Freestone · Mixed · Hautes-Pyrénées to Bayonne

Adour

A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
Poor · Brown Trout
Small Perdigón · 16-20
New ruleReported 26 Jun 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

The Bassin de la Mielle zone (Dept 64) is at crise — the second-highest French drought tier — under a préfectoral arrêté. Fishing itself is not named as prohibited, but water is severely restricted and flows are likely very low; fish with care and check locally.

Arrêté préfectoral n°36921 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date. Always confirm locally before travelling.

Poorlive now
Not the day for it
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. This is not the day to push it. Check the thermal advice above before you head out.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.38 mLast reading 40 min ago
  • Water temp23.6°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Small Perdigón
Small Perdigón16-20
Euro-nymph
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.38 m
Last reading 40 min ago
Water temp23.6°C
ClarityClear
Weather35°C
WindNE 12 km/h
Pressure1019 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead6.9 mm

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
24°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Through the open trout season. Spring olives April through May; sedges through summer; small dark flies into late September.
Where
Upper Adour through Bigorre is small tight water; the middle river widens through Tarbes. Pool tails and seams behind boulders.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. The Adour reads as classic Pyrenean freestone — careful approach.
Kit
9 ft #4 — French freestone default. Floating line, 12 ft leader to 4 to 5 lb fluoro. Studded boots.
Why this works
Water at 23.6°C. This is the line where catch-and-release kills brown trout. Do not fish for them today.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Updated 24 hours ago

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
GrannomHatch
2
2
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Alpine RhithrogenaHatch
1
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA permits.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 24°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
    The confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis near Sames
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD ecological status Moderate → Good corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody FRFRR238_4 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRFRR238_4

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature0 × 28%0.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time65 × 13%8.5
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity52 × 12%6.2
Limiting factor: Water temperature (23.6°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 55
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September
  • Grayling 3rd Saturday of May → 3rd Sunday of September

    France national rule: grayling opens 3rd Saturday of May in all waters. In 1st category (salmonid) rivers, grayling closes with the trout season on the 3rd Sunday of September. Departmental regulations may impose additional restrictions. Always check the relevant département's 2026 arrêté préfectoral.

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Salmon fishing is closed across the Adour and Gaves basin under the 2026 prefectoral order (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), which renewed the 2025 total prohibition.

Sea trout: Seasonal open (2026) — Adour basin — sea trout confirmed in the lower Adour and lower Gave d'Oloron tributary. The Adour system legally targets truite de mer as part of the Atlantic migratory species framework. Supersedes 'verify_locally' provisional status.

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsPyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts