Chalk · Normandy / Seine-Maritime (Eu)

Bresle

Bresle — Vieux Rouen-sur-Bresle, Seine Maritime, France
Marginal · Brown Trout
Spent Spinner · 16-20
Marginallive now
Slow going — pick your moments
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. Fish dawn or dusk if you go at all, and handle everything with extra care.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia Arques
  • Water temp19.5°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Spent Spinner
Spent Spinner16-20
Upstream dry
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Arques
Water temp19.5°C
ClarityClear
Weather21°C
WindW 11 km/h
Pressure1016 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.4 mm

No gauge on this water — conditions are inferred from Arques. The trend transfers, the absolute level does not.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
20°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Through the open chalk-stream trout season. Spring olives and grannom; sedges through summer evenings; small dark flies into autumn.
Where
The Bresle runs through Normandy chalk country — pool tails, weeded glides, ranunculus runs. Watch under the alders for trout sipping in the cushion of slow water.
Method
Upstream dry to spotted rising fish — long leader, fine tippet. The Bresle is chalk water; reads every line wrinkle. Move slowly, cast accurately, get it right first time.
Kit
9 ft #4 — chalk-stream default. Floating line, 14 ft leader to 4 lb fluoro. Polarising glasses non-negotiable.
Why this works
Water at 19.5°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 10 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 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
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
Brown SedgeHatch
2
3
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Blue Winged OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
3
2
Mayfly (Green Drake)Hatch
2
2

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.
  • L'AAPPMA du Pays de Bray et l'AAPPMA d'Eu gèrent la plupart des parcours
  • La pêche de nuit est autorisée pour le sea-trout pendant le pic estival — vérifiez toujours la réglementation en vigueur
  • Des quotas de capture s'appliquent pour le saumon.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 20°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. Bresle — Vieux Rouen-sur-Bresle, Seine Maritime, France
    Vieux Rouen-sur-Bresle, Seine Maritime, France
  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 FRHR160 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRHR160

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 31 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature32 × 28%9.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity65 × 12%7.8
Conditions total= 64
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Arquesproxy
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
  • Sea trout 1 April → 31 October
  • 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 throughout the Seine-Normandie basin, fresh and estuarine, under the 2026–27 basin order.

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — Bresle — Normandy river forming the Seine-Maritime/Somme border. Sea trout (truite de mer) historically significant; still an active sea trout fishery but stocks are condition-sensitive and management-dependent. AAPPMA Bresle manages the water.

Related guides
Chalkstream Playbookchalk stream tacticsGrayling Playbookgrayling tacticsPyrenees PlaybookFrench rivers
Booking & contacts