Fly Fishing Gear for Trout in Switzerland

Here’s what kind of fly fishing gear you need for catching trout in Switzerland.

Fly Fishing Gear for Trout in Switzerland

Trout Fishing Variety in Switzerland

Switzerland offers a great variety for fly fishing, but what kind of gear do you really need? Necessarily, this post needs to narrow down the issue at stake. Hence, it focuses only on trout fishing. Moreover, focusing on itinerant anglers, it will reduce the amount of gear to the bare minimum, because travelers generally have little space to carry items.

Furthermore, I do not want to prefer any style of fishing and devalue others at the same time. However, given my background as dry fly enthusiast and frequent nymph fisherman, I will focus on these two styles.

Regardless, of the sheer endless amount of gear offered these days, I believe very little is needed to enjoy fly fishing: Rod and reel, a fly box, nippers, net, tippet and leader. Apart from the license and waders/boots, you are ready to go. I will focus on rod and reel, which is the most crucial gear in my opinion.

Gear Talk

Given that gear should be adapted to the surrounding circumstances, I distinguish between small and large streams as well as stillwater gear. Depending on your fishing style and preferences, you should adapt your gear.

Small Stream

Small streams resound with me in a particular way. I love to search meticulously in pocket water for trout and sneak along the riverbanks in stealth mode. Due to the tight spaces and lots of bush, it is important to have a short rod, preferably between 7.6 to 8.6 feet. However, when Czech nymphing many people prefer longer rods for the added reach. In terms of weight, I usually fish a #4 but #3 would mostly be fine too. Be aware, that some small streams hold impressively large fish.

*Jay pointed out that a fiberglass or bamboo rod is more suitable for small streams than carbon fiber, because of their slower action that allows to load it better with only little fly line.

Large Stream

Large streams are rivers that cannot be crossed easily by wading. Furthermore, due to their size, they offer more space for casting free from obstacles. Hence, longer rods are no drawback. Hence, I would opt for a typical 9 feet rod size #5-6.

Stillwater

I must admit that I have barely fished stillwater and almost never in Switzerland. The picture above is from the fishing vacation at the Hotel Braurup in Austria.  Here’s the post about it. However, my experience was that the trout rose everywhere, except within my reach. Sometimes only a few more feet away, I would have wished to have a longer rod. Subsequently, this would have given me more reach and assumably a trout. Furthermore, anglers are prone to wade deeper in still water due to gentler or no current. Therefore, it is easier to hold more line in the air without it touching the water. Bearing my vaaast experience with stillwater in mind, I recommend a 10 foot #4 to #6 depending on the size of the lake.

Summary Fly Fishing Gear for Trout

Similarly to the variety in waters in Switzerland, the fly fishing gear required varies. However, I believe that a #4-5 in 9 feet covers most circumstances anglers will encounter. If you are prone to fish only on kind of rivers, you might consider adopting to the descriptions above. In case you are into streamer fishing, you would probably go even heavier, because you are likely to run into pikes and larger fish.

I hope this brief overview helps you to organize your trip to Switzerland and I hope to hear from you