Association Waters

River Barrow : River Figile(Black) : River Slate : Grand Canal 

River Barrow

From the Footstick Bridge to and including the Sally Island on both banks. From the Sally Island to Dunraily Bridge on the left bank.

The river from the Footstick bridge to where it meets the River Figile ( known locally as the "Point") is mainly trout fishing and is very good for early season and high water fishing. Worm and minnow fishing is very productive. As the season progresses the water levels drop and the water becomes very clear. The best fishing then is in the deeper pools dotted along this stretch of river. In the faster runs wet fly can be productive. From May on dry fly can be very good especially in the evening and early night. Good flies for this are: silver sedge, blue winged olives, sherry spinners, alders and iron blue dun. During the day in April / May hawthorns can be good.

The "Point" itself is a good pool for pike. The town stretch is generally good and is popular with the junior members. Good trout with some pike and perch can be found here with all methods working. Below the town the water slows down and is good for pike, bream, perch and roach with the occasional trout. One particularly good pool is the Coombe. This is a very deep pool with very good pike catches recorded. 

From the Coombe the river goes through the "Forestry", this is a very good section for trout with some jack pike and perch. The forestry is good for minnow, spinning and fly fishing. The water runs faster and has an average depth of three feet with some deeper pools. Fly fishing can be very good with the same flies as mentioned above. Mayfly can be productive in May/June with Green Drake's, nymphs, spent may's and grey wullf's worth a try. The mayfly hatch can be localized with trout only rising to flies in certain short stretches of river. Evening dry fly can be good with blue winged olives, sherry spinners and sedges working best. The "county stream", "yellow bin" and the "dead mans" being some of the better pools.

From the "Sally Island" to "Dunraily Bridge" fishing is only on the left bank. The water runs slower and deeper with pike and coarse fishing being the best. A verified pike of 33lbs was caught by a local angler in this part of the river. Every year several specimen pike (over 20lbs) are caught. For the bigger pike ledgered dead bait is best, although good pike can be tempted on spinners, plugs, spoons and rubber shads. Coarse fish are plentiful here but not often fished for. For an enthusiastic coarse angler this part of the river is well worth a try.

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River Figile (Black River)

From the Slate River to its confluence with the River Barrow on both banks.

The Figile runs slow and is deep. The main species of fish is pike, rudd, roach, perch and bream.  Pike fishing on the river figile is very good with the usual methods working. Fly fishing for pike is well worth a try. Trout are scarce in this river but fish of 6lbs to 7lbs have being captured. As with the River Barrow coarse fishing is not often practiced but is well worth a try. The main problem is that the fish shoal up and move about over large distances, so finding the fish can  be a problem. Perch fishing can be good in the large, deep pools. Worm fishing is the best bait for the perch but small spinners can be productive.

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River Slate

From the Bracknagh Road Bridge to its confluence with the River Figile on both banks

The Slate river is a narrow tributary of the river figile. It is a slow moving river with an average depth of four feet with some deeper pools on corners. It is not fished as much as the figile or barrow. Pike, perch and some trout can be found in this short stretch of river. Usual methods of fishing can prove successful.

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Grand Canal

From Ummeras Bridge to the M7 motorway bridge

This length of canal is around 9km. The main species of fish are tench, bream, roach, hybrids, pike, eel and carp. The canal is between 12 to 15 meters in width and between 1.5 to 1.75 meters deep, although deeper water will be found around the harbours in the town section and in the "wide waters" south of the town. Most of the association's coarse fishing is done on the canal. Parking is very good all along the canal with most of the canal easily accessible for fishing.

The "Wide Waters" holds good stocks of bream, roach, hybrids and some large tench. It is also a good section for winter pike fishing. This section is the main venue for the association's competitions with swims pegged and regularly cleaned.

The "Y" is a popular section with locals and visitor anglers. All the main species can be found here. Carp can be found here but are rarely caught.

The harbour in the town is very popular with junior anglers and it holds good stocks of bream, roach, hybrids and carp. The harbors are deeper than the main channel and provide good winter fishing.

The above areas are some of the hot spots along the canal but good fishing can be found throughout the length of the canal. Pike fishing can be good, most of the pike are smaller jack pike but larger pike can be found in deeper water. Fly fishing for pike is worth a try.

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