Spate · Granite · Highlands / Strathspey

River Dulnain

The River Dulnain flowing fast and peat-stained under an old stone packhorse bridge at Carrbridge, surrounded by autumn trees.
Marginal · Brown Trout
Hare's Ear Nymph · 12-16
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.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level0.11 m
  • Water temp18.3°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Hare's Ear Nymph
Hare's Ear Nymph12-16
Proven pattern for this period
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.11 m
Water temp18.3°C
ClarityClear
Weather18°C
WindW 19 km/h
Pressure1016 hPa
Rain · recent0.2 mm
Rain · ahead1.5 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
18°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Water at 18.3°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 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 8 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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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 · regionalHigh 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
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
2
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
GrannomHatch
2
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
SB
Small Black Beetle
14-18 · Pattern
Proven pattern for this period
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 2
Water here around 18°C — probably warm enough to stress Brown Trout . These are likely cooler.
Achagour Fishery
22 km
~15°C
Brown trout
Spey
6.0 km
~17°C
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Gallery · 2
  1. The River Dulnain flowing fast and peat-stained under an old stone packhorse bridge at Carrbridge, surrounded by autumn trees.
    The Packhorse Bridge
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Moderate
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

SEPA WFD 2022 — Dulnain: Moderate status. Corrected 2026-06-18 (was recorded Good). Source: SEPA WFD 2022 classification (spatialdata.gov.scot / SEPA Aquatic Classification Hub).

SEPA (Scotland) · UKSC023114

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 38 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature51 × 28%14.3
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity58 × 12%7.0
Conditions total= 69
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.
Related guides
Scotland Playbookloch & river fishingYorkshire & SpidersNorth Country methodsEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts