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Discover everything to fish in Ballyshannon

Discover the most caught species in Ballyshannon, the techniques used, events in the area, find a fishing charter or fishing shop near you.

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N°1 | The Cobia fish

The Cobia fish belongs to the Rachycentridae family. it can be 1.8 m long and weigh 70 kg or more. it can live 12 years. The spawning period depends on the location. It can be fished all year round. The body is elongated and torpedo-shaped with a long flattened head. The eyes are small and the snout is wide. The lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw. The skin is smooth with very small integrated scales. Easily distinguished by the first dorsal fin, composed of 7 to 9 strong and isolated spines, not connected by a membrane. The second dorsal fin is long with the front part elevated. The caudal fin is rounded to truncated in young fish and lunar in adults, with the upper lobe extending below the lower lobe. The origin of the anal fin is below the second dorsal vertex and the pectoral fin is pointed. Cobia doesn’t have an air bladder. The body is dark brown to silvery, paler on the sides and greyish white to silvery underneath, with two narrow dark bands extending from the snout to the base of the caudal fin. These dark bands are bordered at the top and bottom by lighter bands. Young cobia has dark side bands, which tend to become obscured in adult fish. Most fins are dark brown, with grey markings on the anal and pelvic fins.

Fishing period : all year

Minimum size : 83 cm

Difficulty :

N°2 | The White Bass

The White Bass belongs to the Moronidae family. Its maximum length is 46 cm and its maximum weight is 3.2 kg. Its maximum lifespan is 15 years. Spawning takes place from March to May. The best time to catch it is from mid-April to mid-May. As with other true basses, the dorsal fin is clearly double, separated into thorny and soft-raked parts. White Bass is a silvery shade ranging from dark grey or black on the back to white on the belly. Several incomplete lines or stripes extend horizontally on either side of the body. Adults look like a young striped bass, and the two are often confused. However, the striped bass has two distinct pieces of teeth on the back of the tongue, and the white wolf has one piece of tooth. The striped bass has two points on each cap, unlike the white bass which has one, and the second spine of the anal fin measures about half of the third spine of the striped bass, while it is about two thirds the length of the third spine in White Bass.

Fishing period : mid-April to mid-may

Minimum size : 25 cm

Difficulty :

N°3 | The Smallmouth bass

The Smallmouth bass belongs to the Centrarchidae family. The individuals observed measure between 20 and 38 cm. They weigh from 250 g to 1 kg. They can live up to 26 years. They reproduce from May to July. The best time to catch them is in autumn. Smallmouth bass is a fish with a strong body, compressed laterally. The head is broad and elongated. It is adorned with dark bars radiating backwards from the eyes. The back and top of the head are brown or golden brown, green or olive green. Contrary to its vernacular name, its mouth is rather large! Smallmouth bass has a long, rounded snout. The upper jaw does not extend beyond the upper edge of the eye. The anal fin has 3 strong spines. Both dorsal fins are slightly rounded and rather soft. They are linked and seem to form only one fin. The spines of the first dorsal fin are short and of almost the same length. The pelvic fins are joined by a membrane. The caudal fin is forked. The pectoral fins are transparent, all the others are opaque, dark or amber and decorated with black on the rays, spines or membranes. The back is darker and less golden than the sides. The flanks are marked with 8 to 15 thin vertical bars of dark appearance; this characteristic is more pronounced in juveniles. The belly of smallmouth bass is cream to milky in color. Body color varies according to size, but also according to its environment: in clear waters, it is dark and enhanced by pronounced contrasting marks, while in turbid waters, it is lighter and

Fishing period : autumn

Minimum size : 45 cm

Difficulty :

N°4 | Bitterling Fish

The Bitterling fish is a freshwater fish and belongs to the Cyprinidae family. Its scientific name is Rhodeus Amarus. The current size of the bitterling fish is 5-6 cm. Some individuals can reach a maximum height of 11 cm and a weight of 10 g. This species is one of the smallest Cyprinid in Europe. It lives on average from 2 to 3 years. The spawning period is between April and June. It lays 40 to 100 oocytes. This fish is easy to catch due to its small size. The bitterling is a small fish whose body is high and laterally compressed. The lateral line is short or incomplete. The scales on the back have a grey-green coloring. The sides are clear with silvery reflections. During the breeding period the silver coloration changes to a pink to bright red color with a dark blue sideband. Sexual dimorphism occurs between the male and female during reproduction. A 5 to 8 mm laying tube (ovipositor) develops in the female, which allows her to lay her eggs in the gill cavity of freshwater mussels. The male has a higher body than the female and its colors become brighter during the breeding season. The bitterling fish's eyes are quite large. Its mouth is small, oblique and the upper jaw protrudes beyond the lower jaw. The anal and dorsal fins have a short base and 8 to 10 branched rays.

