Spate · Granite · North West / Donegal, IE

Clady (Gweedore)

The Clady River flowing through moorland near Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland.

A flashy granite spate river in Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore), West Donegal, that runs to the Atlantic via Bloody Foreland.

Today · Closed season
Wickham's Fancy
Forecast · Today
Closed season
Out of season. File this water for the right month.
40% projected
Today's fly
Wickham's Fancy
Wickham's Fancy
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via River Finn
Water temp8.5°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather7°C
WindN 32 km/h
Pressure1004 hPa
Rain · recent4.9 mm
Rain · ahead2.2 mm

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

Water temperature for Atlantic Salmon
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Atlantic Salmon
When
Morning into early afternoon.
Where
Pool tails, steadier runs, and any water with pace.
Method
Fish a sensible line-and-fly combination for the height and pace of water.
Kit
13 ft #8/9 double-hander in spate, 10 ft #8 single in low water. Floating line plus a fast-sink tip. 12–15 lb fluoro tippet.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 11am

12pm(now) — Autumn Needle Fly

Stage: Creeping nymphsApproach: Heavy nymphActivity: 37%
Also:Autumn Olive22%
Peak emergence window

Peak activity at 11am — Autumn Needle Fly (Autumn Needle Fly, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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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 · November highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
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
Atlantic Salmon fly box

Connemara/Mayo low water: a lightly-dressed shrimp on a floating line with sink tip, sized down from 8s in cold spring water to 12s and 14s as summer water warms and clears. Where the current runs faster, a slim tube or hairwing swung through tracks better than a shrimp.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • IFI rod licence (RoI)
  • Public access to most of river
  • Granite geology means water clears quickly — fish windows are brief but productive
  • 2026 brown-tag scheme: any angler harvesting salmon or sea trout over 40cm must hold a brown tag.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Tullaghobegley / Ray
13 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Gweebarra
16 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Lackagh / Lough Beagh
21 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
River Owenea
29 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Lough Beagh
21 km
Sea trout · Salmon
Gallery · 2
  1. The Clady River flowing through moorland near Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland.
    The Clady River near Gweedore, County Donegal.
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Clady responds rapidly to rainfall (2–3 hours) and fishes best as a river rises and clears. Spring salmon from February; grilse and sea trout from June. The river runs through wild Donegal moorland and has a reputation for good-quality sea-trout fishing. Multiple named pools; public access available to most sections. (Not to be confused with the Co. Londonderry Clady, a tributary of the Lower Bann.) For 2026 this is a catch-and-release fishery under the Wild Salmon & Sea Trout Tagging Scheme — all salmon and grilse must be returned.

Hatches & food

EPA river-invertebrate monitoring on the Clady (Gweedore) confirms a broad food base is present — mayflies, stoneflies, caddis, chironomids and blackfly larvae, plus freshwater shrimp and hoglice (Gammarus, Asellus) — but this is kick-sample presence evidence only, not a record of hatch timing or a dependable rise.

  • Granite
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Unknown
  • Chemical: Unknown
Why this score · for Atlantic Salmon
  • Temperature830% weight
  • Flow6025% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time1515% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 April → 30 SeptemberC&R
Related guides
Atlantic Salmonsalmon tacticsIrish Salmon Rivers Guidefive great salmon fisheriesConnemaraIrish fishing
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts
At a glance

Clady (Gweedore) is a spate river in North West / Donegal, Ireland. Its recorded elevation is about 0 m above sea level and the catchment geology is granite. The river is described as roughly 18 km long. Our data lists brown trout, salmon and sea trout here. It is classed as a salmon river. The salmon season is recorded as running from 1 April to 30 September. Best window recorded for anglers: June–August (grilse and sea trout); February–May (spring). Core methods listed: across and down wet fly (sink-tip on the rise); dry fly (summer grilse and sea trout); upstream nymph (low water). Nearby waters in our listings include Tullaghobegley / Ray at 13 km, Gweebarra at 16 km and Lackagh / Lough Beagh at 21 km.