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While Ireland's Western Fisheries Region is best known for its game and
sea angling, it also has some excellent coarse angling waters. In
the Moycullen Lake District, there are eleven coarse fishing lakes,
all holding bream, roach, rudd, perch, eel, pike and roach/bream
hybrids. There are bait suppliers locally but one needs to arrange
in good time to place orders for supplies.
The Moycullen lakes range in
size from 6 to 400 acres. The Western Regional Fisheries Board has developed
a number of them to incorporate quality fishing stands, stiles and foot
bridges. Two stands were specially built for disabled anglers along Oliver's
Shore at Ballyquirke Lake and one at Ross Lake. With the newly created
facilities there are now several hundred "swims" available at
the lakes. These lakes are also good for pike, many fish weighing over
20 lb. Pike to 30 lb have been caught in the past on Ballyquirke Lake.
There are over 40 pike lakes
within the Western Fisheries Region, many of them hardly ever fished.
Pike are transferred from some trout and salmon waters to a number of
small pike lakes in the region.
Some six miles from Tuam, Co.
Galway, Lough Aclaureen is a small but impressive water holding, roach,
tench, and bream. It has 14 excellent fishing stands. There is parking
200 yards from the shore and a walkway thereafter over fairly rough forest
grounds. The Western Regional Fisheries Board built the fishing stands
and hopefully will improve on better access. The lough has directional
signs along the road between Tuam and Kilmaine.
 The
three Castlereagh Lakes, near Irishtown, in Co. Mayo, have 26 first-class
fishing stands plus two for disabled anglers. Bream go to over 5 lb and
skimmers, roach and rudd are plentiful. Cloondroon Lake, in the same area
, has bream, rudd, roach and perch. Irishtown is just a few miles from
Ballindine village, Co. Mayo, and not really more than 10 miles from Claremorris.
Both Clare Lake and Mayfield
Lake, beside the town of Claremorris, hold bream to several lb, as well
as some perch and pike. Lough na Nannagh holds bream, perch and pike,
whilst Summerville Lake at Moylough has rudd and a good stock of pike.
There is a small brochure available
on coarse fishing from the WRFB and from Ireland West Tourism, Galway
City.
This map shows the Moycullen
lakes where the angler can enjoy some excellent fishing for roach, bream
and pike. All the lakes have directional signs and there are detailed
access maps available from the Western Regional Fisheries Board
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The Coarse fish bye law provides for the following conservation measures:
- a bag limit of 4 coarse fish in any one day,
- prohibits the killing of any coarse fish greater than 25 cm in length,
- prohibits the sale of any coarse fish in Ireland (excluding NI), this provision will not apply to fishing tackle dealers and fish bait suppliers who have been granted an exemption from their respective Regional Fisheries Board.
The pike bye law provides for the following conservation measures:
- a bag limit of 1 Pike in any one day,
- prohibits the killing of any pike more than 50 cm in length,
- prohibits the possession by any person of more than 1 whole pike less than 50 cm or more than 0.75 kgs of pike flesh, this provision does not apply to a person storing pike or pike parts subject to conditions,
- prohibits the possession by any person of more than 12 coarse fish for use as bait subject to conditions.
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