Laune Water Level Information
2018 Season - 17th January to 30th September.
Water Height: As of Wednesday 9th May the Laune is at a lovely 1.3 M. Ideal conditions for all methods. The commercila nets well start operating next week. Best chance of a fish is over weekend during commercial netting season.
We live in hope for better fishing in 2018. Visiting anglers will be welcomed by our members provided they have the required permit otherwise you will be trespassing on a several fishery and this will not be tolerated. Display your permit on your car and have the other portion in your possession and show it to water keepers and members when asked to do so.
Permit Costs: Day permits are the same as last year €35 for the months of August and September. Be sure to display your permit on the dash of your car with the date and permit number visible and have the other part with you because you will be asked by members to identify yourself as a legitimate 'One Day Member' / Permit Holder.
Beat 3: Fished well during the earlier months of the season but no fish held up here either during August and September 2016. The Beat can fish well but it needs lots of water.
Reminders - Trout fishing on Beat 3 is 'Fly Only' on a €10 permit. Start times on Beat 3 its 8am and not before that. Brown trout fishing is excellent in all of the Laune just now.
The Laune Bridge OPW water level: ( http://waterlevel.ie/0000022035/0001/week/ )
heading down.
Prospects: Lets be optimistic and hope that 2016 will bring better fishing to mambers and permit holders.
Permit Holders: Laune Anglers Permits and Beat 3 permits are available from the usual outlets for 2018. Please note that Permit Holders are not allowed to fish Johnston's from September 15th to the end of the season - Johnston's can get crowded with members and permit holders during the last two weeks.
Email Contact to get the latest on water level and news of fish.
Beat 3: Fishes best for salmon when the water is high but the Beat always fishes well for trout.
Photo below shows what 3.5 Feet on the gauge at Johnston's looks like.
Sea Trout 2018: A timely reminder about the tagging regulations for sea trout there is a bag limit of three sea trout and all trout over 40cm have to be tagged. The sea trout fishing in 2016 was excellent on all methods. A lot were caught as by catch by salmon anglers but a lot of members hgad good sport targeting trout on small spinning baits and on bright filver bodied flys with single handed rods. The best sea trout that I know of landed in 2016 was 4 lbs. Trout up to 2/3 lbs are regularly caught from late March onwards.
Prospects : Prospects on the Laune for 2018 cant say for sure but the river is open and has a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 4560 which again is a slight increase on 2016. Regrettably other rivers in the County are Closed, Catch and Release or open with a reduced TAC and the Feale is on Brown Tags.
Value for Money 2017 : Permit prices are the same as they were in 2017 during August and September Permits cost only €35 a day (Weeks Fishing 7 days €210) probably the best value in angling anywhere in Ireland in Aug and Sept when you factor in ambiance, chances of catching a fish, probably a fresh sea liced fish and the fact that it could be a double figure fish. It mus tbe said that Aug' and Sept 2016 were very poor - chances of a fish are now better earlier in the year.
Beat 3: N.B. Visitors to Beat 3 should note that if you are fishing for salmon you need a 25 Euro permit, 15 Euro if an OAP or Juvenile. The 10 Euro permit only applies to Brown Trout fished, fly only with trout flies.
July Draft Nets: Again in 2016 the draft nets were allowed fish five days each week through July that is an extra 5 days for their season. The legal nets were operating from 6am on Monday to 6am on Saturday for the month of July which did not improve anglers prospects of catching a fish. The draft nets fished up to the 14th of August. We dont expect any change for 2017.
Permit Holders: Permit Holders for Laune Anglers waters are issued with a map showing which waters they can fish (18 Fisheries) all excellent. Restriction - After the 15th September Permit Holders are not allowed to fish Charlie Johnston's. Ask locals for advice on all matters, where to go where the lies are (see also details of Guides on Permits Page) and it should be forthcoming as a Permit Holder you are a 'Member for the Day'.
Angling Tourism: The last six weeks of the season will be the busiest time of the year for visiting anglers to the Laune. They will all be staying locally adding significantly to the local economy. This could be a lot better if the chances of catching a fish was better but allowing a commercial harvest up to the end of the salmon run into the Laune does not help in the development of Tourist Angling. Ministers and Inland Fisheries Ireland cant have it both ways. They pay lip service to having a viable tourist angling product and then allow a legal commercial harvest to mid August.
Local Anglers: The local angler in Kerry must be among the most placid of creatures. He/She pays dearly for a Licence a Conservation Stamp, Memberships, spends hundreds of Euro on fishing gear and clothing locally, gives hours and hours of voluntary labour improving and maintaining fisheries and settles for, in lots of cases catching no fish and a six week season (where there is some chance of catching a fish when the nets finish)
Sea Trout Bye-Law No. 887,2011: This Bye-Law came into operation in 2012, no more than 3 sea trout on any day may be taken. After the 3 sea trout are taken, a person must fish catch and release, the use of worms as bait and hooks other than single barbless are prohibited.
Brown Trout: There is a bag limit of 4 Brown Trout on Laune Anglers waters.
Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Statistics Report 2010: To see the breakdown between Commercial catches and Angling catches on the Laune System and to compare what's happening on the Laune and other river systems such as the Moy, Corrib and Blackwater Click on Link - wild-salmon-and-sea-trout-statistics.html
Regrettably to note that 3527 Laune salmon were caught in the Commercial harvest accounting for 25% of the total national Commercial Harvest.
Permits: The cost of daily permits is reduced on Laune Anglers waters up to the end of July also there is a reduced cost for 7 day Permits, Click the Button below:
Comments: The Laune is a lake-fed river and therefore always fishable to the fly, even in prolonged dry conditions.
High water levels -- as experienced in the Spring -- favour upriver fisheries, as salmon tend to run the river on their way to the lakes. Good water levels – not too high – are welcomed by anglers for the months of August and September. The Gauge opposite shows the river at Summer Low.