Spate · Mixed · South-West / Cork, IE

River Ilen

River Ilen venue image
Marginal · Brown Trout
Partridge and Orange · 14-16
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. Fish dawn or dusk if you go at all, and handle everything with extra care.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.46 mDropping after lift
  • Water temp19.1°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Partridge and Orange
Partridge and Orange14-16
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Falling
0.46 m
Dropping after lift
Water temp19.1°C
ClarityClear
Weather18°C
WindNW 9 km/h
Pressure1023 hPa
Rain · recent0.5 mm
Rain · ahead0.9 mm

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

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
19.1°Cideal 1016°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
Water at 19.1°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 8 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • South Western Fisheries District
  • River Ilen AC manages the river around Skibbereen
  • Permits from Field Newsagents, The Square, Skibbereen (+353 28 21400)
  • Shrimp prohibited (fly, spinning, worm only)
  • Night fishing prohibited to visiting anglers
  • State rod licence required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 19.1°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 33 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature38 × 28%10.6
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity60 × 12%7.2
Conditions total= 65
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 February30 September
  • Trout 15 February30 September
Related guides
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts