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RIVER LEANNAN (Lennon)
Bye-law No. 888 of 2011 prohibits the use of any fish hooks, other than single barbless hooks, and the use of worms, prawn or shrimp as bait in angling for all species of fish on this river. The full list of waters this bye law applies to is available at the following link:ANGLING BYE-LAW NO. 888, 2011 (Prohibition of certain methods) (13.42 kB) [.pdf, 14 KB]
The fishery comprises the River Lennon, Lough Fern and Lough Gartan. The Leannan is a 30-mile long river, flowing from the heart of the Glendowan Mountains to lough Swilly at Rathmelton.
The River Lennon below Lough Fern contains numerous brown trout and these run to fair proportions with fish of up to 5lb caught and good numbers of 3lb fish recorded each season, often on dry flies. The river between Lough Gartan and Lough Fern also contains numerous brown trout though it seems not so many of these attain the size of the fish below Fern.
Note: The section of the River Lennon downstream of the Drummonahan Bridge (Watt’s Pool) is privately owned
Lough Fern is a very productive trout fishery with brownies around 1lb and 2lb fairly common and trout of 5lb plus are caught on occasion. It is a shallow lough of 447 acres. The western shore is the preferred area for bank fishing but the lough is best fished from a boat. Recommended flies are the Mallard & Claret, Connemara Black, Black Pennell, Wickham’s Fancy, Bibio and sedge patterns. Sport can be good throughout the season and especially in the spring when buzzers are hatching.
Lough Gartan is a fairly large lough measuring 506 acres and is good brown trout fishery being home to a large resident population of free rising brown trout averaging between ¼ and ½ lbs. While there is no jetty as such, it is fairly easy to launch a boat.
Season
- The salmon and sea trout season runs from January 1st to September 30th inclusive.
- The brown trout season runs from February 15th to September 30th inclusive.
Permits/Licences
There are no permit requirements at present for the Lennon upstream of the Rathmelton Fishery Company stretch.
Salmon licences are available from:
- Joseph Gallagher, 15 Lower Main Street, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
Tel: (074) 9121583
Boat Hire – Lough Fern.
Boat hire is €20 per day, Lough Fern only. Day permits and boat hire for Lough Fern available from:
- Spar shop,kilmacrennan 07491 39322
- Gavin Duffy(letterkenny & District Anglers Ass.) 0863899810


