River Fane

River Fane Guide

The River Fane flows out of Lough Ross in a South Easterly direction, past the villages of Inniskeen and Knockbridge, on its way into the Dundalk Bay, just below Blackrock.

The tributaries of the Fane rise in counties Monaghan and Armagh and together with the main river, they form over 30 miles of water. The lower part of the Fane is affected by the tide up as far as Craig's pool, just below Stephenstown Bridge (the N52 crossing).

Wide open banks on the Fane.

The longest of the tributaries is the Mullaghduff River (also known as the Little Fane or the County Water), which flows into Lough Muckno from the North East side.

Lough Muckno is just upstream of Lough Ross and the two are connected by the River Clarebane, but this is all part of the Fane system. The two other tributaries are the Frankfort River and the Drumleak River, both of which flow into Lough Muckno from the North west side.

Autumn conditions on the River Fane.

The River Fane used to be a good spring fishery but not any more. Even the Grilse run is not that great. However, the run of big (10lb+) autumn fish more than makes up for the demise of the early season fishing. This starts in August and continues right through until the end of the season.

The river needs plenty of water to get the fish up over the Mill weir, just below Stephenstown Bridge. In low water the best fishing will be from Craig's pool (downstream from the Mill weir), down to below Mc Kenna's Bridge (Green Road crossing). After a good flood the fishing is good right up to about ½ mile above Magoney Bridge, which is just over 2 miles upstream of Inniskeen.

Mill Weir on the River Fane.

The main pools, working upstream from just below Mc Kenna's Bridge to Stephenstown Bridge are the Railway Pool, Boiling Pool, Garden Pool, Craig's Pool, Mill Pool and Joes Pool. Of these pools, Craig's is possibly the best.

Above Stephenstown Bridge, up to just above Knock Bridge (R171 crossing), you've got Fitzgerald's Pool, Swingbridge Pool, Hall Pool, Narrow Neck Pool, Turn Hole and Duffy's Pool. From Castlering Bridge (R178 crossing) to Inniskeen the main pools are the Campbell's Mill Pool, Peppers Wall, Mulholland's Pool, The Splink and Kearney's.

The weir at Inniskeen.

The Sea Trout fishing starts in June and lasts right through until September. The best fishing is around the Mc Kenna's Bridge area, but you can fish right up to Knock Bridge. The best fly fishing is perhaps on the ¼ mile stretch below Knock Bridge to Stephenstown House.

The Fane also has good Brown Trout fishing and the best of it is from Knock Bridge upstream to Cullaville Bridge (R179), although there is still plenty of fish right up to, and past, Inniskeen. The fishing is good from late April, right through the summer.

The fishing rights on the river are held between, the Dundalk Salmon Anglers, the Dundalk & District Brown Trout Anglers Association, the Village Anglers (at Inniskeen) and in some cases the Riparian owners. It is advisable to check with each party, as to where their waters are situated.

There is also a syndicate, which controls the Balintra fishery just below Inniskeen, but unlike the rest of the river, there are no day tickets for this stretch.

River Fane Tributaries

River Clarebane
River Drumleak
River Frankfort
River Mullaghduff (Little Fane)

River Fane Neighbouring Rivers

River Ballymascanlan (Flurry)
River Blackwater-Monaghan
River Castletown (Courtbane)
River Falmore (Dungooley)
River Glyde
River Kilcurry (Forkhill)
River Killanny

Fishing the River Fane

River Fane Season

Salmon - 1st February - 12th October
Sea Trout - 1st February - 12th October
Brown Trout - 1st March - 30th September

River Fane Methods

Bubble Fly
Fly Fishing
Shrimp and Prawn
Spinning
Worming

River Fane Fishing Authority

To fish in Ireland you need a rod license from the appropriate fishing authority. You can find the details for the River Fane at:

Eastern Fisheries Management

River Fane Permits

As well as a rod license, you'll need a permit to fish the River Fane. You can get permits from any of the following distributors:

Euro Tackle
98 Bridge Street
Dundalk
Tel: +353 (0)42 932 7623

Island Fishing Tackle
58 Park Street
Dundalk
Tel: +353 (0)42 933 5698

Ruddys
Iniskeen
Tel: +353 (0)42 937 8139
VILLAGE ANGLERS

The Bicycle Doctor
The Demense Shopping Centre
Dundalk
Tel: +353 (0)42 932 7033

River Fane Clubs

Dundalk & District Brown Trout Anglers Association - River Fane
Paddy Tennyson
Grey Acre Road, Newtownbalregan
Dundalk
Email: info@browntroutanglers.com
Tel: +353(0)86 840 5653
Web: Dundalk & District Brown Trout Anglers Association

The club's water on the Fane extend from Knockbridge upstream to Cullavile, excluding Monaghan's Fishery at Ballintra

Dundalk Salmon Anglers - River Fane
Mr. C. Duffy
O'Hanlon Park
Dundalk
Web: Dundalk Salmon Anglers

The club's waters on the Fane extend from from the sea upstream to Knock Bridge. It also has the rights to Campbell's Fishery at Channonrock, and Mulholland's & Monaghan's Fisheries at Ballintra, Inniskeen

Fane Anglers - River Fane
Owen Carragher
Cullaville
Tel: +353 (0)48 301868010

The club looks after about 8 miles of the Fane on the Northern side of the border, around the Cullaville area

Inniskeen Village Anglers - River Fane
Paddy Keenan
Inniskeen
Email: paddykeenan1967@gmail.com
Tel: +353 (0)87 2746755

The club has about 2.5 miles of good trout and salmon waters, with day tickets available. Day tickets must be pre-booked by contacting Paddy Keenan using the email address or phone number above

River Fane Ratings

River Fane Fishing Conditions

River Fane Status

Bag Limits

There is an angling bag limit of 10 salmon (any size) or sea trout (over 40 cm) on rivers where you may catch and retain salmon (see individual rivers for status). The bag limits are subject to any quota allocated to a river and its tributaries.

Subject to the maximum annual bag limit of ten fish, an angler may take:

- a season bag limit of 3 fish in the period 1 Jan to 11 May
- a daily bag limit of 3 fish from 12 May to 31 August
- and a daily bag limit of 1 fish from 1 September to the end of the season.
- anglers fishing with a one day licence have a bag limit of one fish (only one tag is issued)
- The Bye-law also provides for the use of single hooks and prohibits the use of worms as bait once the specified number of fish have been caught in the specified periods
- Please note that no sea trout of any size caught in the Western Region or the Clew Bay area of the North Western Region can be retained.

After the daily bag limit has been taken, anglers are permitted to fish catch and release, using single barbless hooks and there is a ban on the use of worms.

Local Restrictions

Some rivers impose their own local restrictions so when you are going to buy your permit for the River Fane, please check with the distributor.