Freestone · Mixed · Hautes-Pyrénées to Bayonne, FR

Adour

A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
Marginal · Brown Trout
Hare's Ear Nymph · 14-16
New ruleReported 26 Jun 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

A préfectoral drought order places this catchment's surface water at crise, the highest of France's four restriction tiers. Fishing itself is not named in the order, but flows are low and water-use restrictions are in force. Zone: Bassin de la Mielle (dépt 64).

Arrêté préfectoral n°36921 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date. Always confirm locally before travelling.

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
  • Level0.39 mLast reading 3h ago
  • Water temp18.5°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Hare's Ear Nymph
Hare's Ear Nymph14-16
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.39 m
Last reading 3h ago
Water temp18.5°C
ClarityClear
Weather16°C
WindS 4 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead2.5 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
18.5°Cideal 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
Upper Adour through Bigorre is small tight water; the middle river widens through Tarbes. Pool tails and seams behind boulders.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. The Adour reads as classic Pyrenean freestone — careful approach.
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 18.5°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 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 7 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 4 with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

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
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Alpine RhithrogenaHatch
1
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Iron BlueHatch
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
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 permits.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 2
Water here at 18.5°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Gave d'Aspe
15 km
~9°C
Brown trout · Grayling
Gave de Pau
22 km
~15°C
Brown trout · Salmon
Gallery · 2
  1. A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
    The confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis near Sames
  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 FRFRR238_4 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRFRR238_4

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 37 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature32 × 28%9.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity56 × 12%6.7
Conditions total= 61
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
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
  • 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 across the Adour and Gaves basin under the 2026 prefectoral order (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), which renewed the 2025 total prohibition.

Sea trout: Seasonal open (2026) — Adour basin — sea trout confirmed in the lower Adour and lower Gave d'Oloron tributary. The Adour system legally targets truite de mer as part of the Atlantic migratory species framework. Supersedes 'verify_locally' provisional status.

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsPyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts