THE school summer holidays must be upon us as the weather at Llyn Brenig has certainly taken a turn for the worse, with plenty of rain and wind, writes seasonal ranger JIM JENKINS.

There is even a need to don another layer of clothing at times as there is a bit of a chill in the air when the clouds thicken up.

It does seem for those of a certain generation, me included, that those glorious and idyllic summers of the past are a fading memory, or is it that we had very large rose-tinted glasses?

The water temperature is, however, quite high despite the cooling effect of the heavy rain and this has tended to keep the fish close to the surface,

The lake fished well last week and the rod average of 3.6 fish per angler was the highest seen for a number of weeks.

Mr Bowyer, from Hawarden, simply wrote ‘fantastic’ on his catch return, which does sum up the week very succinctly for many fishermen who came to Llyn Brenig.

The top bag last week also reflected the quality of the fishing, with Peter Morris, from Ellesmere Port, recording a bag weight of 17lbs 6ozs for six fish caught, which is very nearly 3lbs a fish.

There were some other notable bag sizes caught, with J Moores recording a bag weight of 15lbs and Brian Shields weighing six fish in for 14lbs 7ozs.

Not only have the bag sizes been good, but also there have been some really nice individual fish being caught, with both Euron Roberts, from Trawsfynydd, and Llifon James (pictured right), from Pwllheli, catching rainbows weighing in at 5lbs 8ozs.

The biggest fish, however, was caught by regular fisherman Ned Thomas, from Bethesda, who recorded a rainbow which tipped the scales at 6lbs.

It was also nice to see 11-year-old Osian Evans, from Bala, catching his very first fish, which was a lovely 3lbs rainbow caught on a cruncher.

I’m sure that it will inspire him to continue to fish as there is no better incentive than to actually catch a fish on your first foray into the sport.

Talking of young people, we are hosting the IFFA youth international in the coming week at Llyn Brenig and for much of this week, the youngsters have been practising on the lake and honing their fly fishing skills.

As a result of this, it would be advisable to give the visitors’ centre a ring if you want to book a boat during the week and, indeed, for the rest of the month of August as there are a number of competitions taking place.

The hot spots last week were the visitors’ centre shoreline and Tower Bay bank.

There are still a few fish showing in Nant Glyn and Hafod Lom, but most action still to be had is around the cages and the deeper areas of the lake.

The top flies have been snakes and blobs, which accounted for a lot of the fish that have been caught.

There were lots of fish caught on dry flies last week, from small black gnats through to hoppers and CDCs.

The dry flies have been working well in the early part of the morning and the late evening.

The main gates will be shutting at 8.45pm this week and all boats need to be back on the jetty by 8pm.

Tight Lines