Limestone · West / Clare

Fergus

The River Fergus flowing past grassy banks and stone river-improvement works near Clarecastle, County Clare, Ireland
Poor · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-18
Poorlive now
Not the day for it
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. This is not the day to push it. Check the thermal advice above before you head out.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.23 mLast reading 6h ago
  • Water temp20.7°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-18
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.23 m
Last reading 6h ago
Water temp20.7°C
ClarityClear
Weather15°C
WindNW 11 km/h
Pressure1023 hPa
Rain · recent1.3 mm
Rain · ahead1.2 mm

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

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
20.7°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
Water at 20.7°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 2 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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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 · August 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
GrannomHatch
2
2
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
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
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 20.7°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Lough Derg
45 km
~15°C
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 80%
How the 23 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature17 × 28%4.8
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity46 × 12%5.5
Limiting factor: Water temperature (20.7°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 56
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
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 15 February → 30 September
Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts