Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, Neath & Port Talbot

[oldhooker]

The fishing at llandegfedd is poor in comparison. Rumours abound that it is facing iminent closure because of lack of business. That says it all.Everyone i have met who are regulars there complain that the fishing is poor. Clwedog has very poor aquatic insect life. Imitative fly fishers must rely on wind blown terrestials. Unless it is situated in a bubble seperate from the rest of the UK it must experience the same dearth of such insects that is blatant everywhere else. In the 1980s when i first had a car the front of it would take some washing each week to remove literally hundreds of dead insects stuck to it. Nowadays there are very few. This is actually a yardstick that the RSPB and entomological societies use to measure the extent of insect decline in the UK. So it follows that insects available to the trout there are limited. If you dont mind catching fresh stockies this is fine as the stocking policy there and at other places such as blagdon and chew ensures a season long supply of fresh stockies. Eglwys on the other hand has very healthy aquatic insect life. This season it has been not as prolific, this i think is beacuse last summers exceptional weather left the water at a record low and left the margins exposed and dried out for months. Nevertheless we have had good buzzer and sedge hatches plus the best hawthorne hatch we have had for over a decade. Our excellent stockfish are stocked in december and january and by april are about as close to wild that is possible. Full silver rayed tails and full fins, a beautiful profile which is how a trout should look and feeding naturally. Therefore those of us who prefer more of a challenge by decieving a fish on our imitative patterns can do so. Of course it is what it is and i know it isnt the same as fishing for wildies on a scottish loch but believe me if they are switched on to a food source and you dont have the right pattern you will struggle. This is why the vindictive poster struggled there i believe. All he has done is cut his own nose off to spite his own face as he has denied himself the pleasure of fishing there at a very reasonable price. I have fished all the other venues mentioned and have done very well at these places catching fresh stockies into the high twenties which i have to say became boring, just locate the shoals drop anchor its as easy as at. That is why as a patron of all the above mentioned venues i consider eglwys the best. Dont get me wrong if dumb stockie bashing is your thing then early january if you find the shoals then this is possible, i have done this myself this season catching my limit of 15 returned fish in under 2 hours from the bank adjacent to the bay. Whilst the fight from each stockie was fun, my mind was focused on a point in time later in the season when nymph and dry fly sport would be infinitely more rewarding. So i suppose it depends what criteria is used to judge a fishery, whether you rate large catches of easily covered, easily caught fish that will take anything stripped past their noses or whether the challenge of deceiving a few fish of an evening on a pattern based on an observation or perhaps a previous spooning appeals to you. I know where my own preferences lie but each to his own.

 

[springwell]

Fished Eglwys quite a lot over the years.

First started fishing it in the late 70's. Found the Back Wall, BOC wall corner the hotspot in them days at dusk with fish rising to the surface.

Been there a couple of times the past few years. Even took up full membership in 2016 only to have to have a refund .

It's a good water to fish and very good value. And despite what you might think the M4 is not that noisy.

oldhooker is the season still 1st March for annual permits.

Bill

 

[oldhooker]

It is March 1st for renewal. However new members can join in december i think and get 3 months free fishing. This is only open to new members. If after 1 season you didnt renew you wouldnt be able to get the 3 months free fishing a second time. This is a fairly new strategy because it was felt that it was being abused. Dont agree myself but im not on the committee. If the members voted against it it could be reinstated for returning members. We stocked in december last year about a month early. Commercially it was a big success i think with a lot of day tickets sold. In january not only was it wales premier large water but probably the premier water open for winter sport in the UK. Nowhere else was open offering spectacular sport. Check out the posts on their facebook page at the time. On new years eve i had a 15fish c and r limit in under 2 hrs. I dont think anywhere else could offer that on dec 31st. We currently have a core of 100 members which is enough to stock at the same level next year plus the committee have indicated that the success of this season will reap a benefit to renewing members next season. If you live close enough it is easy to achieve 100 visits per season ticket, thats 2 quid a time. I have no connection to the club administration and have no other benefit in recomending it to others. I know we have enough nembers to continue operation so i dont actually care if people believe me or not. I like it in the evenings when there are just a few of us there. As you say the motorway wall is the noisiest spot there but its not that bad and its only around 300 yards long. On any other spot there the noisiest thing is the constant birdsong in the summer and spring and i love that. Its not an SSSI for nothing, There is fantastic wildlife there. Another misconception is that people think the water is returned to the res and is polluted from its use in the works. This is not so, it goes on a one way journey and doesn't return. The water is gin clear there generally. There is a warning sign on the gate regarding blue green algae which we suffered years ago undoubtedly due to the golf course on the other side of the motorway. The fertiliser to keep his course green was running off into our main feeder and enriching the water. This never happened before the golf course opened. In recent years we haven't suffered from algae. At this time of year our remaining stock have all died. This happens every sumner but i know this to be the case and i know that come December it will be restocked. The negative comments on this website stem from a twisted spiteful liar. The type of undesirable troublemaker who would go to extremes to get unjust revenge. His posts are full of holes and there are enough good reports on here to make anyone with an ounce of common sense see where he is coming from. Look at his other posts and you will soon get an accurate picture of him. He could well have endangered our survival. No doubt the spitefull creep would have liked to see us fold. He woukdnt like it much if someone posted on here that his commercially available flies are poor quality. Its not fair that this platform gives him the opportunity to badmouth us just because he isnt a good enough angler to catch in anything else other than a tiny hole in a farmers field. Dont get me wrong that type of fishing is fine for beginners or old timers but if you want to develop and improve you should have a serious go at eglwys. Seriously i dont care if we have 100 members or 500, 100 is more than enough for us to continue. If anybody joins as a new member i guarantee they will find the members a friendly bunch on the whole. The set up with the gate he describes hasnt been in use for years. It was locked with keys only available to members so that only members could fish past that point but that hasn't been the case for over 15 years. A visiting angler can fish anywhere he likes. The main gate is constantly locked on a combination lock so your car is entirely safe there. Despite the lies he peddles i have never heard of a car broken into there. The back road is no longer open engancing the security. In the 1990s cars were getting stolen etc everywhere from pub car parks to cinema car parks etc and he must have latched on to people's fears. Like i said i have never had a problem there or heard of one. It couldnt be more secure

