Our mountain leader was going to instruct us in navigation and safely getting down in bad weather, whilst the anglers were going to show us where to catch wild brown trout.

We set off from Cwmorthin car park with packed lunches, maps and compasses and Mel from the angling club with a six-piece fly rod that packed away nicely.

The fish in Llyn Cwmorthin are plentiful but generally a bit small for eating. Bob Cole, our mountain leader and owner of Bistro Moelwyn, mused whether they might make a good starter.

Outside the entrance to Cwmorthin mine is a disused boathouse left empty for many years since the previous boat was vandalised. Plans are in place to restore the boathouse and provide a new boat for members of the angling club.

Nature is slowly reclaiming the derelict chapel and the manager's house at the far end of the Cwm, whilst the doors and windows of the slate mills have been filled in to provide sheep enclosures. Huge pillars to the left of the track mark the line of the water chute that drove the wheel and machinery.

We climbed out of the Cwm up to Rhosydd quarry, with Croesor quarry in the distance. Bob told us about the underground route linking these two quarries which takes eight hours compared with a 20-minute walk on the surface.

"I wouldn't recommend it to anyone," he said. "It was dangerous when I did it years ago and must have fallen into much greater decline. There's a steep rock face to abseil down and you need a boat to cross the underground lake."

We walked upwards to Llyn Cwm-corsiog, which is tricky to fish in late summer due to the many weeds, but in the clear areas decent size fish can be caught. The water level has been raised by dam walls, as with many lakes in these mountains - a constant supply of water was a vital component of the slate industry.

The Reservoir Act governs reservoirs above a certain size and one of the requirements is for an annual check of the structure by an engineer, all of which costs money. To be excluded from this regulation the walls will be breached down to a level that takes it outside the legislation.

On our left were the twin lakes of Llynau Diffwys, the nearest of which has no fish - for a successful self-sustaining lake there needs to be an area of gravel with incoming water for fish to breed in. Several lakes in the mountains are surrounded by boggy peat and are unsuitable for spawning fish.

At Llyn Adar we ate our lunch while the anglers tried to hook supper. It's called Adar (bird) because there used to be a colony of gulls that bred on the island. The birds are no longer there, but the grass growing on the island is much greener than the surrounding area, rich in nutrients left by nesting gulls.

Pete from the angling club described how on one occasion he got to the lake and the English flag was flying on the island, placed there by a team of soldiers on exercise in the area.

"The following week we came back with a boat and replaced it with the Welsh flag but a week after that the English flag was flying once more. It was wintertime and getting a bit cold so we just left it there."

After sandwiches and three small trout safely returned to the water, we set off towards the East until reaching Llyn Terfyn which means 'boundary' and marks the border between Conwy and Meirionnydd.

From here we journeyed on to Llyn Conglog, meaning the lake of many corners. The fish were wiped out during a great freeze in the severe winter of 1947.

In the past four years about 10,000 baby trout have been carried up in rucksacks by members of the Cambrian Angling Club and decent sizes are now being caught. This is possibly the highest altitude fishing in Wales and on a decent day it's a magical place to be.

Pete and Mel went their separate ways and I watched Pete as he skilfully played a 'brownie' onto the grassy slopes before unhooking it and returning it to the water. I asked what was wrong with it, it had certainly looked big enough. "Oh I don't like eating them, just the sport of catching them." Within a minute another fish had been hooked and I asked if I could keep it for my supper.

While Pete was pulling them in, Mel was having no luck and we set off to try Llyn Cwm-corsiog and continue the friendly competition. A couple of small fish were caught and returned, but when a friend of theirs walked past and showed his catch, our success paled into insignificance - two massive three pounders had been caught. They were from a private lake beyond Llyn Adar and were destined to be supper for this fisherman's neighbouring pensioners.

Back home in my kitchen the trout, cleaned and rolled in flour, just fitted into the frying pan with sizzling butter, olive oil and garlic. With three of us to feed it had to be just a starter, but it tasted fantastic - really fresh and moist.

For me I think it will be a starter in more ways than one - I'm definitely going to join the Cambrian Angling Club.

This was one of several taster sessions organised under the umbrella of Antur Stiniog whose goal is to make the Ffestiniog area internationally famous for outdoor pursuits.

There was also an angling competition at Llyn Tanygrisiau, with kayaking beneath the dam, and guided walks looking into wildlife, geology and local history. Huw Jenkins