Stillwater · Ordovician Volcanics · Wales / Snowdonia (Blaenau Ffestiniog uplands), GB-WLS

Llyn Cwm Foel

Deep blue upland reservoir (Llyn Cwm Foel) set in a rocky valley with a mountain, Moel Boethwel, behind it, Snowdonia.

Foel isn't quite what it was.

Fair · Trout
Minkie · 6-10
Fairlive now
Buzzer expected on Llyn Cwm Foel
Good wave on — drift country. A useful wave. Work the productive shore.
60% confidence

Llyn Cwm Foel is often best in spring through autumn.

What moved it
  • WindW 9 km/hLight breeze · Gusts to 18 km/h
Today's fly
Minkie
Minkie6-10
Retrieve, sub-surface
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Wind
Light breeze · Gusts to 18 km/h
W 9 km/h
N
W
from the west
WaveRipple
Water temp10.0°C
Air temp14°C
CloudOvercast
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Head to
Wind driftSW wind
North-eastern end

A southwesterly has held for the best part of three days, running warmer than the water (12°C air against 10°C water). Expect fish at the north-eastern end — the bank it is blowing into — where the drift piles food, colour and warmth together. This reads the upper water, though — a bottom bait at range feels it far less than a floater or a fish in the margins. Treat it as a tiebreaker between good swims rather than an override — features and angling pressure usually count for more.

How to fish it · for Trout
When
June–August; best on overcast, breezy days
Where
Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point.
The plan
Plan A

Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point.

Plan B

If the main plan is not working, switch to a smaller, more imitative pattern fished slower and deeper. A change of drift angle can also make a difference.

Watch for

Watch for Sedge towards evening — this could be the best window of the day.

Bank

Bank-only venue. Fish from accessible margins, points, weed edges, and inflows.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 5 as a supporter.

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Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Heather FlyHatch
2
2
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
Claret DunHatch
2
3
2
Murrough (Great Red Sedge)Hatch
2
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Trout fly box
Bays & launches · 1
Day ticket via Cambrian Angling AssociationAccess varies
Small wild brown trout llyn with a diminished stock following the partial dam breach and turbine works of the early 1990s; covered by the Cambrian AA's single day ticket across the whole llyn portfolio.
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What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
73%
Cloud50%
Wind100%
Temp60%

A good match for Llyn Cwm Foel — most conditions are close to what it fishes best in.

Other water nearby · 5
Llyn Cwm Corsiog
1.0 km
Brown trout
Llyn yr Adar
1.0 km
Brown trout
Llyn Conglog
2.0 km
Brown trout
Llyn Cwmorthin
2.0 km
Brown trout
Llyn Llagi
2.0 km
Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Deep blue upland reservoir (Llyn Cwm Foel) set in a rocky valley with a mountain, Moel Boethwel, behind it, Snowdonia.
    Llyn Cwm y Foel reservoir with Moel Boethwel in the background
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Foel isn't quite what it was. The dam was breached deliberately in the early nineties on safety grounds and only partly rebuilt since, this time with a small turbine bolted on rather than a fishery in mind, and the lake has never fully recovered its old head of fish. What's left is still a small, honest wild brown trout water, worth a look if you're working through the portfolio and don't mind a lake that's clearly seen better days. Nobody's pretending otherwise — the history is part of the water now, and there's something to be said for fishing a place that wears its decline this plainly.

  • Lake
  • Ordovician volcanics
Why this score
  • Wind conditions (ripple) closely match what this water fishes best in.
  • Buzzer is in its seasonal window, boosting the chance of targeted feeding.
Related guides
Scotland Playbookloch & river fishingThermal Layers & Troutreading depth and temperatureEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
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