Fishing period : prohibited all year

Minimum size : not available

Difficulty :

N°5 | Swordfish

Swordfish (xiphias gladius) is a highly migratory pelagic fish considered as one of the fastest sea animals. It tends to be large and its weight often exceeds 100 kg. It can be distinguished thanks to its long bill and its iridescent blue body. Most of sport fishermen feel really proud to catch swordfishes on their lines.

Fishing period : June to October

Minimum size : 47 inches

Difficulty :

N°6 | The Ruffe fish

The Ruffe fish belongs to the Percidae family. Its normal size is 5-10 cm but it can reach a maximum of 25 cm. The life of the Ruffe is about 4 years. The breeding period takes place between April and May. The female can deposit between 40,000 to 1,000,000,000 oocytes in several layers. It can be fished from June to March. Its length rarely exceeds 12 to 15 cm at 5 or 6 years (maximum 25 cm for a weight of 400 g). Its body is high, yellow-green with black spots; its belly is yellowish to matt white. It has two dorsal fins that touch each other. The anterior dorsal fin has sharp rays. Its operculum ends in a strong thorn. Lonely, it hides during the day and goes out to feed at night. It's a groundfish.

Fishing period : June to March

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

N°7 | The Bull Shark

The Bull shark belongs to the Carcharchinidae Family. Its average size is 2 m. Its maximum height is 3.40 m. It can live to be 20 years old. It breeds from late summer to early fall. It can be fished from September to May. The bull shark has a stocky and massive body. Its snout is rounded and extremely short. Its eyes are very small. Its upper teeth are broad, triangular and finely crenellated. Its lower teeth are vertical and pointed. Its dental formula is as follows: 13-1 to 2-13 /12-1 to 2-12. Its back is brown to olive to dark grey. Its belly is dirty white. The first dorsal fin is large and broad, it is sickle-shaped, its origin is located in the pectoral armpit. The second dorsal fin is almost three times smaller, its origin is located slightly in front of the anal level. The pectoral muscles are long and also sickle-shaped, they are blackish at the ends. The pelvic bones are triangular in shape. The upper lobe of the caudal is well developed. It does not have an inter dorsal wrinkle.

Fishing period : September to May

Minimum size : 1.65 m

Difficulty :

N°8 | Wahoo

Wahoo (acanthocybium solandri) is a scombrid fish you can find in all tropical and subtropical seas. It is also known as “peto” in many Hispanic areas of the Caribbean and in Central America. A lot of sports fishermen make it a prize game fish because of its speed and high-quality flesh

Fishing period : All the year

Minimum size : No restrictions

Difficulty :

N°9 | The Chinook Salmon

The Chinook Salmon belongs to the Salmonidae family. This salmon can reach 1.5 m for more than 60 kg and a lifespan of 9 years. It breeds from September to December. It is caught from July to September. The Chinook is blue-green, has purple on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white belly. It has black spots on his tail and upper half of his body. Its mouth is often dark purple in color.

Fishing period : From July to September

Minimum size : 45 cm

Difficulty :

N°10 | The Pacific Lamprey

The Pacific Lamprey belongs to the Petromyzontidae family. The adult size of the pacific lamprey can reach 80 cm. It can live up to 5 years. The spawning period depends on the location. It can be caught between July and September when it enters freshwater. The Pacific Lamprey differs from other lamprey species in that it has three large, sharp anterior teeth located on the supraoral bar. Like all lampreys, they have seven breathable pores on each side of their bodies and a large suction disc that acts as a mouth. They are dark blue at the top and silver or white at the bottom. During the breeding season, Pacific lampreys turn reddish brown and the appearance of the sexes begins to differentiate as a pseudo-anal fin develops on the female. Their larvae are difficult to distinguish from those of other lamprey species.

Fishing period : from July to September

Minimum size : no restriction

Difficulty :

7.6

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How it works

This is a score of 1 to 10 calculated city by city according to some forty criteria affecting fishing: moon, weather conditions, atmospheric pressure, sunrise / sunset. sun, tides, swell etc .