pcray1231
Well-known member
I'm currently in Switzerland (on business) and got a day to fish yesterday.
Some of you may remember that I did this in 2013 as well, and here's the thread about that old adventure:
First Switzerland Trip
Well, same deal here. Hired the same guide as well. Except, it's spring. As such, the high mountain streams are raging with runoff, and other trouty options all have drawbacks, plus I had the wrong day of the week (in Switzerland can only fish certain species on certain days). So, we went after a new species for me. Barbel.
Barbel are a coarse fish species (like carp and suckers), but are a popular sport fish in many areas, prized for their fight, and some ppl are "promoting" them as freshwater bonefish. They inhabit highly oxygenated waters like salmonids, and hold very much in the current. They are difficult to see in the water, but this was largely a sight fishing adventure, followed by rolling nymphs at them, which they readily take when all is well.
We were successful in catching multiple barbel. More pictures will come (the guide took most of them on a gopro, and I don't have them yet). So below is just a primer to give you the scene from my own camera. This is "lowlands" in Switzerland, lol. And yes, it was quite an interesting hike down and back up from this canyon!
As for the famed fight? Well, they are largish sucker sized and MUCH more powerful, and they don't give up like a sucker either. They didn't seem "fast" to me. It was very much a steelhead fight without the initial run. You struggle to move it out of the current initially, then try keep it in the same pool, and they take about 10 "last" runs as you're trying to land them.
Oh yes, there are indeed brown trout in this stream. We did not encounter any.
Some of you may remember that I did this in 2013 as well, and here's the thread about that old adventure:
First Switzerland Trip
Well, same deal here. Hired the same guide as well. Except, it's spring. As such, the high mountain streams are raging with runoff, and other trouty options all have drawbacks, plus I had the wrong day of the week (in Switzerland can only fish certain species on certain days). So, we went after a new species for me. Barbel.
Barbel are a coarse fish species (like carp and suckers), but are a popular sport fish in many areas, prized for their fight, and some ppl are "promoting" them as freshwater bonefish. They inhabit highly oxygenated waters like salmonids, and hold very much in the current. They are difficult to see in the water, but this was largely a sight fishing adventure, followed by rolling nymphs at them, which they readily take when all is well.
We were successful in catching multiple barbel. More pictures will come (the guide took most of them on a gopro, and I don't have them yet). So below is just a primer to give you the scene from my own camera. This is "lowlands" in Switzerland, lol. And yes, it was quite an interesting hike down and back up from this canyon!
As for the famed fight? Well, they are largish sucker sized and MUCH more powerful, and they don't give up like a sucker either. They didn't seem "fast" to me. It was very much a steelhead fight without the initial run. You struggle to move it out of the current initially, then try keep it in the same pool, and they take about 10 "last" runs as you're trying to land them.
Oh yes, there are indeed brown trout in this stream. We did not encounter any.
