The River Roe
The Roe flows from the hills above Dungiven down through the Roe Valley Country Park, past the town of Limavady before entering Lough Foyle. The Roe is a medium sized spate river with fine runs of sea trout and salmon.
Early June sees the first of the sea trout entering the river. These trout are usually the bigger trout from 1 to 3 lbs in weight. The first of the grilse appear along with this run of sea trout. July sees the main run of sea trout entering the lower stretches of the river with the dedicated flyfisher catching them at night.
Successful flies are Teal Blue and Silver, Black Zulu, Peter Ross and Black Pennell patterns, with floating or intermediate lines working best. Local anglers pray for rain in July as the first spates see runs of grilse and salmon enter the river. These salmon range from 3 to 6 lb with a few larger 8 to 12 lb fish being caught.
The water conditions control the methods used. When the river is in full spate the local anglers will fish worms and spin, with Flying ‘Cs’ and copper spoons being successful methods. As the river begins to drop and clear the fly fisherman will cast his flies in hope of a fish. The local patterns include the Wilkinson Shrimp, Curry’s Red, Apache and Bann Special Shrimp patterns working well in sizes 8 to 12s depending on water height.
August tends to be a hard month on the river as the water levels tend to be low.
September and the River Roe goes up a gear with the promise of wetter weather and increased river flows.
October sees the last few weeks of the season and the runs of salmon head up towards their spawning beds above Dungiven. The anglers also head upstream following the runs of salmon, fishing areas like the Carrick Flats, The Rock Hole, The Straw and other pools around Burnfoot.
The fishing on the River Roe is mainly controlled by Roe Angling Limited. There is a small section of single bank fishing on the right bank in the upper Country Park which is controlled by Carrickmore Angling Club. In addition a section in the lower Country Park on both banks, from the Roe Valley Country Park Centre downstream for approximately one mile, is under the control of DAERA and can be fished by department permit holders.
Further information on purchasing day tickets for fishing club waters can be viewed in the tickets section.
