River Erne - Angling

Angling

The building of hydroelectric power stations at Cliff (near Belleek) and Ballyshannon (work began in 1945 and the first power station was commissioned in 1950) caused famous salmon beats to be flooded and the run of salmon into the Erne has now declined to such a tiny trickle as to be of little angling value except for the few fish that are occasionally caught below Cliff when the power station is generating. Roach first appeared in the river in 1963 and there was a massive increase in the roach population in 1968. This increase could well have had an adverse effect on trout stocks, which went into decline at that time. Water pollution became a major problem in the 1970s and up to 1987. Since 1987 the pollution problem has been well controlled, the roach population has declined dramatically and trout stocks have made a welcome return and provide good angling once more, both on the Erne itself and its tributaries.