Bann Valley sits in good trout country near the river that gives it its name, and it fishes the way you'd hope a lowland stillwater would — steady and without fuss. It comes into its own on a soft, cloudy day with a ripple working across the surface, the kind of light that makes fish bold. Start with buzzers when the water is cool and chironomids are the only game in town; as spring warms the margins, the diawl bach and a slim damsel earn their keep. By high summer there's sedge on warm evenings and the odd fish looking up, which is when a dry fly becomes a plan rather than optimism. Bright flat-calm days are the hard ones — wait for the wind, or fish the first and last hours of light.

• Lake
• Mixed