Spate · Mixed · Gipuzkoa, País Vasco

Urola

Urola — Urola

A central Gipuzkoa trout river of excellent character, flowing through relatively unspoilt catchment toward the coast.

Today · Not the day for it
Black Gnat
Forecast · Today
Not the day for it
Not much stacked in your favour today. Worth an hour if you are nearby, not worth the special trip.
80% projected
Today's fly
Black Gnat
Black Gnat
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.23 m
Lifting fast
Water temp20.0°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather21°C
WindN 16 km/h
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent8.3 mm
Rain · ahead1.7 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Warm — slow
20°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 20.7°C — above the brown trout caution line (18°C). Fish dawn or dusk only. Land it fast, wet hands, no air shots.
Likely species
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 12pm

12pm(now) — Heather Fly

Stage: Terrestrials on topApproach: Dry flyActivity: 67%
Also:Black Gnat32%
Peak emergence windowWeather boost7 food groups active

Peak activity at 12pm — Heather Fly (Heather Fly, Peak emergence window)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Supporters see the full sub-surface read.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 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 · September highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sea trout runRun
1
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
1
March BrownHatch
2
3
2
Late March BrownHatch
2
3
2
Large Brook DunHatch
2
3
2
Large StoneflyHatch
2
3
2

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.
  • Gipuzkoa fishing licence required
  • Treat the Urola as a trout river with some sea-trout influence rather than as a migratory-fish destination defined by old salmon logic.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Cooler water nearby · 1
Water here at 20.7°C — the fishing's alive, but these are cooler if you'd rather rest the warm water.
Río Artibai
18 km
~20°C
Salmon · Sea trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Urola — Urola
    Urola
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

A central Gipuzkoa trout river of excellent character, flowing through relatively unspoilt catchment toward the coast. At 59 km, it provides diverse habitat with particular strength in middle and upper sections holding abundant wild browns. Mixed geology ensures good water quality and varied substrate. Spate nature (4-hour response) provides reliable fishing windows for winter browns and spring/summer sea trout. Less developed than salmon-focused neighbours, offering quieter angling with consistent quality. Predominantly wild and undisturbed habitat with good riparian cover. Spring (March–May) excellent for browns; sea trout extend season May onwards. Ideal for those seeking wild river experience without permit complexity.

Hatches & food

In the steep, often pressured Atlantic rivers of the Basque Country, trout opportunities centre on spring olives and other up-wings when flows and colour briefly line up, with caddis and buzzers helping to sustain sport into early and mid-summer, and terrestrials from grassy, wooded margins adding surface food in quieter, recovering reaches.

  • Mixed
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 ES017MSPFES111R034020 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · ES017MSPFES111R034020

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 80%
How the 14 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature7 × 28%2.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time45 × 13%5.9
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity58 × 12%7.0
Limiting factor: Water temperature (20.7°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 55
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
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 MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Sea trout 1 May → 31 July
  • Trout third Sunday of March → 31 July

Sea trout: Variable seasonal (2026)

Salmon: Heritage only (2026) — Heritage salmon river. In practical angling terms, salmon are not a target species — focus on trout and sea trout.

Related guides
Pyrenees PlaybookSpanish riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts