Freestone · Limestone · Black Forest / Baden-Württemberg, DE

Wutach

Wutach — Wutach-Wasserfall Lauffenmühle

The Wutach cuts through a dramatic gorge in southern Black Forest, limestone influence giving clearer water than the granite streams to the west.

Today · Not the day for it
Coch-y-bonddu
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.
45% projected
Today's fly
Coch-y-bonddu
Coch-y-bonddu
Conditions on the water · Today
Live gauge
Level
Rising
0.36 m
Lifting fast
Water temp12.9°C
ClarityUnfishable
Weather19°C
WindN 8 km/h
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead6.2 mm

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

Water temperature for Grayling
Ideal
13°C est.ideal 4–14°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Grayling
When
Midday window — grayling feed best from late morning into early afternoon.
Where
Work runs and glides — grayling shoal in the bottom third of the water column.
Method
Tight-line nymph the bottom third with weighted patterns.
Kit
10 ft #3 rod, floating line, long leader to 4 lb fluoro for nymphs.
Why this works
Excellent — conditions well-balanced, with water temperature particularly in your favour.
Likely species
Mayflies
Stoneflies
Caddisflies
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 2pm

12pm(now) — Reed Smut

Stage: On emergersApproach: Emerger or dryActivity: 30%
Also:Heather Fly29%Cinnamon Sedge22%
Peak emergence window11 food groups active

Peak activity at 2pm — Autumn Dun (Autumn Dun, 12 food groups active)

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 4 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
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Grayling seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Iron BlueHatch
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Blue Winged OliveHatch
1
2
2
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Grayling fly box

Southern Germany only. Trout and grayling in Bavarian meadow streams, alpine creeks and famous upper-river systems.

Small Perdigón
Small Perdigón
Hook 14–18 · Fly
in season · matches water height
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Southwest Black Forest
  • Fischereischein + Erlaubnisschein required.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
Schluchsee
17 km
Brown trout · Lake trout
Gutach
31 km
Brown trout
Wiese (Todtnau)
34 km
Brown trout
Große Wiese
41 km
Brown trout
Upper Danube (Obere Donau)
48 km
Brown trout · Grayling
Gallery · 2
  1. Wutach — Wutach-Wasserfall Lauffenmühle
    Wutach-Wasserfall Lauffenmühle
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Wutach cuts through a dramatic gorge in southern Black Forest, limestone influence giving clearer water than the granite streams to the west. Good brown trout and some grayling. The Wutachschlucht gorge section is genuinely spectacular—fishing here is as much about the landscape as the fish.

  • Limestone
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD ecological status Unknown → Good corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody DERW_DEBW_20-03 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · DERW_DEBW_20-03

The full read · show the working · for Grayling · confidence 90%
How the 87 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time95 × 13%12.4
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity70 × 12%8.4
Conditions total= 87
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 March → 30 September
  • Grayling 1 May → 31 December

    Baden-Württemberg state rule: grayling (Äsche) closed 1 January – 30 April. Open season 1 May – 31 December. Individual fishing association (Fischereiverein) rules may apply. Always check the specific permit.

    Season dates are set at state or regional level — confirm the local rules.

    Prime sport 1 August → 30 November

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts