‘Memories are made of this’ sang Dean Martin way back in the 1950’s. He wasn’t talking about fishing, but he may as well have been as our fishing experiences become our memories. My first memory of fishing was when I was about ten years old. I was fishing in a small river at the bottom of my uncle’s farm near Rhydymain. I had an old fishing pole that I had found in the corner of the barn and a bent pin that my dear Nain had made for me on the end of my line. Jaffa, the farm dog, came with me (He was named Jaffa because my cousin had grown up eating Jaffa cakes by the score). Remarkably I caught a lovely brown trout, the first one I had ever caught. I was delighted and was looking forward to showing it to everyone when I got back. I reverently placed the fish behind me on the bank and carried on fishing. However, after a few minutes I became aware of a crunching noise behind the stone wall. On further investigation I found a very happy Jaffa eating my fish! I was so disappointed but after a while put it all into perspective and was glad that at least one of us was happy! This memory has stayed with me for over fifty years and is as sharp as if it had happened yesterday reminding me of carefree days running around the hills and mountains wild as a young stallion and as free as a soaring Eagle. So, fishing once more is never about the fish, but it is about something deeper, more long lasting and more profound. As usual we cannot really talk about the fishing this week without talking about the weather. The wind has been predominantly from the Northeast which has meant that there has been a chilly breeze blowing across the lake driving the fish over to the Western shore. Interestingly the fish farmers were saying that they stocked a number of tagged fish in the Nant Glyn/ Ring of Stones area, and these have been turning up in the Brenig Arm and in Sailing Club Bay, illustrating that the wind has been a major factor in the location of the fish. It also shows us the distances that the fish travel after being stocked, going from one side of the lake right across to the other side. Although the water temperature has increased since opening day, standing at around 10 degrees C on the top of the water, the fish are still about two to three feet deep. This has meant that snake flies and lures have worked well during the week. With the water still on the cool side the fish have been a little less active than previous weeks pushing down the rod average to 3.5 fish per angler. Although one or two have struggled fishing from the bank others have prospered such as Mr. R.O.Roberts from Holywell who caught eight whilst fishing from Tower Bay including a 6lbs 2oz Rainbow and Mr. Kevin Whitley who landed sixteen Rainbows whilst fishing in the Brenig Arm. The boat anglers have also had a varied week with Mr. Clive Gilbert remarking on a ‘rubbish day’ although his boat partner Dave might not have agreed with him after landing a lovely 7lb 8oz Rainbow. On the other hand, the biggest bag of the week was recorded by Mr. Chris McCloud from Wrexham whilst fishing from a boat who landed 5 Rainbows for 19lbs and released eight. Not a bad day indeed. The big fish are still there with Mr. Weatherill catching a 7lb 12oz Rainbow, Mr. Jim Connell landing an eight pounder, Mr. Mike Archer with another 7lbs 0oz Rainbow and Mr. Scott Pozzi recording the biggest fish of the week, an 8lbs 9oz whopper. The hot spots for the boats and bank have been similar this week with the Brenig Arm, Sailing Club Bay and Watersports bay all fishing well. The top flies this week have been snakes, cormorants, diawl bach, buzzers, nomad, and various blobs and boobies particularly a coral booby. A reminder that if you catch a tagged fish then present the tag at the Visitors Centre and your name will be put into an end of year draw. First prize is £1,000, second prize is a full season ticket, and the third prize is a half season ticket. The main gates will be closing at 5.45 this week and therefore boats need to be back on the jetty by 5.15pm. Tight Lines - Jim Jenkins – Seasonal Ranger.
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