Shannon & Midlands
Athlone sits almost exactly at the centre of Ireland, on the River Shannon just south of Lough Ree, and functions as the natural base for fishing this entire system. The Shannon is Ireland's longest river at 344km, and between Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg it forms one of the largest and most consistently productive coarse and pike fisheries in Europe — bream, roach, tench, rudd, hybrids and pike in genuinely large numbers, much of it free fishing with no state licence required for coarse species.
This is boat-friendly water in a way many UK fisheries aren't — cruiser hire is common along the Shannon, and a lot of the best bream and pike marks on the loughs are only really accessible, or fish far better, from a boat rather than the bank. That said, there's still plenty of productive shore fishing directly around Athlone and at the smaller angling centres strung along the river.
The Shannon system
Lough Ree
The second-largest lake on the Shannon, stretching 26km north from Athlone. A genuine mixed fishery — pike to 30lb reported annually, plus bream, roach, tench and brown trout. Best bream/roach bays include Portrunny, Hudson Bay and around Coosan Point; pike fishing is strong around Lanesborough and the many islands.
Pike · Bream · RoachLough Derg
The largest lake on the Shannon, between Killaloe and Portumna. Holds big bream, tench, roach and perch, plus a distinctive migratory brown trout variant known locally as the "Croneen." Two Mile Gate near Killaloe has developed fishing stands known for consistent big bream catches.
Bream · Trout · PikeRiver Shannon (Athlone to Shannonbridge)
The stretch of main river between the two lakes is heavily fished from both towns — deep water close to Athlone town is known for large "Shannon" bream shoals, and the river down to Shannonbridge and Banagher offers further mixed coarse and pike marks.
Bream · PikeRiver Inny
A Shannon tributary flowing into the north of Lough Ree — a notable pike water in its own right, with many bridge access points along its length, and historically the route by which roach first entered the Shannon system.
PikeEels
The Killaloe eel weir
The Shannon is home to Ireland's major eel fishery, historically centred on the eel weir at Killaloe where migrating silver eels are caught each autumn — the fishery rights across the whole Shannon, Erne, Lee and Liffey catchments belong to the ESB, which also runs an elver restocking programme each spring. Eels remain genuinely common throughout the system, but rod-and-line anglers cannot target them — any eel caught incidentally must be returned to the water.
EelsAngling centres
Athlone
The main hub for the whole system — boat hire, tackle shops and direct access to the River Shannon, Lough Ree and the lower River Inny all within the town.
Shannonbridge
Roughly halfway between Lough Derg and Lough Ree, with around 14 miles of described fishing hotspots along the river between Clonmacnoise and Banagher.
Killaloe & Portumna
The two main bases for fishing Lough Derg, both with established boat hire and tackle shops.
General guide only — coarse fishing in the Republic of Ireland is free and requires no state licence, but a licence is required for trout and salmon, and some stretches or lakes require a local permit. Always confirm current access and any local rules directly before fishing.
Check today's conditions for Shannon & Midlands →