and a cast to the rise more often than not got a result—just the sort of fly fishing I really like. This year I really concentrated on Rhosgoch as I had enjoyed it so much last year. I was slightly earlier in the season, and I noticed that there were a few beetles on the water and that they were attracting attention. I put on a foam beetle, fished it static and wham, fish on. I was up their one afternoon with Ray, the weather was warm and I was enjoying the location. He said – “at about 6, go to the dam and try pulling a muddler”. Yeah I thought, how will that work when they are taking beetles. But I did and then the action really started. Most casts I had a rise, many takes and a few landed. I missed a few so reduced my leader length and that helped fix the hook. These were not tiddlers. They were good fish, all over 1.5 pounds, and fighting fit.

I eventually stopped as it was just getting too greedy even returning most. Fly fishing at its best. How did Ray know? No idea, but he did and it worked. As well as trout fishing I got two sea trips in this year. For the last 2 years the weather has been against me, but it was just right this year. I had a 35 pound tope, a good few black bream, doggies, and mackerel. If anyone fancies doing what I did visit the AAA website at       http://www.aber-angling.co.uk/. They have 2 caravans, reasonably priced and very accommodating. Users get half price fishing tickets, and exclusive use of one lake and boats for 4 days of the week. It is a regular fixture in my diary. Next year I am aiming for mid June to really take advantage of Coch – y- bondu (beetle) time  

Hugh Leighton 

September 2009