The river Boyne holds an excellent stock of wild brown trout. The Navan & District Anglers have over six miles of prime wild brown trout fishing. A trout over 5lb is a real possibility! The majority of trout fishing is done by fly with dry fly being the most popular. Some large brown trout are caught by Salmon anglers spinning and even have been taken on salmon flies.

Worm fishing on the Boyne System is banned by state regulations and maggot fishing is prohibited by the club. The stretch of the River Boyne from Kilcarn down to the junction with the River Blackwater is strictly fly only, catch and release for trout. The club encourage all anglers to practice catch and release on all stretches. The club asks anglers to return all fish carefully to the river. (See page ** for full details of club rules)  

When the weather begins to warm up in mid April the trout fishing begins. The river has all the various fly hatches associated with a limestone river.  Blue winged Olives, Iron Blue, Dark Olives, Medium Olives, Yellow May, Alder, Sedges, Mayfly, Midges and Black gnats are all to be found on the Boyne system. 

The Mayfly is an important event in the angling calendar and on the Boyne is no different. The Mayfly hatches early in the month of May. The Mayfly hatch in huge numbers in the early part of the morning and on through to the afternoon. Trout take the green fly as sits on the surface film waiting for its wings to form. Large numbers of trout come up to feed on the Mayfly and they will feed right through the day giving an angler great sport and excitement. As the evening approaches the Mayfly dance in the trees (mate), before returning to the river. They fly up stream before laying their eggs on the surface and dying. Fishing the spent, though not as popular as fishing the green fly does produce some excellent Trout. Mayfly time is an ideal opportunity to introduce a friend to the art of dry fly fishing as the trout do feed freely and the Mayfly are a spectacle to be seen.

One of the main insects on the Boyne System is the Grey Flag. It reaches its peak during the evenings of May and June. The Grey Flag overlaps with the Mayfly and is regularly taken in preference by feeding fish. As the season progresses other large sedges are found on the river. Fishing a “Humpy” or other deerhair type fly into the dark will produce a large bonus fish.

The Olive’s on the Boyne is also an important insect. In mid afternoon from June onwards Blue winged olives can been found hatching on the water. The Spinners return to the river in the evening the lay their eggs. The Boyne Trout feed on the nymph and adult stages of this insect. The Blue wing olive hatch continues through the summer into the autumn.