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.

Prime · Brown Trout
Spent Spinner · 16-20
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
Low and clear — careful approach country. Take your time — read the water before you cast.
75% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia Arques
  • Water temp16.1°C
  • ClarityClear
Today’s fly
Spent Spinner
Spent Spinner16-20
Upstream dry
Conditions on the water
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Arques
Water temp16.1°C
ClarityClear
Weather15°C
WindW 18 km/h
Pressure1022 hPa
Rain · recent0.5 mm
Rain · ahead1.9 mm

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

Water temperature for brown trout
Warm — slow
16°C est.ideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for brown trout
When
Through the open chalk-stream trout season. Spring olives and grannom; sedges through summer evenings; small dark flies into autumn.
Where
The Bresle runs through Normandy chalk country — pool tails, weeded glides, ranunculus runs. Watch under the alders for trout sipping in the cushion of slow water.
Method
Upstream dry to spotted rising fish — long leader, fine tippet. The Bresle is chalk water; reads every line wrinkle. Move slowly, cast accurately, get it right first time.
Kit
9 ft #4 — chalk-stream default. Floating line, 14 ft leader to 4 lb fluoro. Polarising glasses non-negotiable.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is working for you, but time of day is the limiting factor today.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 8 active hatches hour by hour 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 · July 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
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
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.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
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
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyGood
  • ChemicalUnknown
What this classification means

WFD ecological status Moderate → Good corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody FRHR160 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRHR160

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 75%
How the 80 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature98 × 28%27.4
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity59 × 12%7.1
Conditions total= 80
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Arquesproxy
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
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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