Limestone · West / Clare

Fergus

Fergus terrain map
Terrain map

Clare limestone trout river with excellent populations of wild brown trout.

Marginal · Brown Trout
Pheasant Tail Nymph · 14-18
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
Low and clear — careful approach country. Cover and shadow are doing the work today.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.36 mLast reading 1h ago
  • Water temp18.3°C
  • ClarityClear
Today’s fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph14-18
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.36 m
Last reading 1h ago
Water temp18.3°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindNW 15 km/h
Pressure1026 hPa
Rain · recent6.5 mm
Rain · ahead2.0 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for brown trout
Warm — slow
18.3°Cideal 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
⚠️ Water at 18.3°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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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 · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Free state water
State rod licence required for trout / salmon as applicable.
  • Clare limestone river
  • Mixed access
  • Ennis Anglers control some stretches
  • State rod licence required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here at 18.3°C. Nothing cooler within range.
About this water

Clare limestone trout river with excellent populations of wild brown trout. Spring-fed and consistently clear — you can see every fish. The limestone enrichment produces superb mayfly hatches from mid-May. Good dry-fly fishing from April onwards. Sight-fishing is productive on calm days. A technically demanding limestone river that rewards observation and accuracy.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD code normalized 2026-06-18: IE_SH_27F010100 → IESH_27F010100 (EPA national format → EEA WISE euSurfaceWaterBodyCode; same water body, now joinable to WISE). Status confirmed against EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP). Source: discodata.eea.europa.eu. | Prior note: EPA WFD 2019-2024 — River Fergus upper limestone reach (FERGUS_010): Good status. Corrected 2026-06-18 from IESH_27R010700 (a tributary/wrong river). Source: EPA Ireland WFD 2019-2024 classification (catchments.ie / EDEN).

EPA (Ireland) · IESH_27F010100

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 80%
How the 38 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature51 × 28%14.3
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity57 × 12%6.8
Conditions total= 67
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout15 February → 30 September
Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts