Fishing is more than just a way to pass the time and catch some dinner. It’s a way to connect more with your family or your friends, and be able to disconnect from the real world. Recently, we discovered fishing to be a fun way to spend our time, and we wanted to share our passion for fishing by writing an article about the various methods, baits, and the diversity of fishing techniques.
Different kinds of fishing in Switzerland
In Switzerland, there are many different types of fishing all around the country. For example, fly fishing. This technique basically consists of tricking a trout with artificial (fur, feathers…) bait for it to bite the hook. When casting your rod back, you need to go slowly since normally when you’re fly fishing, it’s in a river, and the current normally pushes the rod down the river, so you need to go slowly so that the fish doesn’t get unhooked or the rod doesn’t get snagged.
Another example of fishing is spin fishing, which uses spinning rods and reels to cast lures or bait into the water. You need a 6 or 7 ft medium light or medium power. If you are a beginner, you need a monofilament or
braid line. After 20 minutes, if you haven’t caught anything yet, try a different lure since it might make the fish think new food has landed.
Where can you go to fish, though?
There are a few places we found as the best fishing spots around and near Lausanne, in Lake Léman. The main places to go fishing for us were Ouchy, Paudex, and Lutry. These places are good at different times of the year and with different gear, which makes understanding what to use and when essential to catching fish in these places.
Starting with Ouchy, it is easy to cast out and cover lots of water. The fish that you are most likely to catch is the perch, and that is because this predatory fish mostly hangs out near human construction. There is the occasional pike around there, too. We found that the best period to fish at Ouchy is in summer, when the fish are most active around there, when it is warm and sunny, which makes them prone to chasing and more aggressive. To fish there,e we recommend using a weighted hook and a swim bait of natural colors, when the water is clear, and one of white color when the water is clouded.
Moving on to Paudex, Paudex is one of the high-risk, high-reward fishing spots in Lake Leman. It is a very inactive spot during the winter, for there is no algae, but during the summer… It’s a whole different story; the algae grows. The fish come in for the more oxygenated water and find hiding spots from predators, which means minnows travel in these algae, which makes perch love the spot, but here is the problem, the fact that there is a lot of algae makes the spot full of fish yet, it makes you prone to getting snagged very often and many of us confirm that we have lost a few rigs there because of it. But the sheer amount of fish that go there during the summer makes Paudex a very valuable spot to go to.
Next is Lutry. Lutry is by far the most versatile spot of them all, in lutry there is a Pier next to the Glaces Veneta iced cream shop, and this pier provides as one of the best fishing spots for you can cast far and cover lots of water, but here is what makes Lutry in our opinion the best spot in the leman, about 10 or so meters from the pier, there is a drop, and this means that the warmer water is there during the winter, which makes it where all the lethargic fish go during the winter. Which means you can fish almost all year round, unlike other places.
Last for Lac Léman is Cully, which is a perfect spot for pike. This fish is very active during the summer and is one of the biggest fish to catch in the lèman, you need a heavier setup using bigger rods and reels to cast out these larger baits.
And that’s about it for fishing spots in tLake Leman But is is not the only fishing spot in the leman or surrounding lakes, we found lakes like the lac de Bret, and lac de Joux some good fishing lakes, yet we arent as experienced in fishing there then we are in the lèman, lastly, river fishing, the best spot to fish in rivers, was the rivers in vallorbe, that are very full of trout, this though meaning that it is the only fish to catch, and it is by far one of the hardest.
Permits needed to fish in Switzerland
Fishing rules in Switzerland change a lot depending on which canton you’re in, so you always want to check the local guidelines before heading out. In Vaud, a day permit for rivers usually runs at about 20 CHF, and if you’re planning to fish in Lac Léman, the day permit is around 5 CHF, depending on the type of gear you’re using and which side of the lake you’re getting your permit from.
If you’re thinking about a longer-term permit, something that lasts a month or even a full season, some cantons will ask you to show that you know how to handle the fish properly. That’s where the SaNa certificate comes in. It’s a short certification proving you understand good wildlife treatment, basic fish biology, and the local rules. Once you get it, you can apply for longer permits pretty much anywhere.
On top of that, different waters have their own specialties. Some rivers have closed seasons, and some lakes limit the number of rods or hooks you can use. It is also prohibited to fish at night due to a lack of controllers at that time, and certain species have minimum size requirements before you can take them home. Most spots even allow simple “free-fishing” with just one line and a hook and a floater (for Lake Léman). But that is not the case for all spots, so make sure to check you have met all of the requirements to fish in a spot legally and safely for you and the fish.