Limestone · Baden-Württemberg / Bavaria

Upper Danube (Obere Donau)

Upper Danube (Obere Donau) terrain map
Terrain map

The young Danube flows through the Swabian Jura limestone gorge—excellent grayling and brown trout in clear, alkaline water.

Marginal · Brown Trout
Elk Hair Caddis · 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.
80% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelDry recentlyNo gauge reading
  • Water temp20.4°C
  • ClarityClear
Today’s fly
Elk Hair Caddis
Elk Hair Caddis12-16
Upstream dry
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp20.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather28°C
WindW 11 km/h
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent0.3 mm
Rain · ahead20.9 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

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
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 20.4°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

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

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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
ModelledModerate confidence

Modelled from regional ecology — no survey or occurrence data for this water yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July 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
2
2
2
1
GrannomHatch
2
2
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Iron BlueHatch
1
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
SS
Small Streamer
6-10 · Pattern
Swing
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Quellgebiet der oberen Donau
  • Fischereischein und Erlaubnisschein erforderlich.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 20°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
About this water

The young Danube flows through the Swabian Jura limestone gorge—excellent grayling and brown trout in clear, alkaline water. The gorge section between Tuttlingen and Sigmaringen is genuinely spectacular. Dry fly and nymphing on classic European limestone water—one of southern Germany's finest grayling rivers.

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

WFD classification · DERW_DEBW_6-02

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 80%
How the 25 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature20 × 28%5.6
Flow60 × 22%13.2
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity60 × 12%7.2
Limiting factor: Water temperature (20.4°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 57
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
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
  • Trout1 March → 30 September
  • Grayling1 May → 31 December

    Upper Danube access spans Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, with much of the classic gorge context (Tuttlingen–Sigmaringen) in Baden-Württemberg. Grayling rules must be checked against the exact Bundesland and fishery permit; do not apply the Bavaria default blindly. Individual fishery/Hegering or club rules may impose stricter limits or shorter access.

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts