Nick Thomas gives an indepth review of what looks like a great small stillwater in Wales. He includes everything you'll need to know about where to fish and the flies to use.
Want to have a whole trout lake to yourself ? Then I'd recommend a mid-week visit to Canada Lake. This fishery (www.canadalodgeandlake.co.uk) near Creigiau on the outskirts of Cardiff is my local stillwater and where I do a lot of my trout fishing in winter. It's also the testing ground for many of my prototype flies during development and I've included some of the successful finished patterns below. Despite being featured in a couple of magazine articles the fishery is not that well known, and it's not uncommon for me to have the place to myself, particularly on a weekday. A number of day and half-day ticket options are available including catch and release.
The lake was originally a feeder pond created by damming a stream to provide water for steam trains on a long disappeared line and has been run as a trout fishery for many years. In recent years the owners have built a large lodge which is used for weddings and other occasions. The lake is regularly stocked with rainbows but also has a good population of wild browns which run to a decent size and provide a challenging target for fishing an emerger or dry fly on the edge of the marginal weed beds. There are also a good number of common and ornamental carp which seem to breed prolifically and can be persuaded to take a fly if your strike reaction time is quick enough. I've yet to tempt one of the double figure specimens, but that doesn't stop me trying to drop a nymph in front of one of them if I spot them cruising the margins.
The lake sits in a small valley and all of the eastern bank is wooded with conifers and deciduous trees and although there are a number of fishing platforms, you'll need jungle exploration skills to reach them and have a pretty good roll cast to fish effectively. Consequently most fishing is done from the western side which offers a good stretch of bank to explore. Canada Lake is stream fed so it can colour up after heavy rain, but at most times the water is very clear allowing cruising fish to been seen and targeted. The lake supports a good range of insect life and there can be a buzzer hatch at any time of the year if the sun is out to warm up the air. There are also prolific hatches of blue damselflies through the spring and summer as well as very large dragonflies later in the year.
My favourite spot to fish is at the northern end of the lake (1 on map) fishing the edge of the shallows and the drop off into the old stream bed or sending out a long cast to fish the margins on the opposite bank. This is a fantastic place to fish early in the morning with the sun rising behind the trees on the opposite bank and the mist rising off the water. The woods hold lots of bird life and I often fish accompanied by a circling buzzard or see the flash of a kingfisher among the reeds and overhanging trees on the far bank. Fishing this bay in late autumn with the colours of the trees reflected in the dark clear water the naming of the lake seems quite appropriate and you could easily think that you were fishing a wild lake in Canada.
This a great place to fish a small ORBB bloodworm/buzzer static on a long leader and fish will often take on the drop as the fly falls into the deeper water or if there's a breeze, as the line swings around bringing the fly up the other side of the channel.
Moving south along the bank past the lodge there's a straight stretch of bank (2 on map) that's the most heavily fished part of the lake as it's a straight walk downhill from the car park. Despite this it's still a good place to fish with marginal weed giving way to deeper water. These conditions led me to develop the Red Eyed Devil pattern tied on a jig hook; casting this fly out on a long leader I can fish the deep water and then bring the fly in across the shallow margins without catching the bottom. I've had many takes on the drop at the limit of the cast with the line pulling tight and arcing away sideways as a patrolling fish snaffles it and swims on. At other times when the fish are closer in a slow retrieve to keep the fly skimming the bottom in two or three feet of water results in swirling takes followed by long runs as the fish try and gain deeper water.
Some of the lake's larger browns patrol the edges of the weed and plopping a fly down a couple of feet out from the edge of the floating weed has brought me some spectacular slashing takes, some of which I even managed to hook. It never ceases to amaze me just how close to the bank resident browns will lie. Recently I was fishing along this part of the lake where there is a steep bank behind and snagged a fallen oak leaf on my back cast. Stripping the fly in quickly to get rid of the leaf resulted in a 3lb brown materialising out of the weed right under the rod tip and snaffling the fly from under the leaf.
