Stillwater · Mixed · Northern Ireland, GB-NIR

Bann Valley Fishery

Bann Valley Fishery venue image

Bann Valley sits in good trout country near the river that gives it its name, and it fishes the way you'd hope a lowland stillwater would — steady and without fuss.

Closed season · Trout
Perch Fry · 8–10 long shank
Closed season
Season reopens 1 March. Try elsewhere.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.

Bann Valley Fishery is often best in spring through autumn.

What moved it
  • WindN 14 km/hGentle breeze · Gusts to 25 km/h
Today's fly
Perch Fry
Perch Fry8–10 long shank
Retrieve
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Wind
Gentle breeze · Gusts to 25 km/h
N 14 km/h
N
N
from the north
Wave20 cm ripple
Water temp9.2°C
Air temp7°C
CloudOvercast
Pressure1009 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Head to
Wind driftN wind
Northern end

A northerly has held for 6 hours, running colder than the water (8°C air against 9°C water). The end it blows into is taking that chilled surface water, so try the sheltered northern end instead — off the back of the wind, where the undertow returns food along the bottom. That chill sits in the top of the water, though, and the bed is slower to feel it — on a bottom bait it is the undertow, not the temperature, that puts you at this end. Treat it as a tiebreaker between good swims rather than an override — features and angling pressure usually count for more.

How to fish it · for Trout
When
Overcast days with a ripple, cool to moderate water; evening sedge in summer
Where
Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point.
The plan
Plan A

Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point.

Plan B

If the main plan is not working, switch to a smaller, more imitative pattern fished slower and deeper. Move along the bank and try a different angle or depth before changing fly.

Watch for

Keep an eye on changing conditions — wind shifts and cloud breaks can trigger short feeding spells.

Bank

Bank-only venue. Fish from accessible margins, points, weed edges, and inflows.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 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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Through the year
0–3 scale · November highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Reservoir BuzzerHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Daphnia SwarmHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Lake OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
2
Silverhorns & LonghornsHatch
1
2
2
2
1

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

Buzzer team todayfor the conditions now
Point
Black buzzer, orange thorax
Not in this water's box
#10
How to fish it
Intermediate line · let the breeze drift the team, then hang it 15–30 s

Fly recommendations

Point fly shown — supporters see the whole team, sizes and why.

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Ranked for today
Trout fly box
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
59%
Cloud50%
Wind65%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though cloud isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 5
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

It comes into its own on a soft, cloudy day with a ripple working across the surface, the kind of light that makes fish bold. Start with buzzers when the water is cool and chironomids are the only game in town; as spring warms the margins, the diawl bach and a slim damsel earn their keep. By high summer there's sedge on warm evenings and the odd fish looking up, which is when a dry fly becomes a plan rather than optimism. Bright flat-calm days are the hard ones — wait for the wind, or fish the first and last hours of light.

  • Lake
  • Mixed
Why this score
  • winter conditions with overcast skies and breezy wind.
Related guides
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts
At a glance

Bann Valley Fishery is a lake in Northern Ireland. It sits at about 42 m above sea level. The species listed for this water is brown trout. Best window recorded for anglers: Overcast days with a ripple, cool to moderate water; evening sedge in summer. Core methods listed: Buzzers fished static or on a slow draw; Diawl bach and cruncher on a washing-line; Damsel stripped along weed margins. Nearby waters in our listings include Bann Valley Fishery at < 1 km, Altnahinch Reservoir at 19 km and River Maine at 24 km.