Llyn Clywedog sits at the head of the River Severn near Llanidloes, a 615-acre reservoir originally built in the late 1960s to regulate river flow and reduce flooding downstream – and it has grown into one of Mid Wales’ best-regarded trout fisheries in the decades since.
The Scale of the Fishing
Clywedog is stocked heavily each season – close to 40,000 trout in a typical year – and the reservoir has a reputation for producing hard-fighting fish, with some running well into double figures. That combination of scale and fish quality has made it a genuine destination water rather than just a local fishery.
The facilities have been upgraded significantly in recent years, with a modern lodge providing a proper base for a day’s fishing – a tackle shop, toilets, and hot drinks all on site. Full ticket types, current stocking information, and prices are available on the Llyn Clywedog Trout Fishing website.
How to Fish It
Given the reservoir’s size, covering water matters – whether that’s working a fly line from a boat or bank, or covering ground with lures where permitted. Our guides on spinning for trout and top trout fishing rods are useful preparation if you’re planning an active, searching approach rather than sitting in one spot all day.
Exploring Mid Wales Trout Fishing Further
Clywedog sits within a reasonable drive of both Elan Valley and Lake Vyrnwy, the other major Mid Wales waters covered in this series, making it a strong base for a longer Mid Wales trout fishing trip.
Sarah Marsh came to fly fishing through her father, who kept a rod on a small syndicate water in Devon. She spent her teens fishing stocked reservoirs and gradually worked her way toward wild fish on moving water – first on rain-fed freestone rivers in Wales, then on the Hampshire chalk streams she now considers home water.
She holds a level 2 APGAI fly casting qualification and guides informally on the River Test and, from June to September, on a private beat on the River Tay for Atlantic salmon. Her personal best brown trout came from the Itchen at 4lb 1oz; she’d sooner not talk about the salmon that came off at the net last August.
At The River Bend, Sarah writes the game fish species guides, fly fishing technique articles, and the legal content covering trout and salmon regulations.
Covers: Brown trout, rainbow trout, sea trout, Atlantic salmon, fly fishing, chalk streams, Scottish rivers, close season and regulation articles