Expert view on Talyllyn flies


Angler Ray Lockyer regularly posts 'Fly Of The Day' messages to his angling friends around the world.
Here are some words he sent to Ty'n y Cornel Head Ghillie following his visit to Talyllyn Lake -
Saturday was spent on beautiful Tal Y Llyn near Tywyn; the beauty of the surroundings and quality of the fishing on this lake has been recognised and recorded by angling writers for best part of 200 years.
I was only recently reading a book by the renown fly tier, James Ogden of Cheltenham (Ogden on Fly Tying - 1887) and found reference to him having fished the lake on a regular basis with Alfred Ronald (of 'The Fly Fishers Entomology' fame).
My day only really got started when we arrived at the Ty'n y Cornel Hotel; sitting in one of the windows overlooking the lake and enjoying a good full breakfast soon sets you up for the day (and I quickly forgot about the two and a half hour drive from Swansea).
The day was sunny with changeable wind, both in direction and strength, yet despite the sometimes hot and very bright conditions the fishing was excellent. My boat partner and I caught and returned about 16 brown trout up to about 1lb in weight; we also rose a lot more fish - maybe 40 plus coming short due, I suspect, too the bright conditions.
The Coch Y Bonddu beetle had stated to appear and there were still a few Lake Olive Duns and Alder on the water; the trout were also taking the Orchid Beetle which I have always seen here over the years in the month of June.
I'll leave you to guess the most successful fly for me - only clue is it's a very traditional beetle pattern whose fame has spread outside of Wales!

Note the 2 'claws' on the hind leg of the Coch Y Bondu Beetle - an easy way to distinguish it from the very similar Welsh Chafer (Hoplia philanthus) which has just a single claw.
For more pictures from Talyllyn, please see -
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robertapvincent/Tynycornel02#

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