Autumn Sport In The Beacons

Airflo’s Ceri Thomas and Tim Hughes sample back-end fishing in a Brecon Beacons stillwater, where the resident rainbows are simply the best looking in Wales.

- Ceri Thomas and Tim Hughes

If you have ever travelled along the A470 in Wales, you might have noticed some lovely looking reservoirs in the Brecon Beacons on your way to or from Cardiff. This scenic chain of three are known as the Cwm Taff Reservoirs, built in the Victorian era as a water supply for Cardiff and the South Wales valleys.

We are fishing Cantref Reservoir, the middle and smallest one. It can be classed as an upland stillwater, being 1,073 feet above sea level. Once a fishery run by Welsh Water, Cantref was a popular put-and take venue until 2012. At that time Welsh Water stopped the fishing and gave up the lease, much to the disappointment of local anglers.

After a few years in limbo, the sporting rights on the reservoir were eventually taken up by the local Merthyr Tydfil Angling Club, and under its stewardship the fishery is back on its feet after a couple of years off the map.

Perfect Size

At 40 acres or so, Cantref is a perfect size for bank fishing, with a mix of easy and difficult shoreline access making for interesting and engaging fishing. Being fed by two decent feeder streams, including the embryonic River Taff, it has a decent head of naturally producing wild brownies. These native fish can run upwards of 1lb, although half that is usually the norm. On a fine summer evening you can often find these fish rising at the neck end of the reservoir to prolific hatches of black buzzer, or to terrestrial insects being blown off the neighbouring hillsides.

Cantref is also trickle stocked with rainbow trout over the season, allowing the reservoir to remain open until November 30th, thus providing decent back-end sport in an area of South Wales where many other large stillwaters have shut their doors.