Chalk · Normandy / Seine-Maritime (Eu)

Bresle

Bresle terrain map
Terrain map

The Bresle rises in the hills above Aumale and runs seventy kilometres to its tidal mouth at Le Tréport.

Species

A good day — worth the effort

Low and clear — careful approach country. Small and bright, long leader, careful approach.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for sea trout
Ideal
9°C est.ideal 8–15°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for sea trout
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow6022% weight
  • Clarity8518% weight
  • Feeding Time5513% weight
  • Pressure857% weight
  • Prey Activity4412% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
8.8°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
10°C
Wind
SW 20 km/h
Moderate breeze
Pressure
1012 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
9.0 mm
Light rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for sea trout
When
Sea trout enter from April; main run summer through October. Variable-seasonal stock — fish carefully if at all. Evening into night where the AAPPMA night extension applies on the lower beats.
Where
Lower Bresle pool tails and weeded glides walked in daylight before fishing them at night. The AAPPMA Bresle manages the water; check beat boundaries before you wade in.
Method
Across-and-down on a floating line with size 10 to 12 wet — Steer's Head and soft-hackle emerger patterns suit clear chalk water; Medicine and Stoat's Tail when colour enters. Steady swing, never hurry.
Kit
10 ft #6/7, floating line, 8 lb fluoro tippet. Spare leader on a wrist spool. Permit with timbre migrateur — non-optional.
Why this works
Good conditions. Temperature is favourable (100), Prey activity is weakest (44). ⏰ Sea trout become most active after dark, but this stretch closes at 20:15 — before that window fully opens. Fish hard in the last legal hour: overcast skies and warm evenings can bring fish on early even in fading light.
Through the year
0–3 scale · May highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
1
2
1
Iron BlueHatch
1
2
2
1
Blue Winged OliveHatch
1
2
2
2
2
1

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

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA du Pays de Bray and AAPPMA d'Eu control most beats
  • Night fishing permitted for sea trout during summer peak — always verify current rules
  • Salmon rod limits apply.
Directions
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About this water

The Bresle rises in the hills above Aumale and runs seventy kilometres to its tidal mouth at Le Tréport. For the last thirty of those kilometres — from Blangy-sur-Bresle through Gamaches to Eu — it is the most productive sea-trout river in France. Runs enter the system from June onwards, peaking in late July and August when warm nights coincide with low summer water. Fish the classical way: a floating line, a size 8 or 10 Medicine or Peter Ross, cast across and slightly down, swung through the pool tails in the last hour of light and the first hours of darkness. Numbers do not match the Welsh rivers and the fish are not as large as the Scottish, but a good night on the Bresle in August can produce three or four fish. Salmon are present in small numbers. The AAPPMA controls most of the water, and the best beats are below Eu.

  • Chalk
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon1 April → 31 October
  • Sea trout1 April → 31 October
  • Trout2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September
  • Grayling3rd Saturday of May → 3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Atlantic salmon fishing banned across the Seine-Normandie basin in 2026.

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026) — Bresle — Normandy river forming the Seine-Maritime/Somme border. Sea trout (truite de mer) historically significant; still an active sea trout fishery but stocks are condition-sensitive and management-dependent. AAPPMA Bresle manages the water.

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