Lough Corrib

The West of Ireland is dotted with many fresh water lakes and has often been described as Ireland’s Lake District. The largest and most navigable of these lakes is Lough Corrib, and covering an area of 68 sq miles/175 sq kilometres (44,000 acres), it is also the largest lake in the Republic of Ireland.
From the Maam valley in Connemara to Galway city in the South it has a length of 40 miles /64 kilometers while the widest part of the lake reaches from Cong Co. Mayo to Oughterard Co. Galway, a distance of 9 miles 15 kilometres.
The deepest part of Lough Corrib is 152 ft/47 meters, but its average depth is approximately 40ft/12meters. To-day Lough Corrib is considered to be one of the best fishing lakes in Europe. It is home to a variety of fresh water fish including brown trout, pike, perch, and roach, and it also attracts salmon and eels from the Atlantic Ocean.
The lake enters the ocean at Galway city via the Corrib River. The Atlantic Ocean is 27ft/8 meters lower than Lough Corrib in altitude and for this reason the lake is unaffected by tidal conditions. However the water level in the lake does vary by about 3 ft from winter to summer.
Fishing methods on the lake and its rivers include spinning, trolling, dapping and dry fly fishing and the season runs from March to September.
It is said that there are 365 islands on Lough Corrib, one Island for each day of the year.
Boat cruises and fishing on the Corrib are popular activities for locals and visitors alike.

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Image Credits:
Failte Ireland
Photo by Eoin Gardiner / CC BY
Photo by Denis Simonet / CC BY
By Burkesclonbur (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Irene King