The Monaghan Blackwater rises near the Bragan mountains and runs through Monaghan town toward the Ulster Blackwater at Caledon. It carries wild and stocked brown trout, and increasingly the Dollaghan — the fast-growing migratory trout of Lough Neagh, which runs the river and is best fished after dark, much as you would fish for sea trout. A small salmon run arrives late in the season. Monaghan Anglers Association stocks and manages the water; day tickets are about €5.
Hatches & food
A limestone-influenced drumlin river with decent olive and sedge hatches; midges and sedges matter most after dark for the Dollaghan and sea trout, which behave like night-feeding sea trout rather than dry-fly risers.
- Mixed
