Spring is nearly here!

[pollygog]

How things can change in just in a week!
Fly fishing Llandegla a week ago and I had one of those rare good fortune days that are remembered for a long time to come.
A week later today and three of us never had so much as a follow never mind a bite, a complete and utter blank.
To make it worse, a bitterly cold wind and frequent freezing cold showers just about blew the day out for us.
Mind you, fishing that high above sea level takes the chill factor up a notch or two, Graiglwyd can also be just as cold in the winter but not quite as exposed to the elements.
This is our last outing for quite some time now as we head back into lockdown for 17 days-- and possibly more?

To cheer myself up here is the blue trout I caught (and released) last week, this also lost the fly in the net.

Surprisingly, when I got home today my koi were still hungry so out came the wheatgerm.

[roselanekoi]

Glad to see you found somewhere to fish in Denbighshire, I bet it would have been even colder in Brenig. I've been there in the past and had my line icing up in the rod rings. Hopefully you'll be able to travel to fish in your usual haunts when the lock down is over.

[pollygog]

Chirk is on the agenda for next week if the curfew ends as predicted next Monday Colin.
I have had some decent catches from there including a seven and a half pound salmon in the autumn last year , also some lovely brown trout of around the one and a quarter pound mark, see below.

We walked our dog down by the Elwy in St Asaph this morning for the first time in a week due to the river being over it's banks again thanks to last weekends torrential rain.
Despite the flood defenses there was still a lot of damage but confined mainly to parts of the pathways washing away and leaving lots of mud, also great heaps of soggy flotsam piled up on the bank and wrapped around the trees along the riverside.
Thanks to the new surrounding bank, the football pitches have remained flood free and still usable.

[roselanekoi]

It's a very sad weekend for me, for the first time in my lifetime we've not been able to hold a bonfire party. Still the dog's happier there's few fireworks this weekend as he's really frightened of them and ends up cowering in the corner of the room behind the chair.

Like you I'm busy planning where to go next week, a trip up Moel Famau to start with on Monday to get back some fitness followed by several trips to Snowdonia later in the week and maybe a trip to Bodnant Gardens if they are open again.

The coronavirus restrictions are crazy with Wales and England having differently timed shut downs especially as most scientific research shows they don't work. A friend of mine's nephew works in Aerospace at Broughton, for the last two weeks Wales has been in lockdown but colleagues from Manchester, Preston and Liverpool have been able to come to Wales to work, now it's the reverse for the next month.

[pollygog]

It's quite disturbing seeing your dog terrified of the loud bangs on Bonfire night Colin. Our Westie Hamish did not like Bonfire Night, he used to get very excited and bark and bark while running around the house when he heard the bangs outside.
We had to bribe him with continual treats all night to take his mind off the fireworks.
His peeing partner, Ben the Bichon Frise used to refuse to go out for a pee all night when the fireworks were going off, we had to carry him down the garden and deposit him on the lawn, he would pee and then hurtle straight back inside.

We decided not to go fly fishing to Chirk as it's too close to the English border, in fact the opposite bank of the Ceiriog is the English border.
Erring on the side of caution, we went back to Llandegla where Nigel caught himself a 'one off' trout, not sure if it is a trout with that kype?
We have never seen anything quite like it, see for yourself below.
Simon, the owner of the fishery took some pictures and posted them on his website on Facebook.

I excelled myself and caught two 1lb Rudd this time, as well as another brownie of about 2lb and a rainbow of around the same.
I have six bigger Rudd in my Koi pond!

My Koi were up and actively scrounging for food this incredibly mild morning so out came the wheatgerm again.

[roselanekoi]

Good to be out and about again and you were catching trout as well. I would put my money on your mystery fish being a male american brook trout.

I booked a visit to Bodnant Gardens for yesterday, although with the travel ban and then the lock down I've missed the best of the Autumn colour this year. A few of the trees were still in their Autumn colours as you can see in the attached photo.

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I went walking in Snowdonia on Tuesday travelling up the A5 through Betws Y Coed. Betws Y Coed was like a ghost town, due to the lockdown in England no doubt. I think most of the souvenir shops may as well close down again until travel is allowed from over the border.

[pollygog]

Bettws-y-Coed has been one of our favorite spots for many years
I went there some years ago after a very heavy spell of rain to photograph the salmon and sea trout while the river was in spate.
I'd heard from fellow anglers of a big autumn run
When the river is this high, the water crashing through makes the stone bridge vibrate under your feet, a little disconcerting, along with the roaring noise of the water on the rocks.
I saw two salmon leaping up between the rocks on the left hand side of the bridge, but just missed catching them in this photo.
This is behind the chip shop which is to the left out of sight, see pic below.
Try as I might they were too quick, we left when it started to snow quite heavily, we were up the A5 towards Capel at the 'Ugly House' by then.
This was on 28th October 2008.
I mistakenly put the wrong year on the photo's when I photoshopped them.
Second photo was taken by Llyn Brenig the same day travelling back home across the Denbigh moor.

[pollygog]

It's good to be back on our new all singing all dancing website and even better! we are still able to post.

Anyone suffered withdrawal symptoms over last couple of weeks as new site was set up?

Big thank you Dan: much appreciated by us all.

[roselanekoi]

I went for a walk in Snowdonia yesterday. I pulled into the empty car park at Rhyd Ddu at 9.00 AM and when I returned 4 hours later my car was still the only car there, I know the weather was lousy but is there another lockdown I didn't know about?

I managed to get a few photos although every time I set the camera on the tripod it started to rain. Below is a photo of Rhyd Ddu with Y Garn (LHS) and Mynydd Mawr (RHS) in the background.

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[pollygog]

NADOLIG LLLAWEN TO ALL OUR READERS

What a beautiful dawn this morning, the sun rising behind the Clwyds to the East in glorious blood red streaks fading to pinks and blues.
Our back garden faces east by south east so we get to see some lovely sunrises, an increasingly rare sight of late with the almost continuous heavy rain the past few weeks.
Another rare sight this morning was a glimpse of a solitary Jay as it flew off from bird feeders as I moved to take the cover off my scope.