Former world and European fly casting champion Hywel Morgan says the first GWCT Welsh Game Fair in September will provide a platform to showcase fishing in Wales to an international audience.

The GWCT Welsh Game Fair will be held at the Vaynol Estate, near Bangor from 9 to 11 September and Hywel says the setting, with a large lake in front of the iconic mansion, could not be better for fishing.

Hywel, from Pontrhydfendigaid, is baffled why thousands of anglers drive through Wales every year to catch a ferry to go fishing in Ireland when his homeland has some of the best wild brown trout rivers and lakes in the UK.

“I am keen to ensure that there is a really good fishing presence at GWCT Welsh Game Fair to promote the availability of angling in Wales,” he said.

“For some reason, most anglers travel through Wales to go fishing in Ireland.

“It’s about time the people of Wales started shouting about what we have here. The GWCT Welsh Game Fair is an ideal opportunity for us to inform and educate people.

“We probably have some of the best rivers and remote lakes for wild brown trout fishing in the whole of the UK.”

Hywel, the son of famous Welsh angler the late Moc Morgan, first picked up a fishing rod when he was 18 months old and was just three when he began fishing the upper reaches of the River Teifi.

“I don’t remember the first fish I caught because I was too young,” he said.

“I can remember my dad carrying me across the rushes on the Teifi Pools to put me on the side of the lake.

“In my teens, I got into seatrout fishing and would spend five nights a week on the Ystwyth.”

Recognising the need to engage more young people in fishing, Hywel’s mission is to get children off computer games and outside in the fresh air beside a river or lake.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been good for fishing because a lot of people have had more time on their hands and have rediscovered angling,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to escape and clear your mind.

“Fishing is one of the best ways to de-stress. It can be frustrating at times, but it’s escapism. It takes you to wild places that most Welsh people would never see.”