Salmon and Sea Trout Angling Regulations 2012
Salmon and Sea Trout Angling Regulations 2012
A State Licence is required to fish for salmon and sea trout, but does not entitle you to fish. Permits or permission from fisheries owners must be obtained.
General salmon angling regulations
- A State Licence is required to fish for salmon and sea trout
- All salmon (and sea trout over 40cm) kept must be tagged, and the logbook filled out accordingly.
- It is an offence to kill any sea trout in the Galway, Connemara or Ballinakill Fisheries Districts including at sea from Hags Head in County Clare to Clew Bay (and in any waters flowing into Clew Bay) in the Bangor Fishery District south of a line drawn due east and west through Achill Head.
- It is prohibited sell rod caught salmon or sea trout over 40cm between January 1st and October 31st
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 (Table 1). 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 total of one salmon (any size) or sea trout (over 40cm) per day for the period beginning January 1st to May 11th(three fish in total may be retained for this period),
- Daily Bag Limit: Three salmon (any size) or sea trout (over 40cm) per day from May 12th to August 31st (except where a salmon rod (one-day) ordinary licence is held, 1 fish),
- Daily Bag Limit: One salmon (any size) or sea trout (over 40cm) per day from 1st September to the close of the season,
- There is an angling bag limit of three sea trout (under 40cm) per angler per day (bye-law no. 887, 2011).
After the daily bag limit has been taken, anglers are permitted to fish catch and release, using single, barbless hooks and anglers may not use worms. The killing and possession of foul hooked fish is prohibited.
Open Rivers, Closed Rivers, Catch and Release Rivers, Tagging Scheme, more information
Salmon fishing opens on January 1 on a handful of rivers and after that the remainder of rivers open on various dates in February, March, April and May. The majority of rivers close on September 30th but some rivers remain open for sea trout fishing to October 12.
Please follow this link for Salmon Angling Regulations 2012.
