Species Types

Atlantic Salmon

Bog brown rivers flow down from the savage beauty of rugged mountains and windswept bogs and Atlantic salmon migrate up stream to reach their birthplace; their home pool somewhere in the Connemara landscape. Connemara Wild Escapes offer accessible salmon fishing along with a genuine welcome to visiting anglers who wish to enjoy the fantastic blend of tradition, history, hospitality and great uniquely Irish fishing opportunities.

Connemara’s salmon fishing season starts February until end of September. Permit prices range from free to €150 per day depending on the water, time of year and system chosen. Fishing rules vary between systems and even individual beats on the same system, so always check before you book to make sure that the method of fishing suits you. Connemara Wild Escapes would assist you in all these respects.

An Irish government salmon fishing license is mandatory which Connemara Wild Escapes will organize the most appropriate for your length of stay. Costs vary by duration. A permit, issued by the owner of the fishery you wish to fish, is essential before you start salmon fishing – it is an offence to fish for salmon and white trout without both of these valid documents.

In the interests of salmon conservation, catch and release is widely practiced by anglers and encouraged by river managers. Again, some beats are catch and release only. Many fisheries can provide gillies and guides and can be hired when booking your fishing safari with Connemara Wild Escapes. Gillies are the perfect people to show you where best to fish and what tactics to use to catch your dream salmon.

Brown Trout

Wild Brown trout fishing in Connemara is dominated by lough fishing, namely: Corrib, Mask, Inagh and Nafoohey. The latter two of which live in the world class shadow of the aforementioned two. These great limestone lakes hold great quantities of trout, good trout, a 17lbs 5 oz’er taken on a salmon fly in 2007. Not only that but there are three varieties of brown trout to be caught, apart from the traditional Brownie, “the panther of the water” Gillaroo frequent Corrib and Mask and the mighty Ferox patrols the expanses of Corrib.

Coarse Fishing

Connemara is a truly world class destination for coarse fishing, particularly pike. Lough Corrib and the lakes around Moycullen have a reputation for catches of hard-fighting specimens. Bank fishing, on the smaller loughs, is easily accessible and you can readily hire a boat or launch your own. There is a one fish per day per rod rule on the Corrib.

Roach and bream predominate on the lower Corrib and fishing can be arranged by Connemara Wild Escapes.

Sea Trout (White trout)

Anglers usually come to sea trout, or what are known locally as white trout, after previous familiarity with brown trout or salmon, and their ideas and muscular reactions are already conditioned by those experiences. They naturally tend to persist in the ways they have already learned, but to the expert white trout’er, the hunt for this trout is a science all of its own! In Connemara, the classic form of Irish white trout fishing is the lough fishing, with spate rivers which run off rapidly. This is white trout country par excellence! It is unusual to stop fishing when the sun sets, but this varies by fishery in Connemara as does the lure used to catch them, the height and temperature of the water et al. As a rule of thumb the depth of the lough should never exceed the length of the boats’ oar plus your arm and never be shallower than half an oar!

A State licence is required to fish for white trout and catch and release in mandory.

Sea Fish Species & Records for Western Region