Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan is not working, switch to a smaller, more imitative pattern fished slower and deeper. A change of drift angle can also make a difference.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
A gentle ripple is ideal for drifting — broadside drift covering the wind lanes should be productive.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
A good match for this venue — most conditions are close to what it fishes best in.
Upper Lough MacNean is a shared border lough on the Belcoo side of west Fermanagh. DAERA describes it as a wild venue holding brown trout alongside pike, perch, bream, roach and hybrids. It is not a neat stocked-trout fishery but a broad natural lough where trout are a secondary but still worthwhile draw. The main value of this row is that it gives anglers a realistic NI-facing guide to a useful west Fermanagh stillwater rather than leaving the area blank.
Upper Lough MacNean is a shared border lough on the Belcoo side of west Fermanagh.
Set up a broadside drift and cover the water systematically. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point. In the ripple, a bushy searching dry (Hopper, Shipman's, Elk Hair Caddis) outperforms flush emergers — it stays visible and holds the surface tension.
If the main plan is not working, switch to a smaller, more imitative pattern fished slower and deeper. A change of drift angle can also make a difference.
Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.
A gentle ripple is ideal for drifting — broadside drift covering the wind lanes should be productive.
Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.
A good match for this venue — most conditions are close to what it fishes best in.
Upper Lough MacNean is a shared border lough on the Belcoo side of west Fermanagh. DAERA describes it as a wild venue holding brown trout alongside pike, perch, bream, roach and hybrids. It is not a neat stocked-trout fishery but a broad natural lough where trout are a secondary but still worthwhile draw. The main value of this row is that it gives anglers a realistic NI-facing guide to a useful west Fermanagh stillwater rather than leaving the area blank.
