Fishing Graiglwyd Springs, North Wales
Posted by Craig Barr on
Two days at Graiglwyd Springs in North Wales, yielded plenty of action for my son and I, Oscar.
Day 1 was very windy, with gusts of up to 50mph, and with the surrounding mountains, it tended to swirl around a bit too ! Graiglywd is a very deep water, and it drops off in an instant from the very edge of the bank - perfect for the hang, and ideal for the the beginner, as the fish do often come very tight in, if not disturbed too much, so long casts are not always necessary.
I often do well with a di-3 line here, so it was no surprise I started on this line. Quite often with small waters, with a pulling fly, I will more often than not, opt for a single fly, as I feel the fish can often see to much, and can, and do, get spooked. My fly choice was a Flash Attack Rabbit Cat, a pattern I tied up myself. It offered great movement, and it worked too, nailing 5 fish. A slow figure of 8 retrieve was all that was needed to get them going. I have found when fishing here, once you have taken a few fish on the same fly, change it once it seems to slow down, as a change of fly really does work wanders here. I only have to cast my mind back to December last year. I caught 1 fish in an hour and a half, then, came the olive apps worm. It was just like someone had switched a switch - it was instant, fish after fish after fish. Not just in the one spot either, all around the lake I caught with this fly.
My son Oscar, not yet mastered a good cast(but very much working on it) wanted to fish the indicator, after thrashing(as he called it) me on our last visit, 5-2 in a one hour session before we left for home. I set Oscar up with a red apps, 4' under the indicator. Casting out all by himself, he didnt take too long to get into the action either !
Day 2
Today was very different. Not so much wind, but the dreaded rain instead ! With the lighter conditions, and time to ponder on the days fishing before, i wandered how the fish would react to nymphs, rather than lures, as the day before they noticeably went off the lures after a few hours. After only half dozen casts or so, I decided I would switch to buzzers, as something told me they were not going to look at my lures today, with not so much as a follow, or pluck, in my first few casts.
On went the buzzers, and it didn't take long until the line was wrenched from my hand. In our 4 hour session Oscar and I landed 7 fish on the buzzers, and lost a few too ! Word soon got round, and one lucky angler netted a fine specimen of 15lb, on a buzzer !!
It highlights very much the need to try different methods. I used to believe smaller waters were easy, and more often than not you just needed a box full of bright coloured lures to catch fish, but how wrong is that thought! As I have fished smaller waters more and more often, its becoming rapidly apparent, a whole different thought process to what I am used to when fishing reservoirs, is needed. A more imitative approach yielded great results, yet had I had stuck to "pulling" flies for the 4 hours, I am pretty confident it would have been a much slower morning.
Graiglwyd springs is stocked with plenty of fish, and with a good sprinkling of some huge doubles, you just never know what you may catch ! The ideal venue for the less experienced, and as my son Oscar proved, the perfect place for the beginner too. Onsite luxury accomodation is also available, with 5 cottages to choose from.
Get your buzzers today ! Just follow the links below.