Further along the bank a copse of trees comes down to the bank with a large oak overhanging the lake (3 on map) and a little further on a large pile of rocks is a popular spot with easy access to deep water. This is an ideal place for someone beginning fly fishing; it's an easy place to cast with water several feet deep at the edge shelving away steeply and fish can be caught very close in. It's also a good place for the more experienced, not for casting straight out into the lake but casting along the banks on either side, particularly to the right under the overhanging tree. Trees and bushes block access to fishing this area directly from the bank so a long cast along the margins can pick out fish patrolling for insects falling from the overhanging vegetation.
At the southern end of the lake (4 on map) the woods pull back leaving an open flat stretch of bank on top of the old dam. In the margins the water is fairly shallow but deepens further out with the deepest section of the lake around the outlet tower in the southern corner. The edges of the marginal weed are a regular trout patrol route and fishing 10-15 yards out is the productive zone.
One autumn afternoon I spotted four decent sized rainbows cruising around in a holding pattern about fifteen yards from the bank near the drain tower. They seemed to be feeding on insects being swept along in the surface current flowing towards and over the lip of the outlet, but weren't interested in a couple of small dry patterns I floated over them. I put on an OJO and chucked it well out to the side and beyond the orbiting fish. I waited until one fish in the group was approaching the path of the fly at a tangent and then moved the fly with a series of sharp twitches. The fish sheared off from its cruise path and nailed the fly from behind. With one 4lb rainbow brought to the bank and released, and noticing that the other three were still in the same holding pattern, I thought I'd push my luck and try to repeat the exercise. It worked. In fact it worked three times more, and I caught all four of the fish within half an hour.
The area around the outlet tower (5 on map) is another area worth exploring. Between the drain and the bank the water is very deep and fishing a heavy fly slowly close to the bottom can find fish if they are not showing near the surface. Casting to the east of the drain takes you into an area of underwater tree stumps from the time when the lake level was lower. There's lots of structure here to hold fish and it's always worth spending some time to see what's lurking under the overhanging trees.
Red Eyed Devil
This fly was developed to fish the shallow margins of Canada Lake using a jig hook coupled with bead chain eyes to allow me to cast out into deeper water and then twitch the fly back close to the bottom with the fly fishing point up. The black coloration gives a good silhouette if the water is coloured up and doesn't spook fish when the water is clear. The red eyes give the fish an aiming point and this seems to reduce the tail nipping which can happen with marabou tailed flies. This has become one of my favourite flies for winter use on different stillwaters.
Hook: Fulling Mill Jig size 10
Thread: UTC black 8/0
Eyes: Red bead chain (or silver coloured red with Sharpie pen)
Tail: Black marabou and black crystal flash
Body: Black Hares Ice Dub
Rib: Black stripped organza ribbon
- Run on the thread on the straight section of the hook shank and catch in the bead chain eyes at the kink in the shank.
- Secure the eyes with figure of eight wraps, take the thread halfway down the shank and coat the thread wraps over the eyes with superglue.
- Tie in a pinch of marabou and secure the butts working back towards the eyes.
- Fold two strands of black crystal flash around the thread and tie down working the thread back to the hook bend binding down the marabou and with the crystal flash either side of the tail.
- Cut a length of organza, cut off one side to leave a 1cm wide strip and pull out the long fibres to leave a length of synthetic hackle. Cut away the fibres from one end to give a tying in tag.
- Tie in the prepared organza hanging behind the bend with the short fibres pointing down.
- Dub the hook shank up to the eyes forming a slightly tapered body.
- Take one turn of organza around the root of the marabou tail (this prevents tail wrap when fishing the fly) and then rib the body in open turns tying off the organza behind the eyes. Brush out the dubbing between the ribbing with velcro.
- Form a slim dubbing noodle and figure eight this around the eyes finishing with a few turns on the bent section of the hook in front of the eyes. Whip finish.
ORBB (Organza Ribbed Bloodworm Buzzer)
This hybrid bloodworm and buzzer has been developed over a number of years fishing at Canada Lake and is my standard buzzer pattern for fishing through the winter. I think the organza ribbed body gives the fly a edge over hard bodied varnished buzzers. The ribbing gives the fly a softer body that encourages tentatively taking trout to hang on to the fly for that extra second to allow a strike to result in a well hooked fish. This is not a new concept in fly tying (not much is); Richard Walker wrote in the 1970s about tying nymphs with soft wool bodies to make flies feel more lifelike and catch in the trout's teeth when taken. I tie this pattern in three sizes and always have a couple of each in my winter box.
Hook: Fulling Mill heavyweight grab gape size 10-14 (use the gold finished hooks not the black ones)
Thread: Black UTC 8/0
Body: Thread
Tails: Red flexifloss
Rib: UTC fine wire red and trimmed black organza ribbon
Wing buds: Orange floss
Thorax cover: Red holographic tinsel
- Run on thread at eye. Fold a length of red flexifloss around the thread and catch in on top of the hook. While stretching the ends of the flexifloss bind down along the shank and around the bend with touching turns. Cut the tails to length.
- Cut a 10cm length of organza ribbon, cut along about 1-2mm from the woven edge and strip out the long fibres.
- Catch in at bend and bind down along shank with touching turns two-thirds of the way to the eye. Trim off excess organza.
- Catch in a length of red wire and bind down along shank back down to bend with touching turns of thread to form a smooth body. Bring the tread back up to the point where you tied in the wire.
- Rib the body with open turns of wire along the shank to the tying in point. Tie off the wire and break off the excess.
- Wind the organza forward between the turns of wire, tie off and trim the excess.
- Catch in a length of holographic tinsel on top of the hook and bind down the tag end to the hook eye.
- Cut a 6 inch length of orange floss, double and cut in half. Fold the two lengths around the thread and catch in under the hook just being the eye with a couple of turns. While holding the floss under the hook bring the thread back in touching turns until you reach the point where you tied off the wire and organza ribs.
- Build up a smooth thorax with the thread finishing with the thread hanging at the eye.
- Separate the strands of floss with two strands either side of the hook, bring up from underneath and catch in at the eye on top of the hook with a couple of turns of thread.
- Slide the point of your dubbing needle between the floss and the thorax and and slide back and forth to form small loops to represent wing buds. Lock the loops with further turns of thread and trim off the excess floss.
- Bring forward the thorax cover and tie down at the eye. Trim off the excess, build a small head with thread wraps and whip finish.
- Coat the thorax and wing buds with several coats of varnish to create a translucent finish.
- Finally colour all of the bare part of the hook with a red Sharpie pen and then add some random strokes with a black Sharpie.
OJO
This fly was developed for fish cruising and taking emerging buzzers in the top foot of water. The name came from a day when I'd taken three fish in quick succession and another angler wandered over with the usual "What you get 'em on?" question. Which was followed by "What's it made from then?" when I said it didn't yet have a name. "Organza, just organza" was the answer, and then it did have a name. It's caught me a lot of fish over the past few years and seems to get more than its share of large fish.
Hook: Tiemco TMC100 SPBL size 12/14
Thread: UTC black 8/0
Body: Organza ribbon, black and white
Thorax: Organza ribbon, orange
- Run on thread at eye and take down to bend.
- Cut 10cm lengths of black and orange organza ribbon and cut off a 2mm strip from the edge of each. Strip out the long fibres from each to leave the short strands sticking out from the edge and trim away these fibres from about 1cm at one end.
- Catch in the black strip at the bend with a turn of thread and repeat with the white strip lying just in front. Bind down the tag ends and take the thread two-thirds of the way up the shank.
- Grasp the free ends of both strands and wind forward in parallel in touching turns to create a segmented body. Continue up to the thread, tie down and trim off the excess.
- Repeat the trimming and stripping process with a length of orange organza, tie in and wind a few turns to form the thorax.
- Tie in the organza at the eye, trim the excess, build a small head, whip finish and varnish the head.
Nick Thomas lives in South Wales. He started fly fishing on Scottish hill lochs many years ago and continues to design, tie and fish flies for trout, carp, bass and anything else that’s going.