Call of the Wild

With the coast being a bit blown out for my liking lately and with the onset of Trout season. I had the urge to do some hiking into the wilds on Thursday.

I fancied somewhere new and remote so, I had a little look over my map and chose a water I had never visited nor heard of before; Gloyw Lyn on the foothills of Rhinog Fawr.

I had never heard a single report from there nor did I know if there were any fish present, still, "he who dares....".

It was a very windy and chilly day with the remnants of snow still on the summit of Rhinog Fawr, but it was dry and comfortable to walk in nonetheless and the views are really quite wild and stunning.

It wasn't actually so much of a hike before I was greeted with Gloyw Lyn, about half hour from the car and it's quite a reasonable  sized water.

The area I initially arrived at was quite deep but the wind had switched North and I didn't feel hopeful of catching ,at that end being as the wind was on my back. I set up my HTO Rock Rover and fished it some time, but my thoughts were proved right, I dn't have a single bite. 

I started making my way around the lake; casting and pacing, and after a while I thought I had made a mistake!

I could not see any signs of fish and nothing was reacting to my various lures, it is still early all the same and the water is still very cold up there. 

I bumped into some old goats and their young as I made my way around too, i always enjoy the company of the wildlife in the places I fish as you may have guessed by now.

On the Eastern bank of Gloyw Lyn I eventually I also found some signs of err.... aquatic life?!

So I stopped by the belly up frog and put on a 4g Hansen Stipper. About three casts in I got a wallop and I finally had a fish on! I knew instantly I had hooked my largest Brown to date and he fought pretty well considering the low water temperature. After a few enjoyable minutes of play, I netted a beautiful Wild Brown Trout of circa 1.75lb.

Well that was worth the trip alone and just as well because it was my only fish, I had a few other follows and bumps but no more hookups. I was still very happy, a new water and a new pb! I think I may return to Gloyw Lyn before long and now the clocks have gone forward I may do a few of the other lakes in the vicinity while I am up there; such as Llyn Ddu. Even if I was to blank, there are certainly worse places to be than in the hills of Snowdonia National Park.

Tight Lines!