River Drowes

River Drowes Guide

The River Drowes rises out of Lough Melvin and takes a Westerly course for just under 5 miles until it enters the sea just above Tullaghan. It really is a great spring fishery, and is managed primarily by the Drowes Salmon Fishery at the Lareen estate. Patrick Bradley does have a little fishing on parts of the right bank.

Fishing the River Drowes.

The Drowes is one of the early rivers in Donegal, opening on the 1st of January. It often accounts for the first rod caught Salmon of the year in the whole of Ireland. Indeed it has become somewhat of a spectator sport, watching when the first Salmon will be caught on the Drowes. There is no shortage of anglers willing to brave the cold Irish January weather, in order to be the first to bank a bar of Silver.

The Mill Pool on the Drowes.

The first section of the River Drowes from Lough Melvin down to the Four Masters Bridge is mostly for those anglers staying at the holiday bungalows at Lareen Park. This run is composed of lots great fly fishing streams, punctuated by some nice pools.

The second section runs from the Four Masters Bridge down to Lennox's Bridge. It's also a fast flowing part of the Drowes, which fishes best in medium to low water.

Just below Lennox's Bridge. Good spot for fish.

The third and last section runs from Lennox's Bridge down to the Tullaghan Bridge, and the Sea pools. The upper part of this run is nice streamy water, whilst the lower part is deeper and relatively slower water. The original Sea pool is at the bottom of this run and can offer a good chance of a fish at high tide.

Although the fishing starts on the 1st of January, the spring fish don't start running in any great numbers until the start of February. The spring fishing remains good through to April and May. The Drowes also gets some summer and autumn fish.

The final stretch to the sea at Tullaghan (Photo by Louise Price).

The Grilse run starts at the end of May and continues to its peak through June and July. The river doesn't get much of a run of Sea Trout, but during June and July evenings, you've got a chance of a Gillaroo. These are Lough Melvin trout, which are a Golden colour. You'll need to switch over to small white flies for these, snail feeding trout. There is also good Brown Trout fishing on the Drowes but it is mostly ignored in favour of the Salmon.

River Drowes at the Island Pool.

The Drowes can be fished mostly from the banks, where an 11 footer should be sufficient to cover most of the runs, in normal conditions. In windy conditions you may want to switch over to something a big bigger at around 14 or 15 feet. The River is mostly shallow but wading isn't encouraged. Still, if you're going, take the waders just in case. The Wilkinson Shrimp, Apache Shrimp, Foxford Shrimp and the Bann Special are all good for taking fish.

River Drowes Tributaries

No River Drowes tributaries listed.

River Drowes Neighbouring Rivers

River Abbey
River Duff (Bunduff)
River Grange
River Murvagh (Blackwater)

Fishing the River Drowes

River Drowes Season

Salmon - 1st January - 30th September
Sea Trout - 1st January - 30th September
Brown Trout - 15th February - 30th September

River Drowes Methods

Bubble Fly
Fly Fishing
Shrimp and Prawn
Spinning
Worming

River Drowes Fishing Authority

To fish in Ireland you need a rod license from the appropriate fishing authority. You can find the details for the River Drowes at:

Northern Fisheries Management

River Drowes Permits

As well as a rod license, you'll need a permit to fish the River Drowes. You can get permits from any of the following distributors:

Drowes Salmon Fishery
Lareen Estate
Kinlough
Tel: +353 (0)71 984 1055

Patrick Bradley
Magheracar
Bundoran

River Drowes Clubs

No River Drowes clubs listed.

River Drowes Ratings

River Drowes Fishing Conditions

River Drowes Status

Bag Limits

There is an angling bag limit of 10 salmon (any size) or sea trout (over 40 cm).

NOTE: The bag limits are subject to any quota allocated to a river and its tributaries. You should check locally when buying your permit.

Subject to the maximum annual bag limit of ten fish, an angler may take:

- A season bag limit of 3 fish in the period 1 Jan to 11 May.
- A daily bag limit of 3 fish from 12 May to 31 August.
- A daily bag limit of 1 fish from 1 September to the end of the season.
- You must use single hooks and not use worms as bait, once the specified number of fish have been caught in the specified periods.
- Please note that no sea trout of any size caught in the Western Region or the Clew Bay area of the North Western Region can be retained.

After the daily bag limit has been taken, anglers are permitted to fish catch and release, using single barbless hooks and there is a ban on the use of worms.

Local Restrictions

Some rivers impose their own local restrictions so when you are going to buy your permit for the River Drowes, please check with the distributor.