LAST week at Llyn Brenig saw the start of the much awaited and eagerly anticipated pike week, writes seasonal ranger JIM JENKINS.

With the weather holding fair for much of the week, we had some fine fishing taking place and some fantastic pike caught.

It wasn’t all plain sailing as far as the weather was concerned, though, as on Sunday the heavens opened and the temperature plummeted and we were reminded of what may be in store for us in the coming months.

However, we couldn’t have really asked for better pike fishing weather conditions and we were rewarded with some excellent pike.

Not only did we see some heavyweight pike being caught, but as you can imagine the lures that were being used attracted some of the bigger trout.

Jack Finney and his boat partner Nick Price had a truly memorable day, catching five pike between them, with Jack landing a monster 7lbs trout as well.

Another remarkable story is that of Charlie Clubb and his seven-year-old son Joe.

Fishing for pike for the first time, Joe managed to hook a whopping pike and with the help of his dad, finally heaved it into the boat.

The pike was almost as big as Joe and it weighed in at 24.4lbs!

The biggest pike of the week so far was caught by Adam Szadkowski, from Bradford, landing a beautiful 26lbs 8ozs pike.

Not only did he catch the biggest pike of the week but, along with his boat partner Tomos, caught a 24lbs pike, a 19lbs pike and also a 9lbs 8ozs rainbow!

All were returned safely to the lake to fight another day.

Another fine pike, which tipped the scales at just under 20lbs, was caught by Craig Stockton.

As we all know, fishing isn’t just about catching fish.

Barbara Smith and her grandson Joel, along with his friend Dylan, were also pike fishing for the first time.

Unfortunately, they chose Sunday to try their luck, which was by far the worst day of the week.

The rain lashed down and the wind whipped the surface of the lake into a frenzy.

Despite all this, they braved the elements and ventured forth into the great unknown, but to no avail.

Lessons were learned and they will come back next year armed with a greater knowledge and more determined than ever to land one of the true predators of the deep.

So, all-in-all we have had another successful pike week.

Don’t forget though that you can fish for pike right throughout the winter, with winter rules applying.

Trout fishing is also available throughout the winter months, with a three-fish catch return for £11.50.

There are only five boats available during this period, so ring the visitors’ centre if you want to book a boat.

Outside of the pike event, it was a very quiet week as far as the fly fishing went, with a rod average at 1.8 fish per angler.

There was some activity, with Mike Gaskew catching a nice 3lbs 4ozs fish, along with four other ‘lovely conditioned fish all caught on a green fritz and taken on a floating line’.

The top flies were green and orange fritz, olive tadpole, green montana, cat’s whiskers and various boobies.

The top spots were sailing club bay, the dam, Tower Bay and the Brenig Arm.

This is the last fishing report of the year, so all that is left for me to do is to once again thank all those fishermen who have visited this wonderful lake over the year for their cooperation and good humour.

The main gates will be shutting at 4pm this week and all boats need to be back on the jetty by 3.15pm.

Tight Lines