Freestone · Limestone · Andalucía / Jaén (Sierra de Cazorla–Las Villas)

Guadalquivir (upper / Cazorla headwaters)

Canonical upper Guadalquivir headwater row for the Cazorla source area.

Warm — handle with careBrown Trout are stressed by warm water — handle every fish carefully.

Water estimated at about 18°C from air temperature — there is no water-temp gauge here, so treat the figure as a guide. Above 18°C, the risk of killing a released fish climbs. Fish dawn or dusk only — the water can be two or three degrees cooler at first light. Barbless hooks. Land it fast — under thirty seconds. Wet hands. No air shots. If a fish swims off slowly or rolls, stop fishing for the day.

DepthShaded riffles, deep pools, spring inflows, cold tributary mouths. Work them and move on.
TimingDawn and dusk only. Avoid the middle of the day — the water peaks then and the fish are most stressed.

Marginallive now

Slow going — pick your moments

Low and clear — careful approach country. Cover and shadow are doing the work today.

90% confidence

Notify when prime

What moved it

LevelDry recentlyNo gauge reading
Water temp18.3°C
ClarityClear

Today’s fly

Klinkhammer14-18

Proven pattern for this period

Live now

Conditions on the water

Estimate

Trends shown where the gauge supports them

Level

Dry recently

No gauge reading

Water temp

18.3°C

coldwarm

Clarity

Clear

Weather

24°C

Clear

Wind

E 11 km/h

calmblown out

Pressure

1020 hPa

lowhigh

Rain · recent

0.2 mm

dryspate risk

Rain · ahead

0.0 mm

dryspate risk

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for brown trout

Warm — slow

18°C est.ideal 10–16°C

0°14°28°

How to fish it · for brown trout

When

Nymphing can work through most of the day.

Where

Cover mixed depths.

Method

Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.

Kit

9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.

Why this works

⚠️ Water at 18.3°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots. Otherwise poor — water clarity is in the right range.

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

Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year

0–3 scale · July highlighted

Grannom

Evening Sedge

Large Dark Olive

Iron Blue

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.

Junta de Andalucía licence plus trout surcharge required
Upper Guadalquivir cotos and managed beats can carry their own allocation and method rules, so confirm the current BOJA order and local permit conditions before travel.

What's coming

Plan ahead

5-day outlook

Cooler water nearby · 2

Water here around 18°C — probably warm enough to stress brown trout. These are likely cooler.

About this water

Canonical upper Guadalquivir headwater row for the Cazorla source area. Here the Guadalquivir is still a limestone mountain trout river, with native brown-trout sin muerte water and some managed rainbow beats in the wider upper system. This row should carry the upper-river planning logic rather than splitting the same headwaters into overlapping 'upper' and 'alto' abstractions.

Limestone

Water quality (WFD)

Ecology: Moderate
Chemical: Unknown

What this classification means

WFD ecological status Poor → Moderate corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody ES050MSPF011009044 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · ES050MSPF011009044

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 90%

How the 38 is built — score × weight = contribution

Temperature51 × 28%14.3

Flow60 × 22%13.2

Clarity95 × 18%17.1

Feeding Time55 × 13%7.2

Pressure80 × 7%5.6

Insect activity57 × 12%6.8

Conditions total= 64

Can you trust it?

Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated

Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved

Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled

What would change the calculation

Cooler water — back toward the 10–16 °C ideal band — would lift the score and ease welfare.

The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.

Directions

Apple Maps Google Maps

Seasons & zones

Troutdurante los periodos hábiles (check current BOJA) → during the designated open period

Related guides

Booking & contacts