Tucked away in the undulating hills of north Wales lies the tiny village of Trawsfynydd with its beautiful lake of the same name. For decades the lake has been run as a fishery and has drawn anglers from afar to fish it.

Those who are interested in the history of fisheries will be surprised to learn that Prysor Angling Club – the club who run the fishery – has a very illustrious past. In the 1960s and 70s it employed no less than four full-time bailiffs. At the time they were pioneers in the system of rearing fish in huge nets suspended in the lake. They were without doubt the trend-setters in piscatorial matters in Wales.

The late Emyr Lewis and Moss Lewis, club officials at the time, worked hard to promote the fishery. I recall helping Emyr fill an old tea chest with a stock of Mayflies from Lough Conn, bringing them back and releasing them in the shallow end of the lake in the hope of turning Llyn Trawsfynydd into a Mayfly Mecca! Such stuff as dreams are made.

When the power station was built in the 1970s, not only did it change the lives of local inhabitants but it also changed the lake, especially in terms of temperature. A cold-water channel was constructed along the North bank to provide the station with cold water to cool the reactors. The water coming out of the station via the hot water channel raised the temperature of the lake by a few degrees. This meant a huge change to what was hitherto a normal brown trout lake. The warm water suited rainbows and thousands of fish were reared annually. They fed and grew through the whole twelve months of the year and rainbows of over 1lb were produced in a matter of eleven months – which was something of a record time for producing fish in Wales.

Since the power station closed down some six years ago the fishery has returned to its natural lake status.

One interesting feature with regards to Welsh fisheries is that so many of them are owned or managed by local angling clubs. Some are very substantial establishments that oversee lakes and/or extensive lengths of rivers with considerable professionalism. Some of these fisheries are worth thousands of pounds and one such club is Prysor which currently has a fleet of nearly 40 boats.

Prysor as a club and as a fishery is still flourishing today and in September will host the Autumn International Fly Fishing championship. In view of this the club can look forward to a lot of activity on the fishery throughout spring and summer and this will test the very able and dedicated crew of volunteers to the full.

The lake covers 1200 acres and the surrounding terrain offers a variety of bays and corners that will demand different approaches from the anglers.

It is a very picturesque water with its numerous, pretty bays. Four years ago it provided the backdrop to a feature film starring Sean Connery.

The fishing and the flies
Currently, the fishery holds a good head of wild brown trout and stocked rainbows. The brown trout are worthy adversaries and require considerable skill in their catching. They are well spread out and demand and reward a refined approach. The stocked rainbows are generally near the surface although there are exceptions.

I recall a Youth International match fished on the lake a few years ago when the winning Scottish team discovered that a count of 16 with fast sinking lines and Boobies got to the depth that was most effective!

However, the traditional flies still work well, with the York’s Special – once the top cat – still managing to take much of the cream. This fly – devised by Mr York, a commercial traveller – proved to be a great bob fly and was used very widely with success.

Haul a Gwynt is also a winner on Traws. I recall the late Doctor Prytherch participating in a trial for the Welsh team back in the 1960s and taking the winning bag with ease using a size 14 Haul a Gwynt. As I was the gillie for Doc I had ample opportunities to study both the fisher and the pattern; the method of fishing Haul a Gwynt is very important. Doc was a quick mover of flies but always ended the retrieve by holding and slurping the fly in the film on the surface of the water.

Doc was a highly respected medical man and everyone knew that fishing had an enormous appeal for him. In order to satisfy both his loves, he decided to have a telephone installed in his fishing hut on the banks of the River Glaslyn. This was considered posh by his patients four decades ago – and indeed could have been the forerunner of today’s mobile phone industry!

The Green Peter was used a lot in the 1970s and some anglers swore that you had to use the correct shade of green – the one supplied by Rogan of Donegal!

Palmered flies also score well. Ke-He is still popular today and the Bibio would probably top the charts as a fish attractor especially with the local competition lads.

Unfortunately, there are many variations on some of the old established patterns, and yet they bring success. Most modern flies work well at the right depth.

