Breton granite spate river flowing through the Landerneau valley into the Rade de Brest. Carries Atlantic salmon and sea trout runs; part of the granitic Armorican river family alongside the Aulne and Éllez. The character is Brittany granite: peaty-tinged, responsive to rain, short but functional for migratory fish when levels are right. Atlantic salmon are managed under a national TAC quota system — a tag (bracelet) is required to keep a fish and river quotas are capped, so catch-and-release is the norm once a quota closes; check current rules before fishing.
The Elorn rises a stone's throw from the moorland of the Monts d'Arree and runs some forty-two kilometres across north Finistere — through Sizun, Landivisiau and Landerneau — to a long estuary opening into the Rade de Brest. It is a modest Breton river of clear, cool, acidic water off the granite uplands, fed by sixteen tributaries and by the Drennec reservoir near its source, which steadies the upper flow as a tailwater below the dam. For all its reputation it rarely exceeds ten metres in width, a small river of easy pools and gentle gradient running through wooded and farmed country. It holds a stable run of Atlantic salmon — a couple of hundred fish in recent years — and beautiful trout that share the lower water. The character is intimate, slow-profiled freestone where the salmon lies are easy to read. Wading is steady on firm rock and gravel.
Wading: Steady footing on a small clear river
- Granite
- Partly confined
- Pool riffle