THE month of December is upon us and the boat fishing has finally ended for the year at Llyn Brenig.

With the water temperature falling below 6C over the past week, the lake really does have that wintery feel to it.

First of all, the pike fishing proved to be a great success with a number of 20lbs-plus fish being caught throughout the month.

From all reports received, there were over 15 fish that reach the magical 20lbs mark, which is an improvement on past years gone by.

As a total number, the boats caught approximately 90 pike over the month, which has given a rod average of nearly three per angler.

The largest confirmed documented pike of the year goes to Robert Griffiths, which was an excellently conditioned female weighing 25lbs 8ozs.

Following this, there were several mid-20lbs fish caught all over the lake.

The main tactics used across the boats were lure fishing, with large rubber swim baits or deeper diving crank baits with the usual bright colours catching better earlier on in the month.

The more traditional bait fish colours caught better at the end of the month.

Most of the bigger pike this season were caught this way and all seemed to be in around 12 to 15 foot of water, so the areas around sailing club bay and watersports were perfect for this time of year.

As for dead bait fishing, this has been more of a hit from the shore.

With most of the booked pike pegs anglers seeming to be using dead baits over spinning, they have also been catching very well.

The normal culprits, such as the mackerel tail or herring, have seemed to be the bait of choice for most anglers, not to forget there have also been some lovely trout caught on the dead baits.

Trout of over 5lbs have been quite regular and a big surprise to a lot of the pike fisherman, especially when they have run off with a whole mackerel.

We have been having some lovely cold, crisp mornings that are still bringing out the odd fly fisherman.

Although the number of trout being caught is slightly less than usually, many reports confirm that the quality of the resident fish left in the lake being caught this time of year are unbeatable compared to many.

The flies and tactics used most for the trout now seem to be quite varied.

One day last week we had anglers catching with sedges, whilst the next day they couldn’t catch them unless they dropped down to the bottom with Di 3 lines with snakes or boobies.

It is also true to say that the fish are moving now, with reports coming in of catches on most shores.

Bank fishing for both pike and trout will be available until mid-February, however its best to phone the Llyn Brenig centre to check for availability.

Llyn Brenig's Christmas competition this year will be held on December 28, starting at 9am and finishing at 2pm.

This will be followed by hot soup and a roll.

This is a bank competition (three fish catch).

Entry is £25, with secret cash prizes to be won and great fishing tackle.