Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing: 2 days out catching beautiful trout

Llyn Trawsfynydd featured image

On holiday in Betws-Y-Coed this June, I was supposedly fishing for sea trout on the River Conwy, but the river had dropped to its bone in the heatwave. So as a fallback, I had two days on Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing for rainbow trout.

Llyn Trawsfynydd is a large reservoir (ca. 5 miles long) situated in the beautiful landscape of the Snowdonian National park.

Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow by cafe
Looking south from Trawslake cafe

Trawsfynydd lake is frequently stocked with beautiful rainbow trout and offers great sport for the visiting angler. The lake also boasts a healthy head of natural brown trout and an abundance of coarse fish: perch, pike, and rudd.

Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing – Day 1

After a late breakfast in Betws-Y-Coed, I took the scenic route to Trawsfynydd along the A470, which winds up the beautiful Lledr valley. At the cafe, I picked up my fishing permit from Graham.

He explained that the lake was low and that the deeper water near the dam wall had been fishing well from the bank in the hot weather. So, I took his advice and parked by the dam to explore that area.

Fishing the Shoreline near the Dam wall.

Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing day 1
Google map – Trawsfynydd Lake Dam

I didn’t see any surface activity as I walked along the shoreline to the first rock outcrop, where I could cast into the first bay.

In the bright sunshine, I explored the dropoff zone with a team of lures to see if any trout were patrolling this zone of bait fish.

So, I set up my 10ft 7# Greys GR80 fly rod with a floating line tipped 15ft 10lb fluorocarbon leader with two droppers spaced 4ft and 10ft from the point fly (point: #10 pink FAB, middle dropper: #10 copper cormorant; top dropper: #12 Diawl Bach).

Team of lure for fishing trawsfynydd
The team of lure I started with

At the first rock outcrop, I started prospecting the first rocky bay by counting down the flies to different depths and retrieved them using a slow figure of eight.

At around a 15s countdown, my line tightened into a fish during the slow retrieve. After a short struggle, I netted a lovely rainbow trout that had fallen for the copper cormorant on the middle dropper.

Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow trout -1
Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow trout

Fishing the remainder of the bay using this approach, I missed several delicate takes until I caught a small perch that had devoured the pink FAB on the point.

After returning the perch, I moved around to the next outcrop to fish a large bay that looked deeper.

Llyn Trawsfynydd baby perch
A small Traws lake perch
Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow by the dam
Larger bay near the dam wall

I didn’t get any takes fishing this deeper spot. So, I switched the FAB on the point for a #10 golden humungous that would fish deeper.

Golden Humungous fly
Golden humungous lure

This approach proved to be a good move because, after a few casts, I had a savage take. After a short struggle, I landed my second rainbow that had taken the golden humungous.

Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow trout -2
Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing – rainbow trout caught on a Golden Humungous

Fishing on until it was time to head back to the cottage, I caught a wild brown trout and several more rainbow trout that fell for the golden humungous.

Day 2 – Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing

Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing Day 2
Google map – Trawsfynydd Lake

After a bass fishing trip on Anglesey, I returned to Trawsfynydd to explore another section of shoreline close to the dam for a few hours in the afternoon.

On arrival, I met three anglers who’d caught several trout on legered worms, so I moved along the bank to the next bay.

I hadn’t seen any trout rising while chatting with the other anglers. So, I started using the setup as per my earlier visit. A floating line tipped 15ft 10lb fluorocarbon leader with two droppers spaced 4ft and 10ft from the point fly (point: #10 golden humungous, middle dropper: #10 copper cormorant; top dropper: #12 Diawl Bach).

Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing flies
Team of lure for Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing

After about half an hour of fishing down the rocky shoreline, I hooked my first trout that took the Diawl Bach (top dropper) close to the surface.

Llyn Trawsfynydd rainbow trout on a peacock cormorant
Trawslake rainbow trout caught on a peacock cormorant

It wasn’t as bright as yesterday, and it seemed that the trout were hunting closer to the surface. Therefore, I switched the heavier humungous fly on the point with a lighter #10 silver cormorant so the flies would fish closer to the surface.

Silver Cormorant fly
Size 10 silver cormorant wet fly

This change did the trick, and after a few casts, I was landing the next rainbow trout to the net that had taken the silver cormorant on the point.

Fishing the remainder of the shoreline produced more rainbow trout until it was time to head back to the cottage at 7 pm.

Llyn Trawsfynydd fishing for rainbows day 2
Rainbow trout caught fly fishing at Trawsfynydd lake in June

Overall, despite the challenging dry and sweltering weather conditions, the two fishing trips to Llyn Trawsfynydd made up for the disappointing river conditions for sea trout fishing.

Llyn Trawsfynydd Fishing Permits

Day fishing permits are obtained from the fishing shop in the Canolfan Prysor Centre next to the Cafe.

Day permits are available between 7.30 -10.30 am for fishing from 8 am until one hour following sunset. Evening permits are available from 2.30 – 3 pm for fishing from 3 pm until one hour after sunset. Check out their website for more information. 

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1 year ago

Always wonderfully informative and a dedication to your fishing pursuits. Many similarities to our fishing in New Zealand.keep up the wonderful work. Brent

Andrewoverend1
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent Trolle

Hi Brent,

Great to hear you enjoyed it.

Where do you fish in NZ.

Cheers, Andrew

1 year ago
Reply to  Andrewoverend1

I mainly fish the South Island’s Westcoast where there are few fly fishers and seamingly endless rivers spring creeks and lakes. Mainly brown Trout with a small number of Rainbows.

Andrewoverend1
1 year ago
Reply to  Brent Trolle

Hi Brent,

Sounds like an amazing place to live. I visited NZ a few years ago, both the south and north islands but never made it over to the Westcoast, which is on my list of places to visit in the near future.

I hope you have a good Xmas & NY. Tight lines, Andrew

Dave
1 year ago

5

Andrewoverend1
1 year ago
Reply to  Dave

cheers

Anthony
1 year ago

Very informative and so useful for someone learning different fly fishing set ups. Looks an interesting Lyn to add to the “bucket list”. Always look forward to your blogs…thanks and keep up the good work.

Andrewoverend1
1 year ago
Reply to  Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Great to hear you found it useful and interesting. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Tight lines, Andrew

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