Freestone · Granite · Normandy / Manche (Avranches), FR

Sée

Cuves - Rives de la Sée

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.

Today · Closed season
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Forecast · Today
Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
45% projected
Today's fly
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Pheasant Tail Nymph
Conditions on the water · Today
Proxy gauge
Level
Rising
Proxy
via Noireau
Water temp9.2°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather6°C
WindN 17 km/h
Pressure1014 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead9.4 mm

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

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Cool — slow
9°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
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.
Likely species
Stoneflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Autumn Olive

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 21%

Peak activity at 12pm — Autumn Olive

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
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 Sée / Fédération Manche
  • Sea trout night fishing permitted in summer.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Sélune
8.0 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Noireau
50 km
0
Brown trout
Pisciculture Les étangs du Val de Sée
7.0 km
Rainbow trout
Vire
49 km
Brown trout · Salmon · Sea trout
Pisciculture Les Sources d'Elle
52 km
Rainbow trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Cuves - Rives de la Sée
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The run is small by Scottish standards — a few hundred fish a year in good seasons — but it is genuine and unsupported by stocking. Salmon fishing is closed throughout the Seine-Normandie basin under the 2026–27 basin order. The fishable water runs from Avranches upstream through Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët to the headwaters above Sourdeval. Sea trout numbers are now negligible and should not be relied on. The trout fishing in the upper reaches is honest rather than remarkable — wild fish, granite pools, good Baetis and stonefly hatches — and it is what the river is for at present.

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

WFD classification · FRHR345

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature78 × 28%21.8
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time80 × 13%10.4
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity39 × 12%4.7
Conditions total= 77
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowproxy via Noireauproxy
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
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: Negligible (2026) — 1 declared sea trout in 2024. Biologically present but rod catches negligible.

Related guides
Pyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts
At a glance

Sée is a freestone river in Normandy / Manche (Avranches), France. The catchment geology is recorded as granite, and the water sits at about 11 m above sea level. The river is described as roughly 78 km long. Species listed for this water: brown trout, salmon and sea trout. 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: May–October (sea trout); April–September (trout). Core methods listed: Spey casting; floating line with long leader; night fishing for sea trout. Its Water Framework Directive ecological status is recorded as good. Access is recorded as day tickets through the local AAPPMA (angling association). Nearby waters in our listings include Pisciculture Les étangs du Val de Sée at 7.0 km, Sélune at 8.0 km and Vire at 49 km.