Game Angling

For salmon anglers, the most popular destination is unquestionably the River Moy which rises in the Ox mountains and flows for over 80 km through Foxford and Ballina before joining the sea at Killala Bay. This magnificent river has produced an annual average of almost 6,000 salmon to rod and line over the past five years and offers a variety of fishing including top class fly water, spinning and worming. The world-famous Moy Fishery at Ballina, Co Mayo, comprises some of the most productive salmon beats anywhere in the world, including the renowned Ridge Pool and Cathedral Beat. It is managed by the North Western Regional Fisheries Board, Ardnaree House, Ballina, Co Mayo. Tel: 096 21332. Click on River Moy in the left hand margin for further information.

In addition to the famous Moy, the region has several other rivers which provide good salmon fishing in tranquil unspoilt surroundings. In the west Mayo area, the Owenmore and Owenduff Rivers provide excellent salmon and sea trout fishing. They are controlled mainly by private ownership with permits available on some of the reaches. Carramore Lake, near Bangor Erris, also has excellent salmon and sea trout fishing. The Glenamoy River also produces great salmon and seatrout angling during the summer in suitable conditions. In the Newport area, the Burrishoole Fishery (Loughs Feagh and Furnace) provides high quality lake salmon angling. Stocks here are augmented by a salmon ranching programme run by Ireland's Marine Institute. The Newport River and Lough Beltra are also well known salmon fisheries and also hold sea trout but the killing of this species is prohibited on these fisheries and on the Burrishoole Fishery as a conservation measure.

In Co. Sligo, the Easky River, 12 km east of Ballina, offers superb spate river game fishing on one of the region’s most beautiful fisheries. The Ballysadare Fishery, located about 5 km south-west of Sligo town, is well known as a prolific salmon fishery and catches of up to 2,500 salmon annually are the norm.. Lough Gill is one of the few fisheries in Ireland where the salmon angling season opens on New Year’s Day and it has regularly produced salmon to trolled baits on opening day. It continues to fish for salmon up to about April following which the inflowing River Bonet can provide good fishing in suitable conditions. Further north, the highly scenic Glencar Lough/Drumcliffe River fishery gets a run of salmon from 1 February and enjoys reasonable runs of grilse and sea trout during the Summer/Autumn period.

The main brown trout fisheries in the region are Loughs Conn, Cullin and Arrow all of which have good reputations for the quality of their fishing although all three have experienced declining catches in recent years due mainly to water quality and eutrophication problems. Detailed Angling Guides, including maps of these lakes, one covering Loughs Conn and Cullin and one covering Lough Arrow are featured on this site.

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