Freestone · Granite · Normandy / Manche (Avranches)

Sée

Sée terrain map
Terrain map

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.

Poor · Brown Trout
CDC Emerger · 16-18
Poorlive now
Not the day for it
River temperature is the limiting factor today, not the flow. This is not the day to push it. Check the thermal advice above before you head out.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • LevelDry recentlyNo gauge reading
  • Water temp22.5°C
  • ClarityClear
Today’s fly
CDC Emerger
CDC Emerger16-18
Dead-drift
Conditions on the water
Estimate
Level
Dry recently
No gauge reading
Water temp22.5°C
ClarityClear
Weather26°C
WindNE 20 km/h
Pressure1017 hPa
Rain · recent0.1 mm
Rain · ahead12.9 mm

No gauge on this water — readings are regional estimates from weather, not a live gauge.

Water temperature for brown trout
Warm — slow
23°C est.ideal 1016°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.
Why this works
⛔ Water at 22.5°C. This is the line where catch-and-release kills brown trout. Do not fish for them today.
Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

See the full sub-surface read with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

Start free trial

14-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Evidence
Survey-backed · regionalModerate confidence

Backed by regional invertebrate surveys; no sampling on this exact reach yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Salmon runRun
1
2
2
2
1
Sea trout runRun
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Large Dark OliveHatch
1
2
2
1
Blue Winged OliveHatch
1
2
2
2
2
1
Autumn OliveHatch
1
2
1
GrannomHatch
1
1

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.
  • AAPPMA Sée / Fédération de la Manche
  • Quotas TAC applicables — vérifiez le statut avant de pêcher le saumon
  • Pêche de nuit de la truite de mer autorisée en été.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Water here around 23°C. Nothing cooler within range — carry a thermometer.
About this water

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. The run is small by Scottish standards — a few hundred fish a year in good seasons — but it is genuine, unsupported by stocking, and has held steady through decades when other Seine-Normandie rivers lost theirs entirely. The fishable water runs from Avranches upstream through Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët to the headwaters above Sourdeval. The salmon beats are the deep pools of the middle river, fished in spring with floating lines and long leaders when the water is low, and with small tubes on intermediate lines when it carries colour. Fish the pool tails and the seams where the current concentrates. Best windows come two to four days after a rise. Sea trout (truites de mer) run the Sée in numbers and provide the real summer sport, entering from late May and fishable through to October. They are worth night fishing with small flies from July onwards, when the water is warm and the fish active. The trout fishing in the upper reaches is honest rather than remarkable — wild fish, granite pools, good Baetis and stonefly hatches.

  • Granite
Water quality (WFD)
  • EcologyGood
  • ChemicalUnknown

WFD classification · FRHR345

The full read · show the working · for brown trout · confidence 90%
How the 8 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature4 × 28%1.1
Flow60 × 22%13.2
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time85 × 13%11.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity54 × 12%6.5
Limiting factor: Water temperature (22.5°C) is outside Brown Trout's preferred range (10–16°C)= 55
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
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.
Directions
Seasons & zones
  • Salmon11 March → 31 July
  • Sea trout11 March → 31 October
  • Trout2nd Saturday of March → 3rd Sunday of September

Salmon: Banned (2026) — Atlantic salmon fishing banned across the Seine-Normandie basin in 2026.

Sea trout: Negligible (2026) — 1 declared sea trout in 2024. Biologically present but rod catches negligible.

Related guides
Booking & contacts