Every fish worth chasing in Ireland

Ireland's most storied game fish: an anadromous migrant that returns from the sea to spawn in the river of its birth, running from spring through autumn.

Ireland's most widely distributed native game fish, found in rivers and lakes in every county, from small upland streams to the great limestone loughs.

The migratory form of the brown trout — bright silver, hard-fighting, and most often fished after dark on a handful of exceptional Irish waters.

A deep-bodied shoaling fish of midlands lakes, canals and larger rivers, often fished for through the night to intercept undisturbed shoals.

A powerful, long-lived introduced species stocked into Irish lakes and day-ticket fisheries, and the focus of a dedicated specialist angling culture.

A widespread, boldly barred shoaling coarse fish found in rivers, canals and lakes nationwide, with the largest specimens taken in early spring.

Ireland's principal freshwater predator and the apex fish in most systems it inhabits, found in loughs, rivers and canals nationwide.

One of Ireland's most widespread coarse fish, shoaling in numbers through canals, rivers and lakes, though a true specimen is a deliberate target.

Golden-flanked with vivid orange-red fins, rudd favour weedy still water, and Ireland is rated among the best rudd fisheries anywhere.

A hard-fighting still-water species of Ireland's weedy midland and eastern lakes, canals and gravel pits, feeding hardest at dawn and dusk.

Ireland's premier light-tackle sea fish — a wary, hard-fighting predator of surf beaches, rock marks and estuaries, under strict conservation rules.

An oceanic shark that moves into Irish offshore waters in late summer, fished on rubby-dubby drifts from specialist charter boats.

Known in Ireland as coley or saithe, this densely shoaling cod-family fish is caught everywhere from harbour walls to deep offshore wrecks.

A heavy-bodied predator with a distinctive chin barbel, now concentrated on southern wreck and reef ground rather than widespread inshore as it once was.

Ireland's largest eel and one of its most powerful sea predators, holding in wrecks, reefs and harbour structure and fished for with heavy tackle.

A small, common flatfish of clean sandy ground, taken from shore and boat on light bottom rigs and well regarded on the table.

Greater Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Blackmouthed Dogfish — small seabed sharks taken on bottom-fished bait, often incidentally to other species.

Ireland's most widespread flatfish, tolerant of brackish water and found on sand and mud from open beaches well up into estuaries and tidal rivers.

The smallest of Ireland's three mullet species, marked by a golden spot on each gill cover and found well up sheltered, brackish estuaries.

A long-bodied cod-family fish of deep reefs and wrecks, and among the largest bottom-dwelling fish an Irish boat angler is likely to encounter.

A fast-moving shoaling fish that arrives around the whole Irish coast from late spring to autumn, and the most commonly caught sea species in Irish waters.

A hard-fighting member of the cod family found over rocky coasts, wrecks and reefs the length of Ireland, taken mostly on lures worked tight to structure.

Nine ray and skate species grouped as one, taken on bottom-fished bait over sand and mixed ground — including Critically Endangered Flapper Skate.

Ireland's most commonly encountered mullet — a wary harbour and estuary grazer taken on freelined bread, and one of the hardest fish to hook.

The least recorded of Ireland's three mullet species, and the one that reliably takes a moving bait — a small spinner tipped with ragworm.

A fast, powerful migratory shark and a summer mainstay of Irish boat angling, best known from the internationally regarded east coast marks.

A small, densely shoaling cod-family fish that moves inshore in autumn and winter, offering some of Ireland's most consistent sea angling action.

A colourful group of three rocky-reef species — Ballan, Cuckoo and Corkwing — that hold tight to kelp and rock and fight hard for their size.