Irish Salmon

In Ireland we have only one species of salmon and that is  the Atlantic salmon.   The number of salmon anglers in Ireland are exceeded only by the quantity of the salmon that are here to be caught.

It's the northern and western rivers and lough systems of Ireland that have the prolific runs of salmon.  In the north of the country where the rivers are larger and fed by a multitude of streams that drain from the uplands, the salmon runs are, more less, constant the year through.  In the west of Ireland the rivers are smaller and tend to be part of a larger system of upland loughs.  From the sea they come as grilse, young salmon, making their way back into the system for the first time after, perhaps only a year at sea.   Later in the season, around July, the mature Atlantic salmon make their way around the Irish headlands and  into the sea loughs that dot our rugged coastline.  Here they wait for the rain on distant, dark Irish hills that swells the rivers and streams that will be the salmon's highway into those loughs and eventually into the upland streams where their spawning redds are to be found.  Unlike many species of North American salmon, our Atlantic variety will complete their spawning ritual and return to the sea for another winter.  It is from here they will return to give the Irish angler more sport the following year.