Freestone · Granite · Normandy / Calvados-Manche

Vire

Vire — I follow rivers
Poor · Brown Trout
CDC Emerger · 16-18
New ruleReported 4 Aug 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

The III - Vire - ESU zone (Dept 50) 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°37583

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date.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
  • LevelProxyvia Noireau
  • Water temp22.2°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
CDC Emerger
CDC Emerger16-18
Dead-drift
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Noireau
Water temp22.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather24°C
WindN 6 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.6 mm

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

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
22°C est.ideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Through the open trout season. Olives April through May; sedges through summer evenings; small dark flies into autumn close.
Where
Pool tails, riffle heads, and the seams behind boulders through the Calvados-Manche valley. The Vire runs Normandy spate freestone water.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. The water reads clear — long leader, fine tippet. Move slowly, cast accurately.
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 22.2°C. This is the line where catch-and-release kills brown trout. Do not fish for them today.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 2 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read 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
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Blue Winged OliveHatch
1
2
2
2
2
1
Autumn OliveHatch
1
2
1
GrannomHatch
1
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 Vire / Fédération de pêche du Calvados et de la Manche
  • Quotas TAC applicables.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 22°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
Gallery · 2
  1. Vire — I follow rivers
    I follow rivers
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyModerate
  • ChemicalUnknown

WFD classification · FRHR317

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 10 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature5 × 28%1.4
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity58 × 12%7.0
Limiting factor: Water temperature (22.2°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 57
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Noireauproxy
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
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 2nd Saturday of March3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Salmon fishing is closed throughout the Seine-Normandie basin, fresh and estuarine, under the 2026–27 basin order.

Sea trout: Banned (2026) — 0 declared sea trout in 2024. Effectively dead as a sea trout fishery.

Related guides
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