Lakes – Lough Lene – Fishing

Lough Lene is located between 3 villages in Westmeath Castlepollard, Collinstown and Fore.

Like most of our lakes in Mullingar and surrounding areas Lough Lene is known for its great fishing as you can catch Brown trout and rainbow trout. It is Fly fishing that Lough Lane is more famous for, for more information on fishing at Lough Lene see Lough Lene Angling Association.

Lough Lene has all kinds of birds and wildlife, including mute swans, herons and moorhens. The lake is a must see for nature lovers or people who love the peace and quiet that Lough Lene has to offer.

Why not avail of Lough Lene picnic area and take in the lovely sight and sounds that Lough Lene has to offer.

The Jewel

By Tom Doc Sullivan, angler.

There is something special about Lough Lene, something very special. Nestled as it is amidst the rolling pastureland and woods in Collinstown, it is a wonderful spectacle to behold. Even in the ‘Lake County’ of Westmeath it stands out amongst the other loughs as one of the most beautiful, its crystal-clear water, spring fed and wooded islands holds a magnetic attraction.

However, it is not beauty alone that draws me and so many other anglers to Lene, it is the matter that it also offers the trout fisherman some of the finest sport in Ireland. This is due entirely to the magnificent work that is done by the Lough Lene Anglers Association in managing the Lough as a fishery. Lene is not blessed with an abundance of nursery streams for the indigenous trout to regenerate the lake naturally. The association has long realised this and has always had to augment the natural population with a stocking policy. A number of years ago they had the foresight to start stocking, along with brown trout, rainbow trout. The proverbial statement ‘duck to water’ springs to mind and the rainbows thrive in the rich feeding that the waters of the lough provide. Within a couple of weeks after they are stocked into the lough, these rainbows become solid bars of silver, sleek and muscular they flourish in their new environment and become a challenging quarry for we anglers.

If I can impress on people how good Lene is I tell them this, I am fortunate enough to live in another beautiful place, at the foot of the Maamturk Mountains, in Joyce Country on the shores of Lough Corrib, itself a wonderful fishery. I will, however, happily get into my car and drive the two and a half hours’ journey to Lene to savour its fishing. The thought of drifting Fagan’s shore with my dry fly out before me. Watching it disappear in under the tiniest little dimple on the surface and as I tighten my line, it all explodes in a myriad of bright silver trout flank betwixt a cascade of splashing water and the rod buckles under the strain of a fighting fit grown on Lough Lene Rainbow. Now that’s a little bit of heaven!Photo Credit www.collinstown.ie