The Liffey's best fly-fishing water — the middle reach from Ballymore Eustace through Kilcullen and Newbridge, where the river spreads over a limestone plain, gains alkalinity from its tributaries, and produces consistent evening hatches of olives, blue-winged olives, and sedges from May through August. Wild brown trout averaging ten to twelve inches, with fish to two pounds not exceptional in good conditions. Several local clubs manage the principal beats, with day tickets typically available. The river here is accessible and not over-fished — a genuine underrated trout fishery in commuting distance of Dublin. Evening rises in June and July are the highlight: a hatch of BWO over a flat limestone glide with fish dimpling in the margins is as good as Irish chalk-stream fishing gets.

• Limestone