The Vire is the largest of the Calvados-Manche salmon rivers and drains the heart of the Normandy bocage from Saint-Lô to its estuary at Isigny-sur-Mer. It holds the same wild Atlantic salmon stock as the Sée and Sélune — unsupported by hatchery work, small in numbers, historically significant. The run has been weak in recent decades but is stabilising, and the river continues to justify its heritage salmon river status. Fish the Vire systematically. The productive beats run through the gorge sections above Saint-Lô where the river cuts into the granite bedrock and concentrates its current into proper pools. Spring salmon lie in the deep tails of these pools from March onwards. Fish a floating line with a long leader when the water is low; switch to intermediate and small tubes when it carries colour after a spate. The sea trout fishing is honest rather than spectacular — summer night fishing with small wets is the productive method. The brown trout populations in the upper reaches and tributaries are strong: wild fish in granite pocket water, Baetis and stonefly hatches through spring and summer, good dry-fly work in June and July.

• Granite