The River Suir is the main fishing river in the Knocmkealdown Mountain region. It is renowned for its game angling, holding both salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo frutta). Here we will deal primarily with brown trout angling. The fishing season runs from March 17th to September 3oth inclusive.
When fishing the River Suir, you will often need to cross farmland and access will be courtesy of the local farmer. Please respect their property, crops and animals, light no fires or leave any litter and leave gates as you found them. When parking make sure that you are not blocking gates.
The Suir River Catchment drains an area in the southeast of the country of approximately 3546 sq. km. This represents about 4% of the land area of Ireland. The main channel and its tributaries flow through counties Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford, with very small pockets of the catchment within Limerick and Cork.
The River rises in the Devils Bit Mountains near Moneygall (North of Templemore) and flows in a southerly direction until meeting the Knockmealdown Mountain range where the river changes its course northwards. Further downstream its course is again altered, where, at Knocklofty, the river turns east passing north of the Comeragh Mountain Range and continues to flow on through Waterford City until it enters the sea at Waterford Harbour. The river is tidal to a point upstream of Carrick-on-Suir.
The Suir is a paradise for both the trout and the angler. Unlike most rivers, it cannot easily be divided into distinct ecological zones. Almost its entire channel from Templemore to the estuary at Carrick-on-Suir is a continuous series of shallow and deep (<-2.0m) glides interrupted occasionally by shallow riffles.
It simply increases in width as one proceeds downstream, remaining relatively shallow and maintaining its very good trout carrying capacity over practically its entire length. It has many tributaries, which drain large areas of limestone and these give to the river as a whole, most of the best characteristics of a chalk stream. The tributaries of the Suir closest to the Knockmealdown Mountain region are:
Thonoge River – flows from the Galtees into the Suir between Cahir and Ardfinnan.
The River Tar – rises in the Galtee Mountains, flows through Clogheen and joins the Suir close to Newcastle.
The River Duag (not on map) – a tributary of the Tar that flows from the Kilworth Mountains eastwards through the village of Ballyporeen before joining the River Tar near Clogheen.
River Nire – rises in the Comeraghs and flows into the Suir just outside Newcastle.
Glenary River – rises in the Comeragh Mountains and flows into the Suir at Kilmanahan.
Note: In articles on the site where we refer to left bank and right bank, this means left and right when looking downstream.[/col]
Click on the image below for a larger version of this map.
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