Fishing in Ireland | Game Fishing in Ireland

The essence of game angling is the pursuit of native fish in wild places; Ireland offers a unique opportunity to experience such fishing. Salmon, trout and sea trout are native species with an honoured place in Irish culture. And Ireland's loughs and rivers have preserved their character in a landscape which has changed very little over the centuries. The angler on Lough Mask, one of the great western limestone loughs, witnesses a timeless scene looking across the waves to mountain ranges which ripple into infinity on the skyline. This sense of place, which is one of the pleasures of fishing in Ireland, can be experienced in different ways on the many types of Irish river and lough. Lough Mask is like an inland sea, but there are also countless small loughs where the lone angler can fish in sheltered solitude. Major rivers like the Munster Blackwater in the south offer sport with salmon and scenery on a grand scale, while a more intimate experience can be enjoyed on the minor limestone trout streams such as those which wind through the green pastures of County Meath. But while Irish game angling is a sport of varied landscapes and many seasons, it has one abiding virtue; it still offers an authentic angling experience in a world where this is increasingly rare.

The Fish
Salmon
The Atlantic salmon has always been a prize Irish fish. Irish salmon fishing is both easily accessible and reasonably priced.

The biggest fish run in the early months of the year and weigh on average about nine pounds. A spring fish from cold water, silver, muscular and graceful, is magnificent. To catch one, especially on the fly is a triumph and these days an angler will be satisfied with a brace of such fish in a week's fishing. They can be caught from January onwards in rivers such as the Drowes which flows into Donegal Bay. As other rivers open, spring fish may be sought all over Ireland. They can also be caught in some loughs and Lough Beltra, near Newport in County Mayo can produce fine fish from March onwards.

Grilse are salmon which have spent one winter at sea and are a most sporting game fish, swift, acrobatic and ready takers of a well presented fly. They weigh from about three pounds upwards, and are widely distributed. The timing of the main runs varies between river systems but most begin in June; this is when a fishery like Delphi in County Mayo can provide spectacular sport in a glorious setting. Irish grilse runs are some of the heaviest in western Europe and they offer the salmon fisherman his best chance of sport.

Generally salmon in river or lough take best when fresh in from the sea, but they can also be active after floods.

Sea Trout
Sea trout can be found in rivers and loughs around the Irish coast, with the populations varying markedly between different areas. They are very closely related to brown trout, but run to sea as smolts, and feed in returning, usually as mature adults. Then they are a wonderful sporting fish which can be caught by all methods in rivers and in loughs, but give particularly exciting sport to the fly fisher. They range in size from small fish of three quarters of a pound to specimens weighing over six pounds. Normal trout fishing tackle can be used when fishing for them.

The Brown Trout
Brown trout can be found in almost all river and lough systems. Although a single species, in Ireland it is a fish of infinite variety of colours and sizes, changing according to its environment. The brilliantly coloured fish of mountain streams are usually small, but the selective trout of limestone rivers like the Suir in County Tipperary may weigh three pounds or more, and great fish of over ten pounds are caught every year from the big limestone loughs, especially Lough Corrib in County Galway and Lough Sheelin in County Cavan.

Ireland is one of the few countries in Europe where the angler may cast a fly to wild brown trout. And whether it is to enjoy brisk sport with smaller fish, or to face the ultimate dry fly challenge of large fastidious trout in limestone streams and loughs, this is the cream of fly fishing for trout. Irish trout fishing is largely fly fishing and is governed by the rhythms of fly hatches. The deepest satisfactions of fishing for wild trout are derived from selection and deception; the selection of an artificial pattern, based on a naturally occurring fly, and the deception of the quarry. Irish fly hatches are prolific and allow the inventive angler and fly dresser wide scope. But Irish anglers themselves have over the decades created a unique range of artificials which will be of great interest to the visiting angler.

Open Season: The salmon and sea trout season opens on January 1st in some fisheries. Most fisheries open at a later date (various dates up to the March 20th). Most brown trout fisheries open between February 15th and March 1st.

Close Season: Most fisheries close on September 30th with some exceptions which close on various dates between September 15th and October 12th. Most brown trout fisheries close on September 30th with some exceptions which close on various dates between September 15th and October 12th.