Switzerland

[pcray1231]

PAFF member representing in Switzerland's Bernese Oberland.

I'll lead with the pics. Story to follow when I have time. Don't skip the end of the pics, the scenic ones are near the end.

Slideshow:

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/pcray1231/slideshow/Switzerland%20fishing%20trip

Straight link to album:

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/pcray1231/library/Switzerland%20fishing%20trip

And a shot to wet your whistle.

 

[Gorosaurus]

Amazing scenery! Looks like you had a complete blast. Looks like a place you could really lose yourself in!

 

[wgmiller]

So you went all that distance to catch wild brown trout??? :-D

What's interesting is that in many of your shots, I could see myself on one of PA's many trout streams. Of course the ones at the end certainly aren't PA, but pick a high gradient stream and it's not far off. I think we're blessed in PA to have such diverse waters to fish. In the long run, it probably prepares us to fish any waters in the world.

Nice shots.

 

[pcray1231]

No. I went all that way to catch STOCKED brown trout, lol. Fingerling stocked.

The trip was for business. I got a couple extra days for pleasure. I took advantage. Because of Switzerland's backward fishing laws, trouty options are very limited on Thursday's, which is when I was available for fishing.

I couldn't have been happier, though. I am, afterall, a small stream guy. The scenery was excellent, the fishing was excellent, it's exactly what I wanted and asked for from the guide. I coulda fished a big lake for pike, which was apparently hot. I coulda went to more lowland areas and fished bigger waters. But THAT is what would be a lot like PA. Northern Switzerland looks a lot like central PA with better food. I wanted to get down in the Alps and fish the highlands.

The stream was very different from PA. Faster. No pools. At all. In PA, you may have a fast riffle, but then there's a pool. There were no pools here, just a straight shoot of fast water, and it was all white. The fish were out of the current in the little corners and such, TIGHT to cover. It wasn't overly grown over, but required very accurate casts and good line handling. It wasn't easy fishing by any means. But it wouldn't have been fun if it were.

The woods were mostly pine, and while I knew what we were heading towards, most of the day you'd just get a peak here and there of the towering mountains. At the top, the forest backed away from the stream as the stream split up. So the view really started right as the fishing ended.

 

[salmonoid]

Did they make you kill your catch or is that requirement subject to a minimum size?

 

[pcray1231]

Minumum size 22 cm. That's 8.6 inches.

Alll were undersize. Well, I mean, not ALL. The one's that were of legal size, well, you know, we tried to keep them, but they all seemed to flop free at the last minute. Oh well. 😉

Caught probably in the high teens. Missed or lost just as many. Action wasn't steady, things would be pretty cold for a while and then bam, bam, bam, you hit a hot streak.

It is club water, which is the only reason I was able to fish for trout on a Thursday. Other trout fishing is off limits.

My guide was Pascal from http://upstreamflyfishing.com/. Great guy. If anyone goes that direction, I highly recommend. Speaks perfect English too. He's got plenty of options, limited only by law. I chose the small stream thing so if that isn't your thing, don't be put off. Just let him know what you're looking for.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Awesome pics, Pat! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Poor Pascal - he'll probably need a week off to recover from trying to keep up with you. ;-)

 

[geebee]

just beautiful. some decent browns there.

 

[albatross]

Thanks for sharing Pat. Looks like a good time. I know you roll the dice when you pick a day and a guide for a day you have available. Looks like you chose well.

 

[boychick]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Great views and love that small mountain stream. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Fishidiot]

Wow - such beautiful scenery.

Enjoyed the slideshow. Thanks for taking us on a tour/fishing trip Pat.

 

[dc410]

Thanks Pat. I really enjoyed viewing your photos of that awesome scenery. What an experience your trip must have been!

 

[RCFetter]

The pictures are great and sharing the details makes them better. Thanks for posting.

 

[Mountainbrookie]

What a beautiful setting to be fishing in. Enjoyed the photo's!

 

[jay348]

very cool!

 

[JackM]

Stunningly beautiful.

 

[3wt7X]

Wow...amazingly beautiful place.

 

[pcray1231]

Ed, Pascal is a Swiss mountain boy. More than met my match, haha. I was the one who was running out of gas late in the day!

wgmiller, While the fishing situation was indeed different than PA, you are right, we are blessed with a wide variety of waters here. From big rivers in drift boats, to technical fishing on limestone spring creeks, to pocket water nymphing in brawling rapids, to overgrown mountain freestoners where it may not be technical, but one must negotiate and cast in tight spots. Plus add steelhead, big and small river smallmouth, etc. You are correct in saying that if you can manage in anything that PA has to offer, you can fish anywhere in the world and not make an idiot of yourself! Perhaps the one "style" we lack is much in the way of saltwater. Though we can get that pretty close. But if there's any type of fly fishing where I'd feel totally lost it'd be saltwater flats.

Always interesting to compare yourself against fishermen from different areas. I don't know how much was "guide talk" and how much was accurate, but Pascal praised my skills. I think it was partly accurate, in that as a guide in a touristy location, he gets as many rich guys who fancy themselves as fisherman as he does actual fisherman. Such places would not be so kind to the tweed wearing chalk stream types. But yeah, "guide talk" likely exaggerated the effect a bit.

But a PA small stream background is close enough that even if a little out of my element, the same skills applied. And Pascal would likewise do better on our smaller, brushier waters than many accomplished PA fishermen would.

He did delight in the bow and arrow cast, and picked out many nearly impossible "caves" for me to try to stick a fly into.

 

[Swattie87]

Very cool you got the chance to do that Pat, and as the others have said, the pictures are phenomenal. Was it an attractor dry deal like Brookies, hatch matching, nymphs?

 

[lv2nymph]

To be able to fish somewhere like that and have someone else foot the bill to get there is too cool. That had to be an amazing experience, the pictures say it all and yet not enough at the same time. Congrats Pat.