lakes donegal

These loughs are referred to locally as the Twin Loughs and lie to either side of the Buncrana-Cardonagh road. Fad is the larger of the two with a road running along the north and east shores. It is very deep and hold only small brownies and you will do well if you get one of a half lb. It holds a large population of small char and they can sometimes be taken on fly off shore in May. The most popular fly patterns are Peter Ross, Mallard and Claret, Black Spider and Wickham's Fancy. Lough Namina...

Lough Beach is a large lough of volcanic origin, nearly 4 miles long by about a half mile wide. It can be approached from Letterkenny by taking the N56 and turning left on the L77 Gweedore road, or by taking the L82 road from Gweedore. As well as a good stock of brown trout the lough holds occasional salmon, and the sea trout arrive in August. The brown trout fishing can vary greatly. One day your catch will only average 6oz, while another day the trout will run from a half lb to 1lb with the ch...

Lough Derg is a large, shallow lough of over 2,000 acres, 4 miles north of Pettigo. This is the lough with the famous island known as St Patrick's Purgatory, with its basilica and penitential exercises, where pilgrims flock every year from June to August. What is less well known is that it holds a stock of nice trout averaging just under a pound and some much better ones too-trout to 4lb have been reported. The fish are pink fleshed and their diet consists mainly of Gammarus-freshwater shrimp. O...

As you approach Falcarragh you will se New Lake, right and Port Lake is signposted , left. these two lakes are excellent brown trout waters....

These two loughs lie to the west of the T73 Quigley's Point-Moville Road. To get to Lough Inn, take the mountain road up the side of Glencaw Hill:the loughs is to the right after 3 and a half miles. It can also be approached from Cardonagh. Lough Inn holds small brown trout and you might be lucky to get an occasional sea trout from August on. Lough Inn lies to the north east on the northern side of Tawash Hill. It is reported to hold only char that average 6oz. They are sometimes taken on fly i...

This small lough lies to the north of Gartan Lough and there is good access to it from the south via secondary roads, one of which runs by the shore on the west side. The average size of the trout is a half lb. It holds an excellent stock and ona summer evening trout can be seen rising all over the lough. There is no shore fishing due to the reeds and it is too deep for wading. It is well worth fishing from a boat but keep a lookout for submerged tree stumps. Permission....

Lough Deele is the source of the Deele River which flows east towards Raphoe. It lies deep in the mountains 6 miles south west of Letterkenny and is best approached via a small road from the east. This is a difficult walk through forest and across bog and will take at least one and a half hours to complete. The effort of getting there and back - is generally well rewarded- the trout average nearly three quarters pounds and some excellent catches have been reported. An average catch should produc...

This lough is to the east of and adjacent to the T73 Buncrana-Clonmany road. It is a lough on which you need a boat because of the reeds. It hold a big stock of small brown trout and is best fished on summer evenings with small flies. If you are careful you can fish in shallow water between the reedbeds and the shore. You must hold your fish tight when yu hook them to prevent them escaping into the reeds. Expect to get up to a dozen, a couple of which should weigh between a half and 1km. Small s...

Lough Mourne is an impressive looking stretch of water by the N15 road between Ballybofey and Donegal. You may be tempted to fish, but don't bother because the trout are very small indeed. Permission: Not usually required...

This is a small narrow lough just over a mile south west of Creeslough village. Access is gained by the farmhouse on the north west shore and approximately half of the bank is fishable. The average size of the trout is over 1lb though the lough used to hold trout of 2-5lb before stocks were reduced by gross over fishing. The fishing is now very dour but a small stock of good trout still survives. There are hatches of duckfly in spring, murroughs in Jume, and Green Peter in late July and August....