Spate · Mixed · East / Louth, IE

River Dee (Louth)

River Dee venue image

East coast spate river in County Louth.

Today · Closed season
Bibio
Forecast · Today
Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
45% projected
Today's fly
Bibio
Bibio
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.68 m
Lifting fast
Water temp14.0°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather15°C
WindN 31 km/h
Pressure1002 hPa
Rain · recent0.9 mm
Rain · ahead1.9 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
Ideal
14°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
Mayflies
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Damselflies & dragonflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Heather Fly

Stage: Terrestrials on topApproach: Dry flyActivity: 74%
Also:Reed Smut52%Autumn Dun37%Cinnamon Sedge29%
Peak emergence windowWeather boost12 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Heather Fly (Heather Fly, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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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 · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
Sea trout runRun
Trout seasonSeason
1
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
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Castletown River
16 km
0
Brown trout · Sea trout
River Fane
20 km
0
Brown trout
River Dee (Louth)
< 1 km
Brown trout
Ballymascanlan River
16 km
Brown trout · Sea trout
River Fane
20 km
Brown trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

East coast spate river in County Louth. Wild brown trout and occasional sea trout. Mixed geology catchment draining the Cooley peninsula hinterland. Good fly hatches: mayfly (E. danica), olives, sedges, black gnat, reed smut. Salmon and sea-trout runs in the lower river below Cappogue Bridge.

Hatches & food

EPA invertebrate monitoring on the River Dee (Louth) confirms mayflies, caddis, midges and blackflies, and freshwater shrimp and hoglice are present across its WFD segments, with stoneflies recorded too though only lightly. This is food-presence evidence from kick sampling, not a dated hatch calendar.

  • Mixed
The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity60 × 12%7.2
Conditions total= 81
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 February → 30 SeptemberClosed
  • Sea trout 1 February → 30 SeptemberClosed
  • Trout 1 March → 30 September
Related guides
ConnemaraIrish fishingEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts