Freestone · Granite · Normandy / Manche (Avranches)

Sée

Sée terrain map
Terrain map

The Sée runs off the Armorican granite into the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel and is one of the last few Normandy rivers where wild Atlantic salmon still return in meaningful numbers.

Species

A side-water session, not the main event

Low and clear — careful approach country. Long leader, small flies, slower casts.

75% confidence in this read
Water temperature for brown trout
Cool — slow
7°C est.ideal 1016°C
0°14°28°
Why this score · for brown trout
  • Temperature5428% weight
  • Flow6022% weight
  • Clarity9518% weight
  • Feeding Time4513% weight
  • Pressure807% weight
  • Prey Activity2912% weight
Conditions
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp
7.3°C
Estimated
Clarity
Clear
Air temp
10°C
Wind
SW 9 km/h
Light breeze
Pressure
1012 hPa
Rain · 48h
0.0 mm
No meaningful rain
Rain · ahead
5.7 mm
Light rain · next 48h

Live readings — water temperature is an estimate where the gauge does not record it.

How to fish it · for brown trout
When
Through the open trout season — opens 2nd Saturday of March; spring olives; sedges through summer; small dark flies into late September.
Where
Normandy chalk-stream character — pool tails, weeded glides, ranunculus runs. The Sée is intimate water; read it carefully.
Method
Upstream dry to spotted rising fish — long leader, fine tippet. The Sée's water is clear and demanding. Move slowly, cast accurately.
Kit
9 ft #4 — chalk-stream default. Floating line, 14 ft leader to 4 lb fluoro. Polarising glasses non-negotiable.
Why this works
Good conditions. Clarity is favourable (95), Prey activity is weakest (29).
Through the year
0–3 scale · May highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
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.

Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • AAPPMA Sée / Fédération Manche
  • TAC quotas apply — verify status before salmon fishing
  • Sea trout night fishing permitted in summer.
Directions
About this water

The Sée runs off the Armorican granite into the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel and is one of the last few Normandy rivers where wild Atlantic salmon still return in meaningful numbers. The run is small by Scottish standards — a few hundred fish a year in good seasons — but it is genuine, unsupported by stocking, and has held steady through decades when other Seine-Normandie rivers lost theirs entirely. The fishable water runs from Avranches upstream through Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët to the headwaters above Sourdeval. The salmon beats are the deep pools of the middle river, fished in spring with floating lines and long leaders when the water is low, and with small tubes on intermediate lines when it carries colour. Fish the pool tails and the seams where the current concentrates. Best windows come two to four days after a rise. Sea trout (truites de mer) run the Sée in numbers and provide the real summer sport, entering from late May and fishable through to October. They are worth night fishing with small flies from July onwards, when the water is warm and the fish active. The trout fishing in the upper reaches is honest rather than remarkable — wild fish, granite pools, good Baetis and stonefly hatches.

  • Granite
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon11 March → 31 July
  • Sea trout11 March → 31 October
  • Trout2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Atlantic salmon fishing banned across the Seine-Normandie basin in 2026.

Sea trout: Negligible (2026) — 1 declared sea trout in 2024. Biologically present but rod catches negligible.

Other water nearby · 2