Spring 2022 on the River Mourne v1

The River Mourne (Irish: An Mughdhorn) is a river in County Tyrone (between Strabane and Newtownstewart), and is a tributary of the River Foyle. At Strabane it joins with the River Finn to form the River Foyle. Fishing is largely for salmon, grilse and sea trout, however good quality brown trout are also available.
The River Mourne begins a couple of miles North West of the town of Newtonstewart, at the confluence with the River Derg. Upstream of here it becomes the River Strule, which is one of many tributaries of the Mourne. From its confluence with the Derg, the Mourne flows in a North Westerly direction, past Douglas Bridge, Victoria Bridge and Sion Mills on its way to join the Foyle and the River Finn at Strabane, a total of about 8 miles.
The Mourne is a big, fast flowing river, which is more than 20 metres wide in parts. Over recent years it has developed a reputation as being right up there with the Finn, the Moy, the Lower Bann and the Munster Blackwater, as one of Ireland’s top Salmon fisheries. The abundance of salmon has steadily declined over the years and current estimates by the Loughs’s Agency suggest that upwards on 15,000 salmon entering the Mourne each year. However, local anglers would dispute these figures based on the declining rod catch rate with many now regularly returning salmon and sea trout on a catch and release basis to help sustain the wild natural stock.
The salmon fishing can be very good from the end of May onwards, with the peak months being June and July. The Mourne is not a spate river but like many other Irish rivers, it fishes best as the water fines down, but because of its size it usually fishes well for 3 or 4 days after the flood waters have receded. The Grilse will often press on unless the water is really low.
The river does get a few Springers from April to about mid-May. Likewise, it gets a few autumn fish and the sport can be good through September and October.
From June onwards the Mourne can get good runs of Sea Trout and this has improved in recent years.

The Sea Trout can get up to about 3 lb with the average being around 1 lb. The larger trout arrive first in early in May to mid-June with the bulk of smaller fish arriving from July onwards to the end of the season. Typical Sea Trout patterns such as, Peter Ross, Zulu, Teal Blue & Silver, Butchers, Silver Doctors, and Black Pennell will all take sea trout. Nigh fishing can be quite productive for sea trout if your game.
Shrimp flies are very popular patterns for the Mourne. The Bann Special, the Gold Shrimp, the Golden Grilse, the Grilse Fly, the Wilkinson’s Shrimp, the Curry’s Red, or the Apache Shrimp. Sizes are anything from 14 down to 4 depending on the water levels, with a sink tip line in higher water, and a floating line in lower water.
The lower part of the river is controlled by Strabane Lifford Anglers Association (SLAA) from just above the point of Islandmore (known locally as Marreco’s Island) on the River Foyle to the point of the Finn (McGirrs Point), known as the Greenbrae’s Fishery and then upstream on the River Mourne to the boundary with Sion Mills Angling Club (SMAC).

SMAC also manages the stretches, which are under the control of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) including stretches up as far as Liskey Wood. The fishing on the upper river from Victoria Bridge up to Newtonstewart (on the Strule) is owned in part by the Abercorn Estates (Baronscourt) and is privately let from there with a number of small private syndicates controlling some smaller stretches.
From McGrirr’s Point up to Victoria Bridge the river is quite wide so a double handed rod would be the preferred fly-fishing method. You can fish from the bank, however with modern day spey casting methods its better if you can wade, so a pair of chest or waist waders would suffice. A wading staff is very useful as some sections of the river bed are quite rocky, some with large rock shelves that are very slippery, so wading can be quite difficult.

The salmon fishing season begins on the River Mourne from 1st April and finishes on 20th October each year. Club membership and day tickets are available from the local fishing tackle shop, Bridge Gun & Tackle Ltd, 19, Butcher St, Strabane or the SMAC Office located in the centre of Sion Mills village.