River Bush

Weir on the Bush at Armoy

The River Bush is a river in County Antrim, 33½ miles long, rising in the Antrim Hills and reaching the sea at Portballintrae on the county's north coast.

The Bush River rises in the Antrim Hills at 1,575 feet on the slopes of Slievenanee. From there the river flows north-west through part of the Slieveanorra Forest, with a bend at the village of Armoy. Below Armoy, the river flows west, passing through Stranocum, and then bends north, passing through Bushmills, which takes its name from the river, before reaching the sea at Portballintrae.

The River Bush near Stranocum

The river waters a fertile valley devoted to grassland-based agriculture with limited arable cropping. The underlying geology is basalt and the water is slightly alkaline with magnesium making an unusually large contribution to total hardness. The river supports indigenous stocks of Atlantic salmon and brown trout. Saint Columbs Rill, a tributary of the river, is the source of water used for distilling Bushmills whiskey.

Angling

The River Bush has traditionally been a salmon-fishing river, though the numbers dwindled in the late 20th and early 21st century.

The river still offers excellent salmon fishing. It is managed as a premier salmon river by Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Inland Fisheries Division. The Department also operates a fish farm and hatchery at the River Bush Salmon Station (which can be visited), providing assistance to the River Bush Salmon Research Project. This project was established in 1972 and is a long term programme of research investigating both the sea water and fresh water phases of the lifecycle of the Atlantic salmon. The research programme has led to the recognition of the River Bush as an index river by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Bush)

• Location map: 55°13’9"N, 6°31’60"W