Angling in County Cavan

Fishing around Arva

GARTY LAKE
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. Located on the deg of town, this is a fine water but with difficult access on foot that is only really possible with summer water levels. Well worth trying for large roach and some bream on a waggler, pole or feeder.

HOLLYBANK LAKE
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, pike and perch.  Bream fishing can be outstanding on this lake but they are best targeted on a breezy day and you need to fish into the wind.  Preparing a swim by groundbaiting the evening before is worthwhile and then attack with a bread feeder, caster, bunches of red maggots and worm.  Easy access with car park.

ROSDUFF SHORE
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, pike and perch.  Very popular shoreline that is part of the Gowna complex and regularly produces mixed catches including bream to 5lb. All methods work but for a heavy net of bream the groundbait feeder will be most productive.

Fishing around Bailieboro

Castle Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, tench, pike and perch. There is good bank fishing into depths of about 5 metres using a crumb feeder at 40 metres and a great chance of getting among bream to 4lb.

Drumkeary Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, and perch. There is plenty of bank fishing and some of the best entails a walk along the far bank. Rarely fished by visitors these days despite its ability to throw up big hauls of bream.

Fishing around Ballyconnell

Killywilly Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, tench, pike and perch.  This is a prolific bream water but really needs tackling at first light or during the evening.  Daytime sport can be good but often relies upon shoals of roach and hybrids.

Cuillaghan Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, tench, pike and perch.  Joined to Killywilly by a stream, it has the same species and occasional quality rudd.  Sadly the access is restricted and – despite being a big water – there are a small number of swims available.

Derrycassan Lake
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. Hybrids abound on Derrycassan, a lake that forms part of the Shannon-Erne Waterway, with good helpings of roach and bream too. Local farmers allow access to the water’s edge during dry weather but otherwise it is a 100 metre walk to the best pegs. A waggler will catch fish but a crumb feeder at range is best of all.

Fishing around Bawnboy

Brackley Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, pike and perch.  The ‘flagship’ fishery for this welcoming village and more than capable of giving competent anglers a three-figure half of bream.  Prospect point is the best area there is plenty of bankside space and fish are likely to appear anywhere.  Fishing into an average of 3 metres depth and a groundbait feeder is the top method.

Bunerky Lake
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, pike and perch.  Plenty of bank space and quality fishing for roach and hybrids, and it is a good venue for waggler fishing into about 3 metres of water.

Fishing around Belturbet

River Erne at Bakers Bridge
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, tench and pike. Fish the slow-flowing deeper pool either side of the river, above the bridge for bream for a chance of the best sport. Try a bread feeder for bream at 30 metres, or use a waggler in the margins for hybrids, roach and tench. The shallow water swims just below the bridge fish the stick float for roach and hybrids

River Erne at Carratraw
Expect roach, hybrids, pike and perch. Very reliable for early season fishing – March to May – when fish move into the river from Inishmuck Lake to spawn. Ideal for stick float, though fish can be caught on a pole or feeder rig.

Putiaghan Lake
Expect bream, roach, tench and perch. New fishing stands will help to attract anglers back to this lake, which was famous for big tench in the 1970s and early 80s, but now producing plenty of bream and roach. It is any method water but better tackled early or late in the day.

Fishing around Cootehill

Drumlona Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, tench, pike and perch. The best catch returns are from mid-June until late October with early morning and evening producing the best sport. There can be good sport from the ‘rocks’ into 4 metres of water, though the best chance of bream is long range feeder fishing from the main bank.  A good all-round water where most methods work.

Corravoo Lake
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. There have been some fine nets of roach and hybrids taken on the waggler but any chance of bream tends to be with a groundbait feeder.  A scenic water that starts producing in spring and runs through until autumn.

Annaghmakerrig Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. Set in woodland, this is a popular water that consistently gives good sport with a distance-feeder gear for bream or a straight bomb and groundbait for roach. It is important that cars are parked in the lay-bys along the shoreline and not left on the main lane.

Lisnalong Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. More adventurous anglers can hire boats locally and find a quiet shoreline for pre-baiting – which almost guarantees a great net of bream. The fish here will respond to most baits and styles of fishing from May until late September.

Fishing around Killeshandra

Eonish Lake
Expect bream, skimmers, roach, hybrids, tench, pike and perch. This is a lake famous for its terrific fishing and well used during festival time in September.  However, there is always plenty of room and some of the biggest bream catches are made away from the usual competition sections. Long pole and groundbait feeders are key methods with the usual array of baits.

Town Lake
Expect bream, roach, hybrids, pike and perch. Easy access and plenty of fish would be the boast of this fishery, which can be relied upon to provide plenty of bites but is more likely to show good form soon after dawn.

Lough Oughter at Killykeen Forest Park
Expect roach, hybrids and perch; some bream and tench. The ‘Cut’ is an usual narrow channel with moving water that can be tackled with a stick float or pole and is at its best from June through until October. The sandy bottom of the ‘Swimming Beach’ is often sheltered even in the hardest winds and can produce bream to 5lb on crumb feeder at about 35 metres into 4 metres of water

Deralk Lake
Expect bream, roach, and tench.  A small water that bloomed last summer with some outstanding tench fish – and nobody realised they were there! Pole tackle with strong elastic or an open-ended feeder are the likeliest to catch fish.

Fishing around Virginia

Lough Ramor
Expect bream, roach, hybrids and big pike.  Primarily shallow water but crammed with fish that will come to any method, especially when there is a steady breeze and a nice wave on the water. Winter pike fishing is terrific but really needs tackling from a boat with engine and fish-finder because they tend to congregate in the deeper water towards the middle of the lake.

Wherever you fish in Ireland, the chances of catching fish are hugely improved by pre-baiting to attract fish into your chosen swim.  Ideally this is done the evening before (or for a couple of days)using breadcrumb or local maize meal carrying particle baits such as sweetcorn, boiled wheat, hemp and pellets.