I have Held a char that my mate cought, belly was deep read in colour, from a bank at llyn padarn, we used a large 11ft rod with a a heavy weight and line and used a fluro leader of around 11ft, 4droppers with size 14 hooks with maggotts. They are hard to catch, i beleave in these deep lakes you need a depth that the water temp is at a constant 4 degrees, i have not got the privelage of a boat and this method looks the dogs bollox. I have fishd this lake many years and stocks are really low due to bad hydro poluting the lakes with ****. Was a magical moment that i am still cishing for every time i fish there

Good luck in catchin one and take your camera

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if its yellow let it mellow
if its brown flush it down

Hi i'm hoping to have a go for a Char on the Padarn this season,there was a video of a guy ice fishing for Char on the forum a couple of days ago,he is going to send me some details of what flies they catch them on.I know it's going to be a challenge but i'm going to have some fun trying.

im wondering if the Windermere charr are the same type as those around Scotland, which can be caught from the bank.

ohanzee: I've heard (once) of a 'rise' of charr on L. Benisval, Lewis.

It's a remote loch and rarely fished but an ex-keeper told me he was trouting there once when they 'came on' and he caught several from the bank around the pound mark. Regrettably, I don't know which month.

I camped and fished there for a July week once (worst midges ever!), before I'd heard this, fishing for sea trout, looking for salmon. I saw none of the latter, nor any charr, though some large-headed, 1 3/4 lb+ browns were caught on spinner by a ghillie. I wondered if these were small ferox - but have no idea what really denotes ferox from a brownie; size, diet, shape, etc.?

On another day, two lochs down the chain, a salmon/sea trout angler picked up a charr on the fly, from a boat (so surface fishing).

The O.S. map shows both lochs drop to over 10m deep but not 20m, and I think all the charr were caught fishing over these deeper waters.

As for eating, that last charr was cooked up in a heather fire on the bank - terribly! The bit I got was scorched, dry and very disappointing.
Guess I'll have to catch & cook my own!

Edit: Sorry, ohanzee. I thought you were asking 'if' charr can be caught from the bank. My mistake.

We used to catch them on standard wet flies and floating line on a loch in Sutherland in September.
They shoal up so where you caught one you usually got 2 or 3 more from the same spot.
The average was about half a pound but I got a 3 pounder once in May again on floating line and a size 12 wet fly.

By and large, yes; all landlocked populations of Salvelinus alpinus since after the last Ice Age.
Windermere was the first British lake found to have two genetically seperate charr populations. Dr Winifred Frost based this on physical appearance and the choice of autumn and spring spawning behaviour; which was confirmed by genetic analysis by later researchers. Several deep Scottish lochs, such as Ericht and Rannoch, also have benthic forms, as well as the more usual pelagic.

I would urge you to leave the Padarn charr alone, unless things change, they will die out during this decade. Try Llyn Crafnant, a reservoir where they have been stocked to keep the subspecies alive, instead.

Raw sewage killing prehistoric fish in North Wales - North Wales News - News - Daily Post North Wales




BBC News - Arctic char released into Llyn Padarn to protect stocks

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Save the softmouth trout

this is my experience, they just appear, rising in density, if you know where to find them they are pretty abundant, never seen one over half a pound though, that is something,
best time from the bank is when they are near the bank, they come up/in to spawn, late in the summer and very possibly early in the season before they return to the depths of their freshwater sea.

Here you go.
The 3 pounder I took on floating line and wet fly ....

I agree with Ephemerella,

we are having a lot of problems with the lake at the moment, i have fished a whole week 7am til 7pm and not a sniff of a char. locals that fish have had no luck either. i would agree that you would have more chance catching at the reservoir at llyn cryfnant as most of the fish from padarn was moved to this area i believe a few years back to help keep the numbers up and help to sustain them.

Padarn in a beautiful lake with a lot going for it, i have not fished the reservoir before so i cant comment on the fishing there, but i beg if you decide to go to Padarn you will enjoy it but if a char happens to fall for your fly, please practice catch and release witch i am sure you will,

i caught hundreds of trout there last season compared to only a few the year before, possibly me getting better or just finding the sweet spots

i have only come in to fly fishing, this season but have fished for many years.

i beleave that the local petrol station just up the road, BERAN garage sell permits and also the local town of caernarfon sell them, just ask a local for POST BACH in caernarfon.



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nice fish,

__________________
if its yellow let it mellow
if its brown flush it down

Ron Greer's "Ferox and Artctic Char" has a few intersting chapters on the latter. Their principal diet is daphnia but they are known to take surface fly although this tends to constitute no more than 2% of their diet. The average life of one in the UK is 10-11 years wheras in Scandinavia it is closer to 20 years. Not sure why the large difference!