Cloongee Fishery

The Cloongee Fishery is one of the most prolific fisheries on the River Moy, extending to over 3 miles of both double and single-bank stretches, with 17 named pools that offer variety and quality to the visiting angler.

With a five-year average that is well in excess of 800 fish per season, the Cloongee Fishery has been consistently one of the most prolific beats on the famous River Moy.

The fishery lies one mile upstream from Foxford and extends over 3 miles along the River Moy. Most of the lake river, that links the Moy to Lough Cullin and Conn, is also part of the fishery (see map). In total, there is over 5 miles of river bank to choose from, including the double and single-bank stretches.

The Cloongee Fishery is privately owned and is unique in that it offers sport both on the Lake River and the main Moy channel, with a good variety of alternative water flows. The fishery has good fast fly water in the upper stretch, which is restricted to fly fishing only (NOT bubble float and fly) from the top boundary to the Wooden Bridge upstream from Coolraw (see map), except when the fishery management determines that conditions are inappropriate. The lower stretch offers less fly water.

The fishery benefited from a Tourist Amenity Grant in 1999 to develop some of the upper pools on the fast waters, which are now more accessible and will fish throughout the season.

The Waters

Cloongee is well-known as a fishery that fishes well very early in the season, long before the fisheries of the Lower Moy.

Throughout the season, it offers both variety and quality, with fast-running waters above the Joinings Pool, and excellent spinning and worming waters on the lower Stretches. In addition, the fishery also includes the Lake River that flows out of Lough Cullin at the Bridge Pool and into the Moy at the Joinings Pool, dividing the Moy into its Upper and Lower stretches.

As a result, Cloongee is a fishery for all anglers and all conditions.

The Fly Water

The fly can be used in a number of pools, such as the Bridge Pool at the head of the Lake River, the Joinings Pool and the various pools in the fast waters on the upper stretches of the fishery, such as the Big Rock, McGowan’s Pool and the three exciting new pools, developed in 1999 on the upper stretches of Cloongee, namely Lynch’s, Murison’s and Wrigley’s Pool.

The best conditions for fly fishing are found when there is a good flow of water down the main channel of the Moy. Another requirement is that the lakes are not too high, so that the Lake River does not back up into the Upper Moy.

The Spinning and Worming Waters

Some of the best pools for spinning and worming are found below the fast water and include Cool Raw which has several boulders and a mixture of shingle and sand bed and Matha’s Rocks with two large boulders closer to the west bank, and a predominately sand bed which makes the pool easy to fish with worm or spinner. Hillodine Pool, located on a bend at the Cloongee Fishery has deep water close to the east bank up-river of the bend and this characteristic changes to the west bank down-river of the bend, making an ‘S’ trench in the sandy bed of the river.The Joining’s Pool is a most interesting pool with two sand bars that change in size and shape, depending on the ferocity of the winter floods. The pool is unique in that it can be fished from three sides of the river bank. It is one of the most prolific pools on the Moy and gives up a good proportion of the fish to the fly.

Towards the end of the fishery, Com Pool with several boulders in the centre and a groin on the east bank is one of the best pools on the fishery and is well known for accounting big fish.

It is widely accepted that Cloongee is one of the most prolific fisheries on the Moy and because of the extent and diversity of the stretch, the angler will need two or more days to fish the entire fishery.

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