High waters not helping search for first Drowes salmon 

High waters of recent days in the north west have made fishing conditions more challenging in trying to catch the first salmon on the Drowes River this year, which straddles the borders of south Donegal and north Leitrim.

Shane Gallagher from the Drowes Salmon Fishery said today that the high waters created by the extensive rain over recent days had made conditions more challenging for the anglers, but that was not stopping some of the more enthusiastic anglers. 

He said that since the start of the new season, there had been more that a hundred anglers fishing the Drowes, with the majority trying their luck for the prestigious salmon catch on the first day of the season 

The first few days of the 2023 season had seen some excellent weather conditions for fishing, he previously said..

There are a total of seven fully open (harvestable) rivers in Donegal for the 2023 angling season.

In the Ballyshannon District these include the Drowes and Owenwee (Yellow River).

In the Letterkenny District these include: Owenea/Owentocker, Brown Tag; Clady, Brown Tag; Crana, Brown Tag; Tullaghobegly and Gweedore (Crolly River). 

The Gweebarra River is under Catch & Release regulations until May 11 and Open from May 12 onwards.

The first salmon of 2022, a 12 pounder, was landed nearly two weeks after the start of the traditional Drowes start and for now it looks like that wait be longer.

The January 13 2022 catch was from the Eel Weir pool on the Lareen stretch of the river Drowes.