Loughs Agency

Angling within the Foyle and Carlingford rivers can be described as second to none when it comes to salmon and sea trout fishing on this island.

The rivers Finn in Co Donegal and Mourne in Co Tyrone produce exceptional runs of grilse averaging 4lbs from mid may towards the end of the season from £5 a day.

The Foyle system, an area of approximately 1,300 square miles, provides sport for a broad range of anglers. From the brown trout angler after a spot of dry fly fishing on some of the smaller rivers feeding the Foyle system, to sea trout anglers that can get cracking sport out of good runs of sea trout from mid July onwards on most of the Foyle rivers. Salmon anglers on the Foyle system enjoy healthy runs of larger salmon moving into the system from August onwards, and over recent years salmon of 20lb+ have been landed.

The Carlingford Rivers are best known for the runs of sea trout that tend to be much larger than their cousins in the Foyle system, averaging 3lbs and running late in the season from late August onwards.

Foyle Game Angling Guide (downloadable file)

Foyle Coarse and Sea Angling Guide (downloadable file)

Carlingford Angling Guide (downloadable file)

Beat Fishing - Abercorn Estates (downloadable file)

Map of Carlingford and Foyle Catchments (downloadable file)

Day Ticket (downloadable file)

Prohibited methods – for reasons of conservation of fish stocks! (as at 1^st January 2010)

Anglers are advised to update themselves on current regulations!

Information is available from the Loughs Agency and is updated on the Agency website.

Bag Limits and Tagging

• No salmon, brown trout or sea trout of less than 25.4cm (10 inches) may be retained

• Anglers must gill tag all wild salmon and sea trout over 40cm that are caught and retained - immediately on landing the fish

• 1st March - 31st May inclusive: bag limit 1 salmon or sea trout over 40cm on any one day; maximum of 5 in this period.

• 1st June - 31st October: bag limit 2 salmon or sea trout over 40cm on any one day; maximum of 20 in this period.

· No more than 4 trout can be caught and retained on any one day

Float. No use of a float with bait is permitted for game fishing on any waters in the Foyle area - other than in conjunction with a single artificial fly (however, see entry below).

Bubble. Use of a bubble and fly is not permitted on DCAL waters (lakes, parts of the River Mourne) or the rivers Roe and Faughan.

Bait. Use of shrimp or prawn is strictly prohibited in the Foyle and Carlingford areas!

Live bait. Live fish cannot be used as bait in fresh waters in the Foyle and Carlingford areas.

Coarse fish. It is prohibited to kill coarse fish (however, see regulation on pike, below) in the Foyle and Carlingford areas waters.

Eels. It is prohibited to kill eels in the Foyle and Carlingford areas.

All such coarse fish and eels caught, must be carefully handled and returned alive and unharmed to the water.

Pike. There is a bag limit of 2 pike weighing 4 kg or less, on any one day. Pike of 4kg or more must be returned unharmed to the water. There is an exception for specimen pike with a bag limit of 1 specimen pike in any one day (a specimen pike in a river is 9 kg or more; a specimen pike in a lake is 13.6 kg or more). However, anglers are encouraged to return pike to the water unharmed.

Bass. A regulation planned to come into force in 2010 will introduce bag limits, size limits and close season for bass in the Foyle and Carlingford areas.

Tope. The Loughs Agency plan a regulation to prohibit killing of tope in the Foyle and Carlingford areas.

Weirs. There is a general prohibition of angling within 5 meters of any weir in the Foyle and Carlingford areas. This distance may be extended locally. For instance, angling is prohibited 25 meters upstream and downstream of the fish counter in Newry.

Angling - Rivers and Loughs

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