Freestone · Mixed · Hautes-Pyrénées to Bayonne, FR

Adour

A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
Poor · Brown Trout
Hare's Ear Nymph · 14-16
New ruleReported 13 Aug 2026

Severe drought restrictions (alerte renforcée) in force

VigiEau lists this venue's surface-water zone (BV de l'Adour, dépt 65) at alerte renforcée, under an official préfectoral drought arrêté. Fishing is not itself banned by it, but water levels are low — go gently on stressed fish.

Arrêté préfectoral n°37706 ↗

Temporary notices from official orders and recent fishery reports — they clear automatically once out of date. Always confirm locally before travelling.

Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.
What moved it
  • Level0.40 mLast reading 6h ago
  • Water temp14.1°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Hare's Ear Nymph
Hare's Ear Nymph14-16
Upstream
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
0.40 m
Last reading 6h ago
Water temp14.1°C
ClarityClear
Weather16°C
WindSE 6 km/h
Pressure1023 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 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
Ideal
14°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown Trout
When
Through the open trout season. Spring olives April through May; sedges through summer; small dark flies into late September.
Where
Upper Adour through Bigorre is small tight water; the middle river widens through Tarbes. Pool tails and seams behind boulders.
Method
Upstream dry to risers; dry-dropper through the riffles. The Adour reads as classic Pyrenean freestone — careful approach.
Kit
9 ft #4 — French freestone default. Floating line, 12 ft leader to 4 to 5 lb fluoro. Studded boots.
Likely species
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayQuiet day

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 12 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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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 · October 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
1
Evening SedgeHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Alpine RhithrogenaHatch
1
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Iron BlueHatch
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1

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

Ranked for today
Fly box · Brown Trout
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Carte de pêche AAPPMA
  • Arrêté départemental pour le saumon.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 3
Gave de Pau
47 km
0
Brown trout · Salmon
Gave d'Ossau
60 km
0
Brown trout
La Truite des Pyrénées
56 km
Rainbow trout · Brown trout
Gallery · 2
  1. A wide, calm river at the confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis, with trees and a small riverside gazebo marked Bec du Gave in the distance under an evening sky.
    The confluence of the Adour and the Gaves Réunis near Sames
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
Water quality (WFD)
  • Ecology: Good
  • Chemical: Unknown
What this classification means

WFD ecological status Moderate → Good corrected to EEA WISE 2022 (3rd RBMP) classification for waterbody FRFRR238_4 (was a stale earlier-cycle value). Source: EEA WISE SWB_SurfaceWaterBody (discodata.eea.europa.eu), verified 2026-06-18.

WFD classification · FRFRR238_4

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 75%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time40 × 13%5.2
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity57 × 12%6.8
Conditions total= 80
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitysurvey-backed invertebrate datasurvey
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 2e Saturday de March → 3e Sunday de September
  • Grayling 3e Saturday de May → 3e Sunday de September

    France national rule: grayling opens 3rd Saturday of May in all waters. In 1st category (salmonid) rivers, grayling closes with the trout season on the 3rd Sunday of September. Departmental regulations may impose additional restrictions. Always check the relevant département's 2026 arrêté préfectoral.

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Salmon fishing is closed across the Adour and Gaves basin under the 2026 prefectoral order (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), which renewed the 2025 total prohibition.

Sea trout: Seasonal open (2026) — Adour basin — sea trout confirmed in the lower Adour and lower Gave d'Oloron tributary. The Adour system legally targets truite de mer as part of the Atlantic migratory species framework. Supersedes 'verify_locally' provisional status.

Related guides
Grayling Playbookgrayling tacticsPyrenees PlaybookFrench riversEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts