River Conwy

[elwyman]

Walked the river last week and saw a well mended kelt, about 6lb, leaping in the Wall Pool.

Season opens 20 March for salmon, but the first springers usually arrive in May and dash up the Lledr on high water.

[elwyman]

Conwy opens for salmon next week - might give it a few casts if the weather warms up.

[elwyman]

River has been up and down like a yo yo, haven't seen any fish or heard of any being caught.

[elwyman]

I heard of a few salmon being caught on the Lledr on high water in late May, but we now need a flood to get the salmon and sea trout moving in numbers.

There's a few sea trout sneaking in, but not many.

[elwyman]

A 6' flood today, with more rain forecast over the weekend ;D.
I just hope the river level settles down enough for the fly this weekend.

A few salmon were caught after a small spate on 19th August, the day I flew to Majorca for 10 days!

[tyneandrew]

Looks like some parts of the country have been getting a bit of a soaking.

Not so on the NE rivers

Tight lines

[exerod]

elwyman said:

A 6' flood today, with more rain forecast over the weekend ;D.

It looks like you've got it as well.
I hope you clean up. We've forgotten what a 6 foot flood or even a small spate looks like in Devon

Andy

[elwyman]

The rain today pushed the level up to a 9' flood! Shame it didn't fall on you instead Andy.

I hear 9 salmon have been caught in the last week, so I'm hoping the river drops quickly for Sunday when I'll be fishing.

[elwyman]

The salmon seem to have shot up river quickly on the big flood.

Some were caught on the beat above the one I fish, mostly grilse around the 5lb mark I'm told.

[elwyman]

Finally got off the mark on the Conwy today - caught 3 salmon to 12lb, all on a small PB Pig tube.

Didn't see a fish move all day, but at last a few are stopping on our beat, instead of shooting up river or stopping on the tidal beats.

More rain is forecast for tomorrow, so I'm hoping the last 2 weeks of the season will make up for a rubbish season so far!

[elwyman]

Fished Friday afternoon & Saturday morning - didn't see anything and only a 3lb grilse was caught off the whole beat.

Fished all day today. Again, no sign of fish moving up on the very big tides, but my persistence paid off - caught a coloured 5lb grilse and a fresh 7lb cock salmon.

This is the fly that has worked well for me this week (4 fish), a small PB Pig, claret & brown on a 1/2 " copper tube, fished on a fast sink poly leader: -



Not tied by me, but by Donegal Flies: www.donegalfly.com/patterns.jsp?style=45&styleName=Tube%20-%20Mini%20Copper

It was very windy at one point and my friend managed to hook himself about 1/2" below his eye with a treble hook - he was wearing glasses and a wide brimmed hat, so even glasses are no guarantee of safety. I must admit that I put my hood up and wear glasses when the wind is gusty, but I suppose the real answer it to keep the fly downwind of you at all times.

[elwyman]

Not much has come off the Conwy this week. A couple of 5lbers were caught on fly on Thursday.

Water levels have fallen, and with the season ending on Tuesday, that's probably it for the season, for me anyway.

A very poor sea trout season was made up in part by some reasonable salmon fishing in September/October, when the rain finally arrived.

[elwyman]

Did anybody watch the Greater Rod Race on Sky today? If not, it is repeated next Friday.

The last part of the programme featured the Conwy/Lledr junction pool, known as Tyn y Cae. They didn't catch anything, but that pool can hold a lot of fish at certain times of the season. Fish wait there for extra water to run up the Lledr and the upper Conwy.

It's mainly a spinning and worming pool, but the tail of the pool can be excellent for sea trout on fly. First time I fished it at night, I had a 3lb sea trout on my first cast. I don't fish it much because the midges are diaboloical!

[altmor]

elwyman said:

I don't fish it much because the midges are diaboloical!

You want to try the R. Awe in June Elwyman, midges the size of blackbirds !! I'm on 40 a day when I'm there !!

[elwyman]

altmor said:

elwyman said:

I don't fish it much because the midges are diaboloical!

You want to try the R. Awe in June Elwyman, midges the size of blackbirds !! I'm on 40 a day when I'm there !!

So I've heard.

The Welsh ones are tiny any they sneak up on you in vast swarms!

[elwyman]

I do like new toys Alan!

[JAD]

Thats a very interesting article on the river Conway elwyman and brings back memories of when I fished there with my late Father many years ago I also fished a small lake just above Betws y Coed but cant remember its name.

Tight lines

John

[elwyman]

JAD -might have been Llyn Elsi?

[JAD]

elwyman said:

JAD -might have been Llyn Elsi?

I think you may be right elwyman I'll have to make an effort and try and fish it again if thats now possible.

[elwyman]

Opening day on the Conwy today.

I did plan on taking the afternoon off work, but it was cold and very windy at midday. The wind eased slightly mid afternoon so I popped up for a couple of hours after work.

River was a nice height but the windy was very gusty. Fished all my favourite spots fairly quickly, and caught a 10lb kelt from a pool called Bensons.

Didn't see any fish showing - more sense than me, got their heads down! Anyway, it was nice to be on the river again, and we've got the whole season to look forward to.