Spate · Old Red Sandstone · South West / Cork, IE

River Arigideen

River Arigideen venue image

A lovely West Cork river draining some fifty-six square miles to the sea, the Arigideen is primarily a sea-trout fishery, with the occasional salmon or grilse through the season.

Prime · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-18
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
River dropping into shape after a lift. The kind of afternoon you remember — a weighted nymph through the clearing seams, the dry as it settles.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia Bandon
  • Water temp15.5°C
  • ClarityClearClearing
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-18
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Bandon
Water temp15.5°C
ClarityClear
Weather15°C
WindW 28 km/h
Pressure1011 hPa
Rain · recent3.4 mm
Rain · ahead10.7 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from Bandon. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
16°C est.ideal 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 — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 2pm

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 4 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 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
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
CapererHatch
2
3
3
2
Heather FlyHatch
2
2
Autumn DunHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Bandon
10 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Ballin Lough (West Cork)
27 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Lower Lee
28 km
Brown trout · Salmon
Lee Reservoirs (Inniscarra & Carrigadrohid)
28 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Pike
Shepperton Lake
30 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

A lovely West Cork river draining some fifty-six square miles to the sea, the Arigideen is primarily a sea-trout fishery, with the occasional salmon or grilse through the season. For 2026 it is catch-and-release only, for salmon and sea trout alike. Fish it on a flood, when fresh fish have run. There is disabled-angler access at Inchy Bridge. Single or double barbless hooks only, no worm, under Bye-law 982 of 2020. Arigideen Anglers Association and IFI Macroom hold the water.

Hatches & food

A West Cork old-red-sandstone spate river with acidic, soft water — stoneflies, sedges and terrestrials carry the resident trout, while the main fishery is summer sea trout taking sedges and wets on a flood.

  • Old red sandstone
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 Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity79 × 12%9.5
Conditions total= 86
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Bandonproxy
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 15 February → 30 SeptemberC&R
  • Sea trout 15 February → 12 OctoberC&R
  • Trout 15 February → 30 September

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts
Permits & access