360 
THE FISHING GAZETTE 
[May 20, 1893 
provinpf a little on the coast, but they are nothing 
like what they should be at this time. Grilse will 
not come in about until we get a spate. One was 
got last week on the coast fishing station at TTsan 
on the South Esk. The trout fi.shing has been 
verj' poor this week, only a few good baskets 
being got in the evening or early in the morning 
fishing with the natural minnow. The finnock 
have entirely disappeared from the North and 
South Esks. Only one clean salmon can be seen 
at the Gannochy ‘ lonps.’ The kelts are causing 
great bother to anglers fishing with the natural 
fly,as they are lying in great plenty, not being 
able to clear out for want of water.” 
NOTES ON TROU'r FISHING IN 
SOME OF THE WELSH LAKES. 
By “ Ramrler.” 
Having done a good deal of fly-fishing during 
the last ten seasons in most of the lakes in the 
neighbourhood of Bettws-y-Ooed,Capel Curig,and 
Trefriw, a short description of some of them, and 
idea of the sport to be obtained, from the 
writer’s personal observations and experience, 
may be of interest to anglers who are strangers 
to this beautiful section, and who do not object 
to plenty of tramping in pursuit of the wily 
trout, and are content with only moderate sport. 
And first let me state that most of the lakes in 
this part of North Wales can only be reached by 
walking the greater part of the way, and that 
boats are not found on many of them. Fishing, 
therefore, has to be generally done from the shore, 
or by wading, and the angler before starting 
for the scene of action must be prepared for a 
hard day’s work. To this I must add that the 
fishing is very uncertain, and that the trout as 
a rule run very small. 
Ty payment of the nominal sum of three 
shillings per annum fishing with a fly can be 
enjoyed from the 1st of March until the 1st of 
October in all the lakes mentioned in this article, 
with one exception, which will be referred to 
later on. 
Let us start from Bettws-y-Coed, that well- 
known resort of the artist, and make the easy 
climb of a short hour to Llyn Elsi, a medium 
sized lake lying amidst rocks and heather in the 
plateau above the woods on the south side of the 
village. The water from Elsi supplies an adjacent 
slate quarry, and in dry weather the lake con¬ 
tracts a good deal, but it is fortunately very 
deep in a large part of its area, so this drain on 
its resources does not interfere much with the 
fishing. There are plenty of trout in Elsi, and 
big ones too, a fish of 41b. having been taken, but 
they are very shy, and do not rise much to the 
fly in the daytime, except in the early part of the 
season. The best sport in this lake is to be had in 
May and the first half of June, as far as fishing in 
daylight is concerned. Even daring this period, 
one may whip the water all day without getting 
or seeing a rise, as I know from my own expe¬ 
rience the first time I tried the lake, which, as 
a result of the trial, I was strongly inclined to 
believe did not contain a trout. After the middle 
of June it is a waste of time to fish in this lake 
until late in the evening, or very early in the 
morning. 
A little before sunset, a few breaks in the 
water may be seen, and as the sun disappears 
and twilight sets in, the circles gradually in¬ 
crease, but not until the light has almost faded 
away do the trout really begin to move much. 
T-hen, sometimes, on a still, warm night, as dark¬ 
ness creeps over the scene, the lake may be said 
to boil over with rises, which can be seen or 
heard in every direction. Now and then a heavy 
flop on the water tells the outside world that 
some monster of the lake is on the move, and 
rouses the angler’s ambition to fever height, 
though he can perhaps hardly realise that this is 
the same lake he has flogged all day without 
seeing a rise or any sign of a trout. Even in the 
dark, when the fish are in a rising mood, they are 
very shy and difficult to catch, and the angler is 
fortunate who can capture one or two under these 
circumstances. If there is a slight ripple, the 
chance of success is better, but very frequently, 
as daylight disappears, the breeze also dies away! 
i’ersonally, I have had better luck fishing during 
the daytime in the earlier part of the season than 
in the evening later on, though I occasionally 
landed a nice trout in the dark or just before. I 
never heard of a large bag being made in Elsi ; 
half a dozen is a good day’s sport. But if 
quantity is lacking to a day’s sport in this lake, 
quality is not; the Elsi trout average about a 
pound, and much larger ones are frequently 
caught; and they are celebrated for their game¬ 
ness and excellent flavour. They fight tremen¬ 
dously hard, and will often, when apparently 
quite exhausted, make a rush for liberty, and per¬ 
haps obtain it, if one is not on the look-out. 
Large flies are generally the best for Elsi. 
The March Brown, Jied Spinner, and Woodcock 
are good for April and first part of May, and the 
Coch-y-bun-dhu, Alder, and Black Hackle for the 
latter part of this month and June. Eor late 
evening fishing, I would recommend the Cochin 
and large White Moth. 
There are now two or three boats on this lake, 
which can be hired at a moderate rate, though 1 
believe the chances are equally good fishing from 
the shore, particularly about dark, when the trout 
come from out of the deep water and feed in the 
shallows. I would not advise any but those 
possessed of a good deal of patience and perse¬ 
verance to try their luck in Elsi. An angler who 
visits the lake must be prepared for blank days, 
without, perhaps, seeing a rise, but should he 
land one of these capricious trout, he will not be 
sorry for having devoted so much time to them. 
Let us take the train from Bettws-y-Coed to 
lioman Bridge station on the line to Pestiniogg. 
There is no town or village of Roman Bridge, and 
the people who dwell within reach of the station 
consist principally of small farmers and their 
families scattered about the neighbourhood. A 
walk of three miles from the station—the last one 
a good deal against the collar—^will bring us to 
the small pool known as Gwen Parry’s lake, or 
more generally simply as Owen Parry, the pool 
having been made some years ago by a person of 
that name for the purpose of working a slate 
quarry that was subsequently abandoned. It lies 
in a marshy district, and is fed by a smail stream 
that eventually runs into the Lledr. There is a 
good deal of weed in this pool, too much for the 
angler’s convenience very often, and it is almost 
surrounded by reeds and rushes. Owen Parry 
lies out of the tourists’ beat, and to the general 
public it is scarcely known; consetjuently it is 
only fished by a few local anglers, and occasional 
strangers who, like myself, happen to know of its 
existence. There are lots of trout in this lakelet. 
They average about a ((uarter of a pound, but on 
a favourable day one may take a fair number of 
half-pounders and even larger fish. When they 
are rising well, a moderately-good angler can 
secure from two to three dozen fish without much 
trouble, and larger baskets have often been made. 
Occa.sionally heavy trout have been caught; I 
never landed one over a pound and a quarter, but 
I saw one of over 21b. killed by a farmer who 
lives near Uolwydellen, and a fish of 3|lb. was 
taken by the same man a few seasons ago. The 
first time I tried Owen Parry was in company 
with a friend in the year 1885, and the time the 
beginning of July. We had fished theDyweunedd 
lakes (of which I shall have something to say 
presently) nearly the whole morning without ob¬ 
taining any sport, and the idea suggested itself 
to us to walk across to Owen I’arry, which 
is about a mile from Dywynedd, and find out if 
there were any trout in it. The conditions were 
what are generally considered favourable for fly¬ 
fishing, but we whipped hard for over an hour 
and only got a few small trout the size of large 
minnows. At lunch time we resolved to return 
to our original fishing grounds, if I he sport did 
not speedily improve. It was fortunate for us, 
and the writer especially, that we gave the pool 
another trial. After lunch I waded out to a 
point at the end of some rushes neither of us had 
tried, where the foothold was firm, and a cast could 
be made over some deep open water. At the first 
or second throw I saw a slight break in the 
water round the tail fly, and I struck rather 
carelessly, thinking it was another baby trout, 
when, to my surprise, I felt a considerable strain 
on the line, and the next moment a trout of 
three-(iuarters of a pound jumped out of the water 
and then dashed across the pool, making the reel 
sing merrily. He eventually broke away ]ust as 
1 had the landing-net ready, but we knew at any 
rate that the lake contained one trout larger than 
a minnow, and as the afternoon proceeded we 
found there were plenty of others, and we had 
very fair sport, particularly during the last hour, 
though we caught nothing over half a pound. 
