Fly Fishing in the Canton of Schwyz

On the second weekend of September I went to Arth-Goldau in the Canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. There, I visited Claudio who I coincidentally met on a camping place in the South Island of New Zealand almost one year ago. This time, he invited me to go fly fishing in the Canton of Schwyz.

As soon as I approached the meeting place, I recognised Claudio’s face. A short drive later we arrived at the camping place, I unpacked my stuff and we prepared to go fly fishing in the Canton of Schwyz.

Fishing was on our mind and it was not long until we waded a river where we found some nice chubs feeding from the surface. Despite these fish, there were barbels sitting in groups on the ground. We did not see any trout at this time but Claudio knew some promising looking spots though.

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Sight fishing for chub

The whole morning until afternoon neither of us had hooked a fish. The only remarkable moment was when a chub ate Claudio’s dry fly but as he set the hook – it flew straight back at us.

Thus, we decided to head back to the camping and have a snack as well as a short rest. Around 5 O’clock we left again to go fly fishing in the Canton of Schwyz.

As we crossed the very same river of the morning, we were both surprised by its look. All of a Sudden the river had changed from a bit murky to crystal clear water. The colour was amazing and the trout, who had been hiding before, were eagerly rising to dries. However, they seemed to be very selectively feeding or they just preferred Claudio’s presentation. In the end we both caught fish on dries and nymphs.

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Crystal clear river in the Canton Schwyz, Switzerland
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Underwater colour
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Small trout
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Netting another trout which eagerly rose to a dry fly
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Me with an unforeseen chub – gave a hell of a fight

We fished until the night fell and we realised that the water was getting higher again. Subsequently, we returned to the camping where we finished the day with a delicious barbecue.

On Sunday, we fished the inlet of a river into the lake called Vierwaldstättersee. Whereas Claudio tried his streamer tactics, I used an indicator nymph rig. It was not long until a sudden dip of the wool indicated a bite. Due to the distance to the nymph, I set the hook pretty abrupt and it worked. A wonderful trout found its way to the net.

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Trout caught on a nymph
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Tight loops by Claudio
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Saw the line on the ground and was captured by the nice contrast of the line with the cold stones
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Another good loop by Claudio
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Great scenery to throw some loops
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Hands free studying of the fly box, thanks to Smith Creek Rod Clip
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Enchanted creek in the middle of the forest

After this exciting start the fish seemed not to be active anymore. Therefore, we changed the river to explore a small mountain creek in the Canton of Schwyz. Several trout were caught with dries as well as with the french nymphing technic.

In a nutshell, I enjoyed a splendid weekend with great company and interesting talks. Additionally, the fishing was superb although there were some difficult periods of time. Thanks a lot Claudio for inviting me to go fly fishing in the Canton of Schwyz it was a pleasure!

Claudio and me while fly fishing in the Canton of Schwyz

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