Limestone · West / Clare, IE

Fergus

The River Fergus flowing past grassy banks and stone river-improvement works near Clarecastle, County Clare, Ireland
Prime · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-18
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
River steady at a fishable height. On the feed top to bottom — start on the rises with a dry, drop a nymph if they stay down.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.50 mLast reading 1h ago
  • Water temp14.4°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-18
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.50 m
Last reading 1h ago
Water temp14.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather18°C
WindSE 48 km/h
Pressure990 hPa
Rain · recent6.3 mm
Rain · ahead3.0 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
14.4°Cideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — conditions well-balanced, with water temperature particularly in your favour.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 14 Uhr

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 5 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
CapererHatch
2
3
3
2
Hawthorn FlyHatch
2
2
GrannomHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Fly box · Brown Trout
Permits & access
Free state water
State rod licence required for trout / salmon as applicable.
  • Clare limestone river
  • Mixed access
  • Ennis Anglers control some stretches
  • State rod licence required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Castleconnell (Lower Shannon)
35 km
Salmon
Mulkear
36 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
River Doonbeg
39 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
River Maigue
42 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Lough Derg
45 km
Brown trout · Pike
Gallery · 2
  1. The River Fergus flowing past grassy banks and stone river-improvement works near Clarecastle, County Clare, Ireland
    The River Fergus near Clarecastle, County Clare
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD code normalized 2026-06-18: IE_SH_27F010100 → IESH_27F010100 (EPA national format → EEA WISE euSurfaceWaterBodyCode; same water body, now joinable to WISE). Status confirmed against EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP). Source: discodata.eea.europa.eu. | Prior note: EPA WFD 2019-2024 — River Fergus upper limestone reach (FERGUS_010): Good status. Corrected 2026-06-18 from IESH_27R010700 (a tributary/wrong river). Source: EPA Ireland WFD 2019-2024 classification (catchments.ie / EDEN).

EPA (Ireland) · IESH_27F010100

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 86 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity75 × 12%9.0
Conditions total= 86
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 15 February → 30 September
Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts