Mayflies
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Short but productive limestone-influenced spate river near Sligo with good clarity. The Falls at Ballisodare are a natural bottleneck where salmon congregate before running upriver — a dramatic and productive fishing location. Grilse from June with the falls pool being the most famous beat. Also holds brown trout and sea trout. Fish it as it rises and falls — the window opens quickly after rain and closes just as fast. For 2026 the Ballisodare is open with a harvest surplus under the Wild Salmon & Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (S.I. 129/2026): harvest to 31 August under tag and the bag limit, catch-and-release from 1 September. Harvest status is reviewed annually.
Catchment-level EPA monitoring of the Owenmore (Sligo) and Unshin — principal connected waters of the Ballisodare system, not a sample from the river itself — confirms mayflies, stoneflies, caddis, aquatic diptera and freshwater crustaceans including gammarus are present through the wider catchment. This is food-presence evidence at catchment scale, not an observation on the Ballisodare reach and not a record of emergence timing.
NW Sligo river with falls. Sea trout are part of the mixed-migratory fishery identity. The falls concentrate fish on the run and create distinctive fishing.
- Limestone