Lough Arrow Guiding with Jackie Mahon

I provide professional guiding services on Lough Arrow, located in the West of Ireland.

Lough Arrow is by far our most popular destination and a hidden gem when it comes to Wild Brown Trout fishing. It is one of the great Irish trout fishing loughs, where our target, Wild Brown Trout, weighs from 1.5lb to 6lb.

A short 20 minute drive from Sligo on the main Dublin road (the N4), lies Lough Arrow, one of Ireland's famous fly fishing Trout lakes. This freshwater lake lies mostly in County Sligo with a smaller part in Roscommon. The lake covers an area of 12.47 square kilometres, and with it's beautiful islands and long rush seedbeds it gives long drifts which makes it a dream for dry fly or wetfly fishing for the visiting angler.

Lough Arrow is a limestone lough incredibly rich with wildlife and fly life, it is mainly spring fed but also has some feeder streams. The season opens on the first of April and it is definitely worth a cast. Fishing over the month of April consists of buzzer, dry fly or pulling over the shallows. The best news is the trout have seen little pressure with Arrow only opening and the trout are eager to grab a fly. Make sure you have extra clothing and layering as April can be quite cold. Some good evening fishing can be had which consists of fishing dry buzzer into the dark (please see my blog on fishing arrow in April).

May is one of the key months on Lough Arrow for fishing, with large hatches of Mayfly appearing. Fishing this time of the month can be outstanding on both dry mayflys and wet style mayfly and trout are usually free rising in most parts of the Lough. Later in the month the Spent fishing takes over and we see the larger fish coming up from the deeps and often getting caught and sometimes getting lost, with some fish coming in around the 7lb mark.

Caenis fishing
June gets some excellent fishing with Caenis starting to appear and some early morning fishing to be had. "Early morning" on Arrow means 5am to 10am! This fishing is for the more advanced angler as these fish spook very easily and casting has to be spot on. Throughout the month we see Murrough and Caddis starting to appear more and fishing dry or wet style patterns can be good.

Green Peter fishing
July sees Mayfly starting to appear again and also sees a fall of Soldier Beetles. Fishing can be excellent with Trout free rising again on both Mayfly and Beetle. Lough Arrow is one of the few lakes that still gets a hatch of Green Peter and fishing Peter into the dark, from 6pm til dark, can produce some great fish. August and September also offers some good fishing with Olives appearing and still some small Sedges around, Dry fly and Wet fly fishing can be quite awarding.

Lough Arrow is definitely one of my favourite fishing spots and my favourite office to work from.

Jackie and Tom on Arrow

You can arrange booking with me throughout the year using email (mahonjackie@gmail.com), or through the details on my contact page. Please note that if we don't answer your query straight away, that means we are out on the water guiding and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Once bookings are made, I will contact you a few days in advance to talk about conditions, directions and times.

Where do we meet?
We meet up in the morning at Ballinafad Pier:
(click to view on Google Maps)

There is a very comprehensive guide to Lough Arrow on the Fishing in Ireland website, including their Angling Guide and map (pdf).

Please note: We fish rain or shine, unless the weather is deemed unsafe by Jackie. In the event of dangerous weather, we will reschedule for a future date.

To learn more please scroll down to the sections below or click these links:
- "Let's Go Fishing..." options throughout the season
- Accommodation around lough Arrow
- Other activities around Arrow

Let's Go Fishing in March

1^st of March sees it all kicking off with some great fishing to be had pulling Wet flies over rocky shore lines, or in shallow bays or around the islands and it can be deadly. Towards the end of March we start to see the first signs of Duck fly appearing and fish starting to move on the surface.

Places we fish in March:
- Lough Erne
- Guides Choice 1
- Lough Melvin

Let's Go Fishing in April

April can offer some fantastic fishing from Duckfly to Olives and even mayfly towards the end of April. Mayfly start to appear on certain loughs and Trout can be seen feeding on them. The month of April is sometimes considered the start of Lough style fishing in Ireland. The best methods at this time of year are often Dry fly, Buzzer and Wet fly.

Places we fish in April:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Lough Melvin
- Guides Choice 1
- End of April For Mayfly in Lough Key and Guides choice 2

Let's Go Fishing in May

It's what I call Mayfly Magic, when Irish Loughs will start to see Mayfly appearing again. This time of year offers some of the best fishing to had here in Ireland. Fishing consists of Green drakes and Spent gnat fishing into the dark, with Trout feeding hard on Mayfly. Trout are often caught in the 8lb mark and best methods are Dry Mayfly, Mayfly nymphs and Wet Mayfly. For the first week of May we usually guide on Lough Key and Guides Choice 2. The last week in May we usually switch our attention to Lough Erne and Lough Melvin.

Places we fish in May:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Guides Choice 2
- Lough Melvin
- Lough Key

Let's Go Fishing in June

Early June still sees some Mayfly hatches and Spent Gnat fishing in some locations into the evening. Fishing can still be very good with Browns feeding hard on them. As the weather gets calm and warm, we start to see Caenis appearing and this fishing can be quite exciting with shoals of Trout feeding hard on the surface. This sort of fishing is not for everyone as it is early morning starts, it can be as early as 4am, your casting must be good and precise as false casting overhead will scare the fish, and fishing tackle must be light.

June often sees the start of the Grilse (Salmon) and Seatrout run in the famous Glencar Lake and offers the Anglers some great opportunity to catch either one.

Places we fish in June:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Glencar Lake
- Lough Melvin
- Guides Choice 1

Let's Go Fishing in July

July sees the second hatch of Mayfly and Olives appearing on some Irish Loughs. Fishing again can be excellent and with good hatches of Mayfly trout can often be seen rising freely. July is also a month in which we see large number of Sedges appearing. Arrow is one of the few Loughs that still gets a good hatch of Peters in July and fishing Peter and buzzer into the Dark can be quite rewarding. Lough Arrow also gets a good fall of Soldier beetles and fishing beetle patterns over these rising fish can provide great sport.

Places we fish in July:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Glencar Lake
- Guides Choice 1
- Lough Melvin

Let's Go Fishing in August

August once again can offer some great sport for the angler, with some of the best Sedge fishing to be had either on Dry or Wet Sedge patterns. Fishing over drop offs or in deeper water for fish feeding on Daphnia can be very exciting and rewarding. Later in August we start to see Perch and Roach Fry appearing and fish starting to hit these shoals of Fry.

Places we fish in August:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Glencar Lake
- Guides Choice 1
- Lough Melvin

Let's Go Fishing in September

September is the start of the wind down for Trout fishing in Ireland and also gives some of the best fishing to be had from fishing Drys to pulling Wet Flies. The fishing can be outstanding and is definitely one of my favourite months to be out on the water, with fish feeding hard and putting on the pounds to spawn its a must for any angler to get out on the water. We practice Catch and Release for these spawning fish.

Places we fish in September:
- Lough Arrow
- Lough Erne
- Glencar Lake
- Guides Choice 1
- Lough Melvin

Accommodation around Lough Arrow

Other Activities around Lough Arrow

If you're having a break from fishing or would like to see other attractions in the area around Lough Arrow