River Conwy: How I caught my first sea trout on this beautiful river.

Sea trout fishing on the River Conwy in the Snowdonia National Park had been on my bucket list for a while.  Therefore, when my friend Tim sent me pictures of the…

beautiful River Conwy sea trout he’d caught

in July, the River Conwy fishing trip jumped to the top of my bucket list. 

So far this year, Welsh Dee sea trout have been thin on the ground and this provided an ideal opportunity for my first River Conwy sea trout fishing trip, on the Gwydyr Fishery day ticket beat at Betws-y-Coed.

After a recent spate, conditions were ideal for night sea trout fishing on the 16^th of July. The River Conwy had dropped to 0.87m (Cwmlanerch gauge) and was running clear. In addition, it was forecast to be a mild (15^oC), partially overcast evening, with only a ¼ moon showing.

Tim and I arrived at the river just before dusk which was enough time to walk the beat and decide which pools to focus our fishing efforts.

Fly fishing the Wall Pool on the River Conwy

As the light faded, I fished the fast run at the head Wall Pool with a teal blue & silver (#10) on the point and on the dropper a green-tagged stick fly (#12) on 8lb fluorocarbon leader.

About halfway down the pool, a fish swirled as the flies swung round to the dangle and my line tighten.

Initially, I thought it was a small sea trout but as it approached the net, I could see that I’d caught my first River Conwy brown trout that had fallen for the green tagged stick fly.

Fishing the remainder of the fast water produced a couple more takes but the fish didn’t stay on. Therefore, we moved upriver to fish the Oak Pool.

Fly fishing the Oak Pool on the River Conwy

Tim started by fishing a floating line tipped with 8ft of 13lb fluorocarbon and a silver stoats tail (50mm aluminum tube), while I selected to fish a silver Cosseboom (#8S) on a midge-tip line tipped with 6ft 13lb fluorocarbon.

As I fished through the pool, Tim followed on behind me. About halfway down the pool, I felt my first pull, which turned out to be another brown trout.

Shortly after returning the trout, I heard a splash above me and some “choice” language from Tim when his first sea trout threw the hook.  He lost another two before he managed to…

land his first sea trout of the evening.

At this point, I changed to a black and purple stinger because my small fly set-up wasn’t working.

This was the right move because on the first cast a sea trout smashed the fly as soon as it hit the water but came off just as quick.

After losing a couple of sea trout, I finally managed to land a small sea trout of about 1lb just above the large oak tree on the far bank.

Just as I approached the end of the pool my line went tight and the rod bent round into a big sea trout that immediately took off downriver, taking me to the backing. In the distance, I saw the flash of its back as it leapt into the air and then…

the line went slack and it was gone!

Gutted, I reeled my line and sat on the bank for a while contemplating what might have been. After regaining my composure, we walked upriver to fish the Hafod Pool.

Fly fishing the Hafod Pool on the River Conwy

On this beat of the River Conwy, the Hafod Pool is a prime sea trout holding pool and has produced some big sea trout over the years. The pictures below show the tail section of the pool when the river level is at 0.75m.

Close to the trees on the far bank we heard a few large sea trout jump, which heightened our expectations for the remainder of the evening.

I cast across the river towards the trees and just after my fly landed a sea trout took the fly, splashed on the surface a couple of times, and threw the hook. Frustratingly, this happened several more times to both of us.

Eventually, after losing several sea trout, another sea trout struck the fly and took-off for the tail, with me following it down the bank.

Fortunately, the hook held, and Tim netted…

my first River Conwy sea trout.

Tim had also been getting takes on his tube fly but the fish just kept coming off. Therefore, I gave him one of the singer flies I’d tied to see if that made a difference…

BINGO – it did and he landed his 2^nd sea trout of the evening

We continued fishing Hafod for the remainder of the evening and this produced 3 more sea trout for me and a couple for Tim but many more were lost.

Overall, it was a great experience fishing the River Conwy at Betws-y-Coed for sea trout with Tim and agreed a return visit was needed.

Round 2 – River Conwy fishing for sea trout at Betws-y-Coed.

My first River Conwy sea trout fishing trip still fresh in my mind when I turned up for round 2 with Tim on the 22^nd of July. This trip coincided with a new moon, a 10:30 pm high tide at Conwy, and the river level running steady at 0.78m.

At dusk, it looked like we were going to be in for a good evening fishing when a few sea trout started to jump close to the far bank.

The plan for the evening was to start by fishing the Oak Pool until 11:30 pm and then move upriver and fish Hafod Pool for the remainder of the evening.

So how did we get on…

Fishing the Oak Pool

I started fishing the Oak Pool with a midge-tip floating line tipped with 7ft of 10lb copolymer leader and a size 8 teal blue & silver. This produced a couple of plucks before a solid take, which turned out to be small sea trout (ca. 1/2 lb).

Tim began by fishing a silver stoats tail (50 mm Al tube) on a floating line tipped with 8ft of 13lb fluorocarbon. This set up produced numerous takes but unfortunately, none of the sea trout stayed on.

After fishing the full length of the pool we made our way up to fish Hafod earlier than planned

Fishing Hafod Pool for sea trout

Hafod was alive with sea trout jumping throughout the length of the pool.

Tim started fishing the pool and it wasn’t long before he’d lost a couple of nice sea trout. Therefore, he changed his fly from the silver stoats tail tube to a black & silver stinger.

That did the trick…

Almost immediately a sea trout snatched the stinger and took off downriver. From the bend in his rod, he’d hooked decent sized sea trout; now it just had to stay on…

Fortunately, it did and I netted…

a beautiful 4lb sea trout for Tim – his new PB

I wasn’t having much luck, just a lot of missed plucks at the teal blue & silver. Therefore, I switched to a black & silver stinger but I was still failing to connect with any sea trout.

Tim, however, was on a roll and landed three more sea trout to 2lbs in weight.

Eventually, perseverance paid off and a sea trout took the stinger I was fishing a sped off downriver. The hook held and Tim netted what was to be my last sea trout of the evening…

At 3 pm takes dried up and shortly afterwards we called it a night and went back to the car for the long driver home.

Overall, our two trips to the River Conwy fishing for sea trout were extremely rewarding and have made up for the lack of sea trout on the Welsh Dee.

It won’t be long before we are back on the River Conwy fishing for a…

DOUBLE FIGURE SEA TROUT

Places to stay in Betws-y-Coed while fishing the River Conwy

There are also numerous places to stay in Betws-y-Coed from campsites to hotels depending on your budget.

A great camping choice, if you want to be right next to the day ticket fishing on the River Conwy, is

Cwmlanerch Campsite and Cottages

If you’re interested in sea trout fishing at night on the River Conwy at Betws-y-Coed then I can highly recommend the Gwydyr Fishery day ticket beat in the Snowdonia National Park.

Tight lines, Andrew