Stillwater · Peat · West / Mayo, IE

Carrowmore Lake

Long view down the length of Carrowmore Lake, County Mayo.

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

Today · Closed season
Claret Bumble
Forecast · Today
Closed season
Out of season. File this water for the right month.
40% projected
Today's fly
Claret Bumble
Claret Bumble
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via Owenmore at Owenmore Bridge (Erriff system)
Water temp9.4°C
ClarityVery coloured
Weather9°C
WindN 35 km/h
Pressure1003 hPa
Rain · recent0.7 mm
Rain · ahead0.6 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from Owenmore at Owenmore Bridge (Erriff system). The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Atlantic Salmon
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
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.
Likely species
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 10am

12pm(now) — Black Midge

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 21%

Peak activity at 10am — Black Midge

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

Supporters see what else is on the menu.

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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 · November highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Heather FlyHatch
2
2
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
3
2
Claret DunHatch
2
3
2
Murrough (Great Red Sedge)Hatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Atlantic Salmon fly box

Connemara/Mayo low water: a lightly-dressed shrimp on a floating line with sink tip, sized down from 8s in cold spring water to 12s and 14s as summer water warms and clears. Where the current runs faster, a slim tube or hairwing swung through tracks better than a shrimp.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Carrowmore Lake, Co
  • Check local access arrangements
  • State rod licence required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Gallery · 4
  1. Long view down the length of Carrowmore Lake, County Mayo.
    Looking down Carrowmore Lake
  2. View to the northern end of Carrowmore Lake, County Mayo.
    Northern end of Carrowmore Lake
  3. Shoreline of Carrowmore Lake, Erris, County Mayo.
    Shore of Carrowmore Lake
  4. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

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. For 2026 this remains an open fishery — salmon may be retained in season under the Wild Salmon & Sea Trout Tagging Scheme and bag limits, with catch-and-release at other times.

Hatches & food

No venue-specific hatch data yet; as a Mayo/Sligo Atlantic oligotrophic upland lough, expect the general stillwater food base of buzzers, olives and sedges typical of this water type — treat this as a general expectation, not an observed hatch.

  • Lough system
  • Peat
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD updated 2026-06-18: ecological status Good → Moderate (EEA WISE 2022, 3rd RBMP) and code normalized IE_WE_33_1914 → IEWE_33_1914 (EPA national format → WISE euSurfaceWaterBodyCode; same water body). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu). | Prior note: EPA WFD 2019-2024 (lake layer) — Lough Carrowmore: Good ecological status. Re-tagged 2026-06-18 from IEWE_32C010250 (a river/stream water body, not the lough) to the lough's own EPA lake water body. Source: EPA Ireland WFD 2019-2024 classification (catchments.ie / EDEN).

EPA (Ireland) · IEWE_33_1914

The full read · show the working · for Atlantic Salmon · confidence 75%
How the river scores — hydrology factors
Water heightMedium Ideal0.0
Recent riseNone0.0
Falling after liftNot Applicable0.0
Water temperatureCool To Moderate0.0
Time in seasonOpening Period0.0
ClarityClearing0.0
Hydrology base0.0
Legal gate: Unknown Check Local Rules
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Owenmore at Owenmore Bridge (Erriff system)proxy
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 1 February → 30 September
Related guides
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts
At a glance

Carrowmore Lake is a lough system in West / Mayo, Ireland. The catchment geology is recorded as peat, and the water sits at about 6 m above sea level. Species listed for this water: brown trout, salmon and sea trout. It is classed as a salmon river. The salmon season is recorded as running from 1 February to 30 September. Best window recorded for anglers: June–September; salmon and sea trout peak July–August. Core methods listed: wet fly from boat on the lough; dapping in strong wind; across and down on the outfall river. Its Water Framework Directive ecological status is recorded as moderate. Nearby waters in our listings include Owenmore (Erris) at 6.0 km, Glenamoy River at 12 km and Owenduff at 21 km.