lough fern

The Letterkenny and District Anglers' Association exercises rights on that part of the lough to which it has title and the rest of the lough is free fishing. This was one of the great spring salmon loughs until its stocks were hit by UDN in the 1960s, a disaster from which it never recovered. It is now fished for its brown trout and can give superb sport. The trout average a half lb and fish up to 1lb are encountered fairly frequently and you may even get on over 2lb. It is a shallow lough, nerly one and a half miles long by a half mile wide and can be fished all over early in the season and again in August and September. It gets choked with weeds from June to August in a dry season and this makes rowing a boat or using an outboard motor impossible. Bank fishing can be quite productive and the west shore is most favoured. When it is fishable from a boat, it rarely disappoints and it's a bad day that does not produce 3 or 4 nice trout. Favoured fly patterns are mallard and Claret, Connemara Black, Wickham's Fancy, Black Pennell, Bibio, Butcher and Sedge patterns.