Freestone · Granite · Normandy / Calvados, FR

Orne

Orne — Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, Orne, France

The Orne is the central Calvados river, running from its source near Sées through the Suisse Normande gorges to the sea at Ouistreham.

Poor · Sea Trout
Black & Silver Tube · 1–2 inch
Closed season
Out of season. File this water for the right month.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.
What moved it
  • LevelProxyvia Noireau
  • Water temp9.8°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
BS
Black & Silver Tube1–2 inch
In deep pools and dark water, silhouette and contrast do the work colour cannot. A fly that reads as black against depth is enough. Fish it broadside, hold the swing, let it hang at the dangle — that is when the best fish take.
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Steady
Proxy
via Noireau
Water temp9.8°C
ClarityClear
Weather5°C
WindN 12 km/h
Pressure1015 hPa
Rain · recent0.4 mm
Rain · ahead2.8 mm

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

Water temperature for Sea Trout
Ideal
10°C est.ideal 8–15°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Sea Trout
When
Sea trout open in Calvados — 25 April to 25 October. Main run summer; rod catches have been miserable in recent years. Evening into night where AAPPMA night extension applies.
Where
Lower Orne pool tails through to the Caen tidal limit. Walk pools in daylight before fishing them at night.
Method
Across-and-down on a floating line with size 10 to 12 wets — Steer's Head, Stoat's Tail, soft-hackle emerger. Steady swing, never hurry. Carte de pêche with timbre migrateur required.
Kit
10 ft #6/7, floating line, 8 lb fluoro tippet. Spare leader on a wrist spool.
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds 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 · November highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Daddy Long LegsHatch
2
3
3
2
Mayfly (Green Drake)Hatch
2
2
Freshwater ShrimpHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Sea 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.

BS
Black & Silver TubeTop
1–2 inch · Tube
In deep pools and dark water, silhouette and contrast do the work colour cannot. A fly that reads as black against depth is enough. Fish it broadside, hold the swing, let it hang at the dangle — that is when the best fish take.
Medicine Fly
Medicine Fly
8–12 · Streamer
Slim and mobile — fished sunk through the pool when surface work is not producing. Consistently takes fish that will not come to the surface.
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA Orne / Fédération Calvados.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Gallery · 2
  1. Orne — Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, Orne, France
    Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei, Orne, France
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Salmon fishing is closed throughout the Seine-Normandie basin under the 2026–27 basin order. What remains is reliable summer sea trout and excellent wild brown trout through the middle and upper reaches. The sea trout fishing in the lower river is worth pursuing from late May through October, with night fishing the productive method during the summer peak. The upper trout water, above the Suisse Normande, is proper freestone fishing — granite pocket water, strong Baetis and caddis hatches, wild fish that respond to dry fly and nymph alike. The Noireau, a major tributary, is gauged and gives a reliable proxy for conditions on the parent river.

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: Moderate
  • Chemical: Unknown

WFD classification · FRHR307

Why this score · for Sea Trout
  • Temperature10028% weight
  • Flow8022% weight
  • Clarity8518% weight
  • Feeding Time10013% weight
  • Pressure857% weight
  • Insect activity4012% weight
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Sea trout 11 March → 31 October
  • Trout 2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Salmon fishing is closed throughout the Seine-Normandie basin, fresh and estuarine, under the 2026–27 basin order.

Sea trout: Open (2026) — Open in Calvados. Rod catches miserable (1 in 2024) but counter data (Feuguerolles-Bully: 440 sea trout 2024) shows genuine fish presence. Borderline but evidence-backed.

Related guides
Booking & contacts
At a glance

Orne is a freestone river in Normandy / Calvados, France. Its recorded elevation is about 10 m above sea level and the catchment geology is granite. The river is described as roughly 170 km long. Our data lists brown trout, salmon and sea trout here. The trout season is recorded as running from 2nd Saturday of March to 3rd Sunday of September. The salmon season is recorded as running from CLOSED to CLOSED. Best window recorded for anglers: June–October (sea trout); April–September (trout). Core methods listed: Spey casting; nymphing upper reaches; night fishing for sea trout. Its Water Framework Directive ecological status is recorded as moderate. Access is recorded as day tickets through the local AAPPMA (angling association). Nearby waters in our listings include Colvert Pond at 16 km, Touques at 37 km and St-Pierre-des-Ifs at 39 km.