A RATHER mixed bag of weather was experienced at Llyn Brenig to bring May to an end, with a little bit of everything thrown in, writes seasonal ranger JIM JENKINS.

However, the weather that we have had made some ideal conditions for fishing, with overcast skies, a little bit of wind - which resulted in

a nice ripple on the lake - and some warm temperatures.

At times, the wind was a little bit too strong, but nothing in life is perfect as they say.

The water temperature was 11C, which meant that the fish were high up in the water.

Dry flies were used over the course of the week with some success and the rod average for the week of 5.2 fish per angler indicates that the lake is fishing really well.

Most sports rely on the element of luck, just think about the Champions League final when Liverpool were awarded a very dubious, lucky, penalty which laid the foundation for their victory.

But, despite that luck, everyone agreed that, for their skill and effort over the course of the season, Liverpool deserved to win a trophy.

It’s also true of fishing as you do need a certain amount of luck to catch a fish, however there is also a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience involved, as well as no small amount of skill.

This was brought home to me when I was checking permits along the bank and I came across fisherman Bob Gibbon, who told me that the fish were rising in small pods and that if I waited for a few minutes, he would show me.

He spotted a pod of fish just on the surface, which I have to admit I couldn’t see and expertly cast his line just in front of them.

Lo and behold, he hooked a fish.

For those of us who are uninitiated in the finer arts of fishing, we wouldn’t have had a cat in hell's chance of catching that fish, lady luck or not, but the experience and skill of that fisherman ensured that luck didn’t come into the equation.

With some excellent fishing taking place, Jonathon Roberts' comment stands out when he wrote "Brilliant sport today on my 5 weight! The trout were going crazy for alder fly".

Not only did he have a great day, but he landed the biggest fish of the week, a 5lbs rainbow.

The biggest bag of the week, weighing in at 15lbs, was claimed by Dave Timmins, from Bangor on Dee, and that was for just five fish!

The top flies over the course of the week turned out to be alder fly, beetles, sedge, cat’s whiskers, daddy long legs, tequila blob, coral boobie, montana, diawl bach, black gnat, black spider, cdc, damsel and various other blobs and boobies.

With a predominantly south westerly wind during the week, the hot spots for fishing for both bank fishermen and boat fishermen have been Hafod Lom, tower bay, Nant Glyn shore and the ring of stones.

Boat fishermen also had success along the dam wall, whilst bank fishermen were also able to enjoy some excellent fishing along the

visitors' centre shore.

The next early morning boat session will take place on June 29 and 30.

We are also holding an open pair fishing competition, which will be open to all fishermen with two Sierra rods as the first prize, along with prizes for second and third places.

This will take place this Sunday, June 16.

There’s no entry fee and if you use a boat, it will be a £10 reduction on the normal price.

The next try the fly day is on Saturday, June 22.

To book places on any of these events, please ring the visitors' centre.

I would also like to extend a warm, belated welcome to our seasonal ranger Ilan Evans.

Ilan is an excellent addition to the staff and is already known to many of our fishermen due to his involvement in the Welsh youth team and through his father Barry, who owns the fishing shop in Bala.

We also have fantastic news about the Brenig osprey as we believe that the eggs have hatched and that she is the proud mother of at least one chick, possibly two, or even more amazingly, possibly three.

We have yet to confirm numbers, but things are looking very promising!

Tight lines.