ThePaddler 78
March 2012
offered up a beautiful spell of very warm weather and thoughts of a similar mild spell would make camping in the Brecons a pleasant alternative to hot cross buns and Easter Eggs. So on this hope of nice weather and some early Spring fishing my colleague Daz Harrison and myself loaded up the kayaks at 6am on Good Friday morning and headed 150 miles south west to the land of the Red Dragon.
A pleasantly quiet Bank Holiday journey brought us a view of Llangorse Lake and my first sight was white horses rushing down the lake. This was going to be a challenge. On arrival we were greeted by the ladies in the site reception with a cheery smile and details of where the electric hook-up was for this pair of Leicestershire softies to plug a heater in overnight. The pitches were flat and spacious. Despite the rain and snow that had fallen in previous weeks the ground was very firm. After meeting and greeting a few of the lads, Daz and I decided to take advantage of a practice session on the lake.The first surprise we had was that the water at the launch point was covered with a centimetre or so of ice! Oh dear! Safety is always a priority when going on the water so without question the drysuit is the first item to be sorted, a couple of layers of thermal clothing with good wicking properties followed by a one piece fleece suit. The drysuit is of a breathable material, it should always be remembered whilst a drysuit offers protection from wind and water it has almost no thermal insulation properties, so make sure you have layers underneath for warmth. This was all finished off with a nice thick pair of thermal
Paul Fennel had caught a really decent pike. On such a tough day, that was a special fish