The Dyweunedd Lakes were not thought of again 
that afternoon, and it was very reluctantly that 
we left our new fishing grounds to catch the last 
train home from Roman Bridge. Since that day 
the writer has spent many other very pleasant 
ones ’at this little “ out of the world lake,” and 
rarely, if ever, “returned with the creel quite 
empty; more frequently with at least a dozen 
fish inside it. May and June are the best months 
for O wen Parry; during J uly and the first part 
of August ha fish do not rise so well, but towards 
the end of the latter month and during Sep¬ 
tember the fishing improves again. The most 
successful day’s fishing I ever had in this pool 
was early in September; the weather was bright 
and warm, and a nice breeze blew from the west. 
Four dozen trout, weighing between I21b. and 
I51b., was the record on that propitious occasion, 
and I was not sorry when I got to the station and 
relieved my shoulders of the creel, which was nearly 
“ full up.” Small flies are the most killing for 
Owen Parry, particularly during the latter part 
of the season. I have had most success with a 
tiny Grey Quill Gnat, meant to imitate a midge 
as far as possible, and I have several times found 
that the fish will take this when they will not 
look at another fly. Black Gnat, Red Ant, Blue 
Duns, and small Brown and Black Hackles are 
all good from June until the end of the season. 
In April and May a medium-sized March Brown 
and Red Spinner are very effective. Wading is 
almost essential to any chance of success; the 
reeds and rushes grow some distance out in 
nearly every part of the pool, and very little 
casting can be done from the shore. Care must 
be observed in wading, as there are a few boggy 
places, from which extraction would be a difficult 
matter; these can be avoided by feeling the way, 
and plenty of spots for a good cast can be found 
where there need be no anxiety about the foot¬ 
hold. The Owen Parry trout are fairly good 
eating, though not equal to those in some of the 
colder lakes with stones and rocks at the bottom. 
Taking it in all, I consider Owen Parry one of 
the best places for fishing within reach of Bettws- 
y-Coed ; it is more certain than any of the lakes 
in this district, though, as will be gathered from 
previous remarks, small trout are generally the 
order of the day. 
From Owen Parry a scramble of three-quarters 
of an hour in the direction of Festiniogg will 
take the angler to Llyn Edno, a small piece of 
water lying in solitude amongst high hills and 
moorlands. There is no road or path to this lake, 
and unless one knows just where it lies, the best 
way is to follow the stream that runs into Owen 
Parry, and which rises close to Edno ; this is 
rather a rough route, and longer than the direct 
one, but by trying the latter, a stranger might 
have considerable trouble in finding the lake. 
Although I have included Edno in this article, 
I know very little about it from personal experi¬ 
ence, having only been there twice, and under 
very unfavourable circumstances for fishing on 
both occasions. The first time was on a very 
warm day, and the breeze died away completely 
before I had been half an hour at the lake; 
during that time I caught a nice trout of lOoz. 
It was useless fishing when there was not the 
slightest curl on the w'ater, and as the wind did 
spring after waiting three or four hours I gave 
it up. I saw a fair number of trout rising to 
the natural fly, some of which seemed to be 
good fish. The second time I visited Edno 
was with two others, rather late in the season, on 
a cold, raw day, with the wind from the north¬ 
east. It was foolish trying a mountain lake on 
such a day ; but we paid for our folly, as none of 
us had a single rise, and our hands got so numbed 
we could hardly hold our rods. We put up soon 
after mid-day, and returned to Bettws-y-Coed by 
the early train. Llyn Edno has the reputation of 
containing large trout, which are said to be very 
shy. I have heard of some very fine ones being 
taken, and, on a favourable day, a good basket 
might be made; but it is a long business getting 
there, and a great part of the day is consumed 
going to and fro. 
A quarter of an hour’s walk across the moors 
will take us to the two Dyweunedd lakes, lying at 
