Spate · Limestone · Pyrénées-Atlantiques / Soule

Saison (Gave de Mauléon)

Clear green river flowing under an arched stone bridge past riverside houses in Mauléon-Licharre, France.

Major tributary of the Gave d'Oloron.

Poor · Brown Trout
CDC Emerger · 16-18
New ruleReported 17 Jul 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

The Bassin du Lausset 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°37314 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date.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.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.10 m
  • Water temp21.7°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
CDC Emerger
CDC Emerger16-18
Dead-drift
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.10 m
Water temp21.7°C
ClarityClear
Weather30°C
WindNW 6 km/h
Pressure1018 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead10.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
22°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
Pool tails and seams behind boulders through the Mauléon valley. The Saison runs intimate Basque freestone water.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. Long leader, fine tippet.
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 21.7°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 3 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

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

Through the year
0–3 scale · August highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2
Yellow SallyHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box

More balanced than the mountain-river pack. French nymphing still matters, but there is more room for dries, spiders and general searching flies.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA permits required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 22°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. Clear green river flowing under an arched stone bridge past riverside houses in Mauléon-Licharre, France.
    Mauléon-Licharre (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Major tributary of the Gave d'Oloron. Mountain spate river with limestone clarity and a four-hour response time. Salmon fishing is closed across the Adour and Gaves basin under the 2026 prefectoral order. Large wild brown trout remain, best fished during the rising phase when snowmelt brings fresh water down. Check the regional arrêté for season and parcours regulations.

Hatches & food

Named alongside the other Oloron-basin gaves in departmental federation reporting as one of the rivers where trout took insects at the surface in early afternoon around the March opening — a basin-wide regional account, not a Saison-specific observation.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown

WFD classification · FRFR262

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 16 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature8 × 28%2.2
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity53 × 12%6.4
Limiting factor: Water temperature (21.7°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 56
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

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.

Related guides
Pyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts