Home Coarse angling on Assaroe Lake

    Coarse angling on Assaroe Lake

    By
    myleskelly
    -
    2950

    Assaroe Lake is a 234 hectare artificial lake created by the Cathleen Falls and Cliff Hydro schemes and is located just east of Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal. The depth varies throughout the lake and there are extensive shallow areas. The deepest areas (over 12 metres) are to be found in the old river course. The shores are rocky in the main and all fishable with little weed growth. The lake is controlled by the ESB and shore angling is only allowed from the northern shore and around the Lakeside Centre on the southern shore. The E.S.B. has installed fishing stands on the back lough to facilitate angling. The northern shore is accessed via the Knader Road out of Ballyshannon. The Lakeside Centre is located just outside Ballyshannon to the left on the Belleek Road (R230). Boat angling is allowed although anglers should exercise caution since the lake can be dangerous to navigate in areas due to rocks and the remnants of tree stumps. Boat anglers are not allowed to fish close to the dams for safety reasons and may not pass the floating barriers.

    Assaroe Lake is also a very under-fished but superb coarse fishery with very good bream, roach and hybrid fishing. 100lb+ of bream is a distinct possibility if pre-baiting with good quantities of ground bait. There are also some good roach. One local angler fishing for trout caught 11 roach, all between 2 and 2¼lb! Assaroe also holds some very big pike with pike up to 46lb being caught in recent times. The E.S.B. have installed fishing stands on the back lough to facilitate angling.

    Season

    The season for Trout is from 1st March to 30th September inclusive. The fishery is closed for salmon fishing.

    Pike & Coarse fishing is allowed all year except for the month of October.

    Permits

    One of the following permits is required to fish Assaroe.

    Season:

    €50 Adult season,

    €25 OAP season permit.

    Weekly:

    €20 adult week permit,

    €10 OAP weekly permit.

    Day Permit:

    €5 adult day permit.

    Boat Permit:

    To launch/keep a boat on the fishery you will require a seasonal boat permit at €60 (plus €20 key deposit) available at: https://permits.fishinginireland.info/product/esb-boating-licence   For ESB information see: https://esb.ie/what-we-do/generation-and-trading/esb-fishery-information