Still water fly fishing in Switzerland, pike & trout on a fly !

New from 2014, I have the pleasure to offer to my guests some great lake fishing in Switzerland.

Since 2014 I offer lake fishing in Switzerland, since I was able to finally get a great fishing boat. Our fishing boat is located on the lake of Brienz. I share this boat with my buddy Andreas, who uses it mainly for waterski and wakeboarding. As we have a trailer, we are free to move to any lake in the area. Most of my lake fishing in Switzerland takes place on the lake of Brienz and Lake of Thun.

The fishing boat was designed to allow two anglers to cast their flies simultaneously. It is 6 meters long and 2 meters wide. It has two casting platforms and holds as little clutter as possible to make fly fishing effective and comfortable. The boat has a powerful 4-stroke 90 HP engine enabling us to move quickly from one fishing spot to the next.

Lake fishing in Switzerland’s clean and cold lakes is a unique experience. The mountain scenery of the swiss alps, with snow capped peaks in the background, is alone a special treat. Very little traffic from other boats makes you often feel like you are somewhere in Scandinavia. Good numbers of healthy fish are present, I focus mainly on the two leading carnivore species- the lake trout and the pike.

 

Lake fishing in Switzerland – what do I offer ?

Right from the start- what I do not offer is trolling. It simply is not my thing- too much equipment, too much sitting around- not enough action. No question- trolling can produce excellent results, specially if you are out for the biggest fish. But for me it is not just about that- I love the active type of fishing…… I might start trolling once I get old and my body aches…..

Personally I almost exclusively fish with a fly. Once in a while I might use a jigging rod for perch or ground dwelling burbot.

I am not so tied up with flyfishing that I consider it my religion…   😉    I will happily take anglers who wish to spin fish or jig onto my boat. As it is not what I usually do- I do not have any rental equipment for spinning or jigging, so you’ll have to bring your own takle along.

If you are not into lake fishing, you may check out my river fishing options.

These are the different options I offer for lake fishing in Switzerland:

• Pike fishing (Esox Lucius) / fly or spin / May – December
• Lake trout fishing (Salmo Trutta) / fly or spin / February – August
• Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens) / fly, spin, jig / June – October
• Burbot (Lota Lota) / jigging only / June – August

In my opinion, the pike fishing is the best. This species is rather easy to find on our large and deep lakes, holds close to the banks during the warm months and readily accepts a well presented fly. Read more about the pike fishing here.

The lake trout fishing is a big challenge, as these fish are constantly on the move and shift several times during a day from deep to surface water. The only time we have a fair chance of catching them with a fly or spinner is during the spring, when the fish come close to surface to feed on schools of bait fish or surface insects. Overcast and windy days are often best. Our lake trout can grow very big, the lakes hold trout up to 100cm and around 10Kg !!!

Yellow perch fishing is again most productive during the summer months. Perch fishing isn’t really considered an art, most of us have done it as kids. On good days it can be very productive and the perch is certainly one of the best fish for the table. If you have kids who’d like to come along they can fish for perch while daddy tries pike on a fly……

The burbot is a widely underestimated and not very popular fish altogether. This is somehow surprising as the burbot is considered to be one of the best fish for the table as it holds virtually no bones. It is a bottom fish and like most similar species- not the prettiest fish. There is large numbers of burbot in the lake of Thun and Brienz and almost nobody fishes for them. They are caught with jigs, often decorated with something smelly like worms, right at the bottom where rivers run into the lake.

 

Interested ? Please contact me here…..

 

I look forward to take you on a days lake fishing in Switzerland’s pristine lakes.

Pascal Zeller