Karst · Limestone · Jura / Franche-Comté, FR

Doubs (France)

A wide, calm river bend with a riverside path and the historic citadel of Besançon on the hillside above.
Poor · Grayling
Pheasant Tail Jig · sizes_14_18
New ruleReported 17 Jul 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

VigiEau lists this venue's surface-water zone (Plateau calcaire jurassien, dépt 25) at crise, under an official préfectoral drought arrêté. Fishing is not itself banned by it, but water levels are low — go gently on stressed fish.

Arrêté préfectoral n°37370 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date.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

Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.
What moved it
  • Level0.28 mLast reading 46 min ago
  • Water temp10.4°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Jig
Pheasant Tail Jigsizes_14_18
in season · matches water height · all-rounder
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.28 m
Last reading 46 min ago
Water temp10.4°C
ClarityClear
Weather15°C
WindW 11 km/h
Pressure1026 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.7 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Grayling
Ideal
10°C est.ideal 4–14°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Grayling
When
Autumn through November prime. The French Doubs grayling fishing is among the best in Europe; cold midday days bring fish up to small olives.
Where
Faster gravel runs and the heads of riffles through the middle and lower Doubs. Deeper glide tails as winter cold pushes fish deeper.
Method
Euro-nymphing through the deeper pockets is the daily default; switch to dries on autumn afternoons when sedges and small olives come off. Long fine tippet for the clear water.
Kit
10 ft #3 nymphing rod for the deep pockets; 9 ft #4 for dries. 4 to 5 lb fluoro tippet, 12 ft leader.
Likely species
Mayflies
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Damselflies & dragonflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 as a supporter.

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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 · October 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
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Brown SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Small SpurwingHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Small Dark OliveHatch
2
3
3
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Fly box · Grayling
PT
Pink Tag Jig Nymph
sizes_14_18 · Fly
in season · matches water height
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA permits
  • Franco-Swiss border section has joint regulations; no-kill and fly-only reserves on many beats
  • Check current cormorant protection and low-flow closure rules before travelling.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Loue
27 km
0
Brown trout · Grayling · Chub
Lison
34 km
0
Brown trout · Grayling
Lac Saint-Point
23 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Pisciculture de Jougne
26 km
Rainbow trout
Les piscicultures Côte
27 km
Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. A wide, calm river bend with a riverside path and the historic citadel of Besançon on the hillside above.
    River Doubs and Citadel, City of Besançon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Poor
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD ecological status Moderate → Poor corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody FRDR10307 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRDR10307

The full read · show the working · for Grayling · confidence 90%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time100 × 13%13.0
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity64 × 12%7.7
Conditions total= 87
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 2.º Saturday de March → 3.º Sunday de September
  • Grayling 3.º Saturday de May → 3.º Sunday de 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.

  • Coarse 2.º Saturday de March → 3.º Sunday de September

    Chub has no national closed season of its own in France — on a 1st-category (salmonid) reach like this, ALL fishing (any species, any method) is prohibited outside the water's own open season (Code de l'environnement Art. R436-6), so chub simply inherits the trout/grayling season rather than following a separate coarse-fish law.

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