 

[springwell]

Yes,

I think if you join in December you get three months extra as a new member.

Must admit everyone I've met down there over the years have been friendly enough.

And if you want to be on your own there's plenty of room.

 

[oldhooker]

Re: Eglwys Nunydd Reservoir, Neath & Port Talbot

Yes,

I think if you join in December you get three months extra as a new member.

Must admit everyone I've met down there over the years have been friendly enough.

And if you want to be on your own there's plenty of room.

Thanks Bill, for confirming my findings. I have been a member there for donkeys years. Believe me if it were anything like what this liar says from the safety of his keyboard then i would have jacked it in years ago. Since last december i have had fantastic sport there. In the winter, which wasnt cold at all really, i used minkies or mink wraps on a floating line since the predominant food source was fry. I only used a sinker once there and that was to give me more distance in order to reach a shoal a few yards out of range to my floater. Once my minkie dropped into the shoal the take was more or less instant. One afternoon an angler from cardiff joined me and he had a great day on a day ticket. After he returned one of his 15 fish he said to me " small fish but they fight like demons " " small fish!?" I said after he had put back a 3lber " where do you fish normally our stock are a minimum 2.5lb in size." Turns out he fishes small fisheries where it is easy to catch fish in the 10lb bracket. I saw him a week later, he had joined after 1 visit and that speaks volumes. After spooning a fish in March i tied up a fly to copy a buzzer and together with a pheasant tail tied whilst experimenting at the vice this combination became my go to set up. The pheasant tail did better during bright afternoons and the other nymph came into its own during the prolific evening buzzer hatches. In high summer a minkie on the point and pinfry on the droppers was the best set up. When the limit was removed in June in one week i caught and killed well over 50 clean fish. This policy is to try and remove as much of the stock as possible. The committee are doing a great job there and there are many benefits such as a boat for 5 quid per session. Compare that with 45 quid per person per day at blagdon and chew. I contacted bristol fly fishers to tell them about our winter sport last season but they wouldnt promote another venue despite chew and blagdon not being open at the time. Their loss

 

[springwell]

Yes,

I've fished Blagdon & Chew and the boat costs are high.

I prefer large open waters, never ever had any interest in the small ponds. I've one very highly rated small fishery almost within walking distance of my house where people travel many miles to fish, they are welcome to it, each to their own.

 

[oldhooker]

Yes,

I've fished Blagdon & Chew and the boat costs are high.

I prefer large open waters, never ever had any interest in the small ponds. I've one very highly rated small fishery almost within walking distance of my house where people travel many miles to fish, they are welcome to it, each to their own.

Know where you are coming from. As i said earler if Eglwys ever closes thats it for me apart from the odd session at blagdon etc. The only time i have ever cast a line in a farmers field i was teaching a friend to cast on grass.

 

[oldhooker]

The committee have just announced stocking at a higher level for next season. They plan to stock an extra stocking of 500 fish in the 2 to 3 lb range plus i think another 500 fish in the 3 to 5lb range. Stocking will take place mid december probably but could be in november if the water temperature drops enough. I was there today and the res is full so fingers crossed. Water clarity was good there