Each bay in Llyn Trawsfynydd holds a good stock of pound-plus rainbows. Even so, they do have their off-days. Ty’n Twll, Coed Drycin and Ilse Bay can have some fabulous days and Cae Adda (Adam’s Field) can hold fish one day and none the next as they have moved on to greener pastures. The browns are more apt to stay in one location and often seek the shallower top end of the lake.

You have your choice and you take your pick, but each day offers a different challenge.

Irrespective of conditions one or two of the bays will always be on song. It takes a competition to discover which ones.

Recently, WSTAA organised an Inter-teams match on ‘Traws’ with five national teams competing against each other. It was a very enjoyable, social occasion. What is more it gave us a chance to try out the new engines bought in readiness for the International. They were easy to use – very different from the old Seagull engines – but let us not forget that they too gave us excellent service especially in the huge waves at the International long ago.

Characters of ‘Traws’
Arthur Owen (left) – known to the angling fraternity as ‘Son’ - is one of the doyens on Llyn Trawsfynydd. In recent years he has become a very keen dry fly man – though sometimes his dry flies seem to have a lot of movement! One could almost say he has become a Hopper Man – but in truth there is far more to Son than that.

Son suffered a serious brain haemorrhage over a decade ago and this left its mark on him. He has vivid memories of events prior to his illness but unfortunately his short-term memory is not so good.

I recall fishing a session on Traws with Son on the engine. We drifted three times down to a point just off Ty’n Twll – one of Traws’s hot spots. We didn’t move a fish on the first three drifts yet on the fourth drift over the exact same spot but covered from a different angle we took four fish in quick succession.

I was puzzled by this – but from his knowledge of the water Son explained that we had not covered the first three drifts from the ‘right angle’. This was new to me, something I had not experienced while reservoir fishing before. But then, you learn a lot from Son.

I repeated the exercise with him again last week and once again he manoeuvred the boat until he was satisfied that it was drifting at the correct angle to the hot spots.

On the occasion when Son was captain of the Welsh senior team at the International on Chew – the match which a famous English angler wrongly predicted to be a competition for second place for the other three teams as England was going to win the gold with ease – Son devised the Concoction fly for his team members. The fly served the Welsh team well and has since proved to be a great fly on a number of Welsh fisheries.

Son has a number of other very effective flies devised for use on Llyn Trawsfynydd. He is a great fisher who ranks with the best we have in Wales – and Son certainly shines on ‘Traws’. Not only has he created some wonderful flies but has piloted some very effective fishing methods. He is his own man and a great competitor. His ability to spot fish in the water is incredible and advantageous. How many other anglers can spot fish 50 or more yards away?
 

Concoction Hook: Size 8 and 10. Tying silk: Green. Rib: Gold wire. Body: Rear half – green seal’s fur.   Front half – red seal’s fur. Wing: Light hen pheasant wing or owl. Hackle: Ginger.	Son’s Secret Hook: Size 12, 14 and 16. Tying silk: Black. Body: Black chenille or black fur. Hackle: Dark ginger cock pheasant. Body hackle: Black. Rib: Silver.

Dedicated volunteers
From the start, Trawsfynydd fishery has been dependent upon the goodwill of its few but dedicated volunteers. One family that has been intrinsically linked with Llyn Trawsfynydd for decades is the Atherton family. Mitch worked there as a bailiff in the 1970s and is the current secretary of Prysor Club. He is also the gaffer at the fishery. His two sons, Thomas and Malcolm, are both great fishers and work unstintingly for the benefit of the fishery. This year Malcolm’s son, Robin, won his Welsh cap and will be a member of the youth team competing on Lough Conn in July – and what is more his grandfather Mitch is in the Welsh disabled team. What an achievement for both the older and younger members of this family. No doubt the younger generations will work hard to retain the family tradition. Llyn Trawsfynydd owes a lot to the Atherton family.

The chairman of Prysor is Edwyn Lewis who is also a member of the Welsh disabled team.

Llyn Trawsfynydd can be looked upon as a traditional fishery. It has a lot of charm with its varied locations. In its lifetime it has had to cope with several changes and it is to its credit that it has survived with such dignity.

This is a small tribute to the crew of volunteers who devote so much time and effort to care and ensure the fishery always performs at its best … as was be the case when they welcomed the Four Nations there in September 2008.