Spate · Granite · East / Wicklow, IE

River Dargle (Tinnehinch Fishery)

The River Dargle flowing through a green park in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, with the Wicklow Mountains in the background.

One of Ireland's prime sea-trout rivers within striking distance of Dublin — a short Wicklow spate stream rising on Djouce, dropping through Powerscourt and Enniskerry, and entering the Irish Sea at Bray Harbour.

Tomorrow · Closed season
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Forecast · Tomorrow
Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
45% projected
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Conditions on the water · Tomorrow
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.99 m
Lifting fast
Water temp9.5°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather9°C
WindN 41 km/h
Pressure987 hPa
Rain · recent14.3 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Cool — slow
10°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.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · tomorrowPeak at 1pm

12pm(now) — Autumn Needle Fly

Stage: Creeping nymphsApproach: Heavy nymphActivity: 39%
Also:Iron Blue37%
Peak emergence window3 food groups active

Peak activity at 1pm — Iron Blue (Iron Blue, Weather boost)

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sea trout runRun
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
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Tinnehinch Fishery — fly-only, ~1 mile from Tinnehinch Bridge downstream to the top of the Dargle Glen gorge
  • Evening tickets traditionally available
  • Book direct with Hugh Duff, Tinnehinch House, Enniskerry (+353 1 286 8652) — flyfishingwicklow.com
  • State rod licence required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
River Dodder
17 km
0
Brown trout · Sea trout
River Vartry
19 km
0
Sea trout · Brown trout
River Tolka
22 km
0
Brown trout
Bohernabreena Reservoirs
15 km
Brown trout
Annamoe Trout Fishery
19 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. The River Dargle flowing through a green park in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland, with the Wicklow Mountains in the background.
    River Dargle - Bray Town In County Wicklow (Ireland)
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

One of Ireland's prime sea-trout rivers within striking distance of Dublin — a short Wicklow spate stream rising on Djouce, dropping through Powerscourt and Enniskerry, and entering the Irish Sea at Bray Harbour. The Tinnehinch Fishery downstream of the bridge at Enniskerry is the fly-only stretch most visitors will fish — about a mile of water down to the top of the Dargle Glen gorge, with evening tickets traditionally available and the best sea-trout fishing at and after dusk. Sea trout the headline; small salmon run also present. Bookings through Hugh Duff at Tinnehinch House — flyfishingwicklow.com markets the adjacent stocked-rainbow lake as the lead product, but the river beat is the serious offering for the dedicated sea-trout angler.

Hatches & food

EPA monitoring on the Dargle at Tinnehinch confirms mayflies, stoneflies and a notably rich caddis population — including several Rhyacophila species — alongside chironomids, blackflies, shrimp and hoglice, marking it out as a food-rich small spate river.

  • Granite
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Unknown
  • Chemical: Unknown
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 45%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature78 × 28%21.8
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity15 × 18%2.7
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity44 × 12%5.3
Limiting factor: Water is very coloured — too coloured for Brown Trout= 62
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
A drop and clear would lift the flow and clarity scores.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Sea trout 1 May → 30 SeptemberClosed
  • Trout 15 February → 30 September
Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts