Switzerland

Good for you Pat. Surely an experience that wont be forgotten.
Man those mountains are something.
 
Wow, Great pics! Congratulations on an epic outing! Those mountains are even more impressive than Biker actually spelling yoddelyaheehoo!? (I'd never even attempt that)
 
Was it an attractor dry deal like Brookies, hatch matching, nymphs?
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Was an attractor situation. I started with a wulff, and spent most of the day with a hopper with foam body. Better flotation. My understanding is that, like PA, the more lowland streams have a lower gradient and more bug life, and thus become more a hatch matching situation. But this stream was very fast, and the fish aggressive and non-picky.

The difference being that the spots to hit were much smaller. For instance, in PA, it is often so thick that it's difficult to put a fly in a pool. But if you do, it doesn't matter where, a fish will go several feet for it. There, casting was a little easier. Still tight, but not among the tightest I have fished. However, being so fast, a fish can only see the surface in a very small window, so you had to be pinpoint accurate. Often within an inch or two.

Nymphs would have probably caught more fish. Many places that had too much white water to see surface. But would have been less fun.

Pascal uses long rods. I had a 9 footer. While it was a bit unwieldy to cast in tighter spots, I can see why. Smaller windows, more current, meant that drag was more of an issue than on PA's streams, so you had to lift that line above the currents, and sometimes guide the fly into place. For me, it meant plenty of bow and arrowing...
 
Pat, That's phenomenal, glad you were able to get to that. though sorry to say after seeing what was behind you the entire time, if i were you i would have cried. fishing is awesome, but there are far better things to do just behind you, if it had snow on it! and just where you were i could see 20-30 different lines, per photo!!!!!!

 
Pat are most of the small streams up in the "hills" white water like that? Was it kind of a shock for you at first to not have pools?
 
DJ, not much of a skier/snowboarder, personally. Though the guide also does skiing/snowboard guiding. And there are ski resorts everywhere, gondola's everywhere, and it was fairly cheap to hire a helicopter out of Interlaken to take you wherever you wish. The high peaks were snow/glacier covered. Yes, in winter, it is a snow sports paradise.

I did paragliding, that was as extreme as I got.

Squatch, only fished 1 stream, so I dunno for sure. I think many are. I also think there are a few exceptions, or at least sections of streams which are exceptions.
 
Has your guide ever fished over here? It'd be cool to bring him over and have him see our small streams. It's awesome how the fish can look the same, but the enviroment is so different.
 
Awesome! Beautiful. Thanks for the virtual trip to Alpine angling!
I MUST make it there one day.
 
Has your guide ever fished over here?
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Yes. His wife is from Perkiomenville, I believe. He lived here for a short time, and fished a number of our streams. Also gets back occasionally, generally on holidays in the winter. Though as I understand, not long enough to really explore, and more the famous waters on the beaten path. I offered my services the next time he makes it back.
 
If you guys do that, I'd love to join you. A trip to Switzerland is seriously in the cards for my family w/in the next few years. My wife has significant family in Germany still, and having lived in Switzerland for a year, she wants to travel down and visit her host family that housed her. Also, being Presbies, the town of Geneva has religious historical significance to us stemming back to the Reformation (named our daughter after that city). I would love to pick his brain about fishing over there!
 
I will let you know. And I do expect if he made it here with time to fish, he'd call me. But I don't expect it to happen in the near future.

He and his wife guide skiing, snowboarding, and they also do weddings and professional photography (mostly for weddings I think), and they also have a house that they rent out for tourists. So they have a number of businesses, all based on tourism in some form, which combined, pay their bills.

The pics of my trip, though, were taken with my little fishing camera. Pascal was the guy behind it for most of the pictures, but didn't have an SLR to work with or anything. As you can imagine taking a really nice camera on a trip like that is asking for trouble.

If you do make it over, though, I'd recommend him as a guide. Fishing doesn't have an "industry" behind it in Switzerland like it does in other places. It's hard for a foreigner to figure out the legalities, as many are strange and complicated. There aren't fly shops or anywhere to rent equipment, etc. There are only a small handful of guides, many of whom specialize in pike and such, and some of which may not speak great English. The Zermatt one looked interesting, in that the scenery looks spectacular, but ultimately it looks like nothing more than a stocked pond in an amazing setting. From what I found there, if you're interested in real fishing, pony up the cash and hire this guy, get in touch and discuss the details of what you are looking for and what may be available.

Switzerland is expensive. Not just guides, but everything. 2-3 times what it is in America. I guess it's the exchange rate. But for a simple sandwich at a restaurant, expect to spend over $20, plus $5+ more for a drink, even water.
 
I already checked out his website and his rates. Seems a little steep (I've never hired a guide), but I don't know the area at all, as you said-the regs seem NUTS, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime trip. A trip to the Alps will already cost me money, what's $500 more bucks at that point? I'll definitely be using his services if/when I get over there. His mountain treks look amazing.
 
I GOTSTA KNOW did you PCRAY him....you know like you do us?

Great photo shoots. I went to Arizona not to long ago.... breathtaking scenary.
 
In that context, I'm not even sure what pcray'ing somebody means! Not quite sure I want to know, though...
 
squash - check out Germany, its a lot cheaper than Switzerland, which is pretty much the most expensive place in Europe, though i did once pay $18 for a draught Guinness in Paris....

Switzerland is one of those weird places where a glass or coke in bar is more expensive than a 2 litre bottle from a supermarket.
 
Switzerland is one of those weird places where a glass or coke in bar is more expensive than a 2 litre bottle from a supermarket.
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And that glass will be
 
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