Stillwater · Peat · West / Mayo

Carrowmore Lake

Carrowmore Lake venue image
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One of very few stillwaters in the British Isles where spring salmon are regularly taken by fly from a drifting boat.

Species

Decent — worth a look

Low and clear — careful approach country. Low water tactics — small singles, riffling hitch in the smooth glides.

50% confidence in this read
Water temperature for atlantic salmon
Cool — slow
7°C est.ideal 10–14°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for atlantic salmon
  • Temperature3530% weight
  • Flow4525% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time1015% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
7.0°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
10°C
Wind
W 37 km/h
Fresh breeze
Pressure
1008 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.3 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
23.9 mm
Moderate rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

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.
Why this works
Fair conditions. Clarity is favourable (95), Feeding time is weakest (10).
Through the year
0–3 scale · May highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
Hawthorn FlyHatch
1
1
Flying AntsHatch
1
1

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

Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Carrowmore Lake, Co
  • Check local access arrangements
  • State rod licence required.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
About this water

One of very few stillwaters in the British Isles where spring salmon are regularly taken by fly from a drifting boat. Carrowmore Lake sits in the Bangor Erris district of north Mayo — 2,300 acres of peaty lough system raised slightly by a small dam in the 1980s, ringed by bog and supplied by the Glencullin and Oweninny systems. Spring fish average 7lb and double-figure fish are a regular occurrence; sea trout from mid-June. The productive drifts concentrate on Bog Bay, Paradise Bay, and the mouth of the Glencullin river. Fish it like a lough, not a river — a team of wets worked slowly across a broadside drift, with a Green Peter or large Dabbler on the bob in any kind of breeze.

  • Lough system
  • Peat
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon1 February → 30 September
Other water nearby · 5