Spate · Granite · Brittany / Finistère-Morbihan, FR

Ellé

Photo of Ellé

The Ellé is emblematic South Brittany wild trout river where the mood of the water seems to shift with the light on granite.

Today · Closed season
Black Gnat
New ruleReported 19 Aug 2026

Severe drought restrictions (crise) in force

VigiEau lists this venue's surface-water zone (Ellé, dépt 56) 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°37757 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date.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

Forecast · Today
Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
45% projected
Today's fly
Black Gnat
Black Gnat
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.15 m
Lifting fast
Water temp17.4°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather17°C
WindN 27 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent3.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

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

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
17°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Through the open trout season. Spring olives and sedges; summer evenings; small dark flies into autumn close.
Where
Pool tails and pocket water through the Finistère-Morbihan stretches. The Ellé is small-scale Breton freestone.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. Breton spate freestone — fish 12 to 24 hours after rain on the drop. Long leader, fine tippet.
Kit
9 ft #4 — Breton spate freestone. Floating line, 12 ft leader to 4 lb fluoro. Studded boots.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Heather Fly

Stage: Terrestrials on topApproach: Dry flyActivity: 53%
Also:Reed Smut46%Cinnamon Sedge23%
Peak emergence windowWeather boost9 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Heather Fly (Heather Fly, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

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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 · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
Late March BrownHatch
2
3
2
Large Brook DunHatch
2
3
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box

More balanced than the mountain-river pack. French nymphing still matters, but there is more room for dries, spiders and general searching flies.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA permits.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Isole
18 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Scorff
23 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Aven
27 km
0
Brown trout · Sea trout
Blavet
29 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Jet
36 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Photo of Ellé
    Ellé — image via Wikipedia (Ellé)
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Ellé is emblematic South Brittany wild trout river where the mood of the water seems to shift with the light on granite. Upper stretches and tributaries (Quimperlé system) excellent for fly. Armorican granite means clear water, responsive flow, strong invertebrate populations. Baetis, caddis, and stonefly hatches throughout season. Check AAPPMA for public access.

Hatches & food

On Atlantic trout rivers in Normandy and Brittany, regional studies and on-the-bank experience point to spring mayflies as the main early driver, a strong band of spring and early-summer caddis as channels warm and open, background buzzer life ticking away right through the year, and terrestrials from wooded banks adding important surface food in summer and early autumn, with autumn olives extending sport wherever trout-season rules allow.

  • Granite
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD re-coded 2026-06-18: prior id FRGR0091 actually identifies the Isole — this river was mis-tagged to a neighbouring water body. Re-mapped to FRGR0079. Status: EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP). Confidence: medium — VERIFY upper (FRGR0079, source–Aër) vs lower (FRGR0080, Aër–estuary) for the fished beat. Source: discodata.eea.europa.eu.

WFD classification · FRGR0079

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature49 × 28%13.7
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time80 × 13%10.4
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity73 × 12%8.8
Conditions total= 73
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
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.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Brittany 2026 order bans Atlantic salmon and sea trout on all Breton rivers.

Sea trout: Banned (2026) — Brittany 2026 order bans Atlantic salmon and sea trout on all Breton rivers.

Related guides
Pyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts