Fishing Brochure for the Lower Shannon Region

The Shannon is the largest river in Ireland, and is 386km (240 miles) long from its source at the Shannon Pot in the foothills of the Cuilcagh Mountains in Co. Cavan to its estuary below Limerick City. This important river and its tributaries drain about one fifth of the area of Ireland. Throughout its journey to the sea the riverscape is ever changing, widening and narrowing over and over again, and leaving in its wake numerous islands, backwaters, pools, bends and quiet bays, all the most likely haunts for fish. Its great length and its tributaries form an enormous and richly diverse fishery, which holds great stocks of a wide variety of fish including salmon, brown trout, bream, tench, rudd, roach, hybrids, eels, pike and perch.

The Shannon Region owes its name to this mighty river which flows through the heart of the area from Shannonbridge at its mid section to its confluence with the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary. The following is a brief account of the prominent features of the Shannon Region stretch of the river, divided into its four natural divisions, going with the flow downriver; from Shannonbridge to Portumna; Lough Derg - its largest lake; from Killaloe to Limerick City; and the Shannon Estuary.  Other districts include major lake and river systems off the River Shannon, and sea fishing off the coast.