Fishing near Athlone, Co. Westmeath

Athlone sits on the River Shannon in Co Westmeath, at the southern tip of Lough Ree — a 26 km long, 10,500-hectare lake that draws anglers from across Ireland and beyond. The Shannon itself, Lough Ree, and the lower River Inny together make this one of the most productive coarse and pike fishing centres in the country, with the river downstream of Athlone offering further hotspots as far as Clonmacnoise.