Stillwater · Sandstone · South West / Kerry (Waterville/Currane system)

Lough Namona

Lough Namona terrain map

Sea trout and salmon upper lough in the Waterville/Currane system.

Fair · Atlantic Salmon
Cascade · 10–14 doubles
Fairlive now
Decent — worth a look
Low and clear — careful approach country. Low water tactics — small singles, riffling hitch in the smooth glides.
50% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelDry recentlyNo gauge reading
  • Water temp17.4°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Cascade
Cascade10–14 doubles
Universal SW Ireland salmon fly. Works on everything from the Cork Blackwater to the small Kerry spate rivers. Fish on a relaxed swing through the main pools; downsize for low summer water.
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp17.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 13 km/h
Pressure1024 hPa
Rain · recent1.8 mm
Rain · ahead3.9 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for Atlantic Salmon
Warm — slow
17°C est.ideal 1014°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Atlantic Salmon
When
Morning into early afternoon.
Where
Pool tails, steadier runs, and any water with pace.
Method
Fish a sensible line-and-fly combination for the height and pace of water.
Kit
13 ft #8/9 double-hander in spate, 10 ft #8 single in low water. Floating line plus a fast-sink tip. 12–15 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Fair — water clarity is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 4 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 3 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalHigh confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
Murrough (Great Red Sedge)Hatch
2
3
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Lake OliveHatch
1
2
2
2
2
2
1

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Atlantic Salmon fly box

Munster Blackwater and neighbouring SW spring rivers: when the water is cold or running high, a tube fly fished deep on a Skagit head or sinking shooting head with a heavier leader finds fish that a floating line can't reach. Comes down to a 9'-10' single-handed rod and small flies on an 8lb tippet once the river drops into summer trim.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Waterville system
  • Boats via local arrangement.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Fishing better nearby · 5
About this water

Sea trout and salmon upper lough in the Waterville/Currane system. Managed through estate; boats available via local arrangement. For 2026 this remains an open fishery — salmon may be retained in season under the Wild Salmon & Sea Trout Tagging Scheme and bag limits, with catch-and-release at other times.

Under the surface

Lough Namona is one of the upper loughs of the Waterville system in south Kerry, lying in the chain that the Cummeragh River threads down through Cloonaghlin, Iskanamacteery and Derriana to Lough Currane and the sea. This is wild, remote Old Red Sandstone country on the Iveragh peninsula, the water clear and soft off a catchment of sandstone rock and deep blanket bog. Namona and its neighbour Cloonaghlin take their fish when the rivers run high and in flood: sea trout above all — the quarry that made Waterville famous — with salmon moving up on the spate and wild brown trout through the season. The character is a small, exposed upland lough — rocky shoals, sandstone reefs and bog-fringed bays beneath the hills. This is boat-and-drift fishing read by the wave and the lies along the shore, the connecting streams steady to wade on firm rock.

Wading: Exposed upland lough, boat water

Hatches & food

No venue-specific hatch data yet; as an oligotrophic upland lough in this Cork/Kerry sandstone-freestone system, expect the typical acid-water stillwater character of light buzzer and sedge emergence with freshwater shrimp close to cover — treat this as a general expectation, not an observed hatch.

  • Lough system
  • Sandstone
  • Unconfined
  • Stillwater
  • Lough
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyUnknown
  • ChemicalUnknown
Why this score · for Atlantic Salmon
  • Temperature3330% weight
  • Flow4525% weight
  • Clarity9520% weight
  • Feeding Time1015% weight
  • Pressure8510% weight
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon 17 January30 September
  • Sea trout 17 January12 October

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Related guides
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts