I've been giving fishing courses (SaNa) for 8 years now. (My, how time flies) I'm based in Zürich. If you're interested, please contact me either via PM here with your email address and I'll let you know when the next course is. I usually have 2-3 a year.

If you know anyone who fishes and laments about the difficulty of getting on the water here in Switzerland, let them know, and I'm always happy to help people out when it comes to questions, tips, and help, primarily regarding flyfishing.

I'm away out of the country until April but I'll certainly look you up when I get back

Hello, please keep me in the loop! I actually brought my fishing stuff over here when I moved, but given the hassle and complexity that it seemed here, I havent used it yet. Would defo be interested in some help and advice in English about fishing over here....

I thought after 13 years here that I was thoroughly Swissified, but then this crops up. Are you seriously telling us that you need to take a test before being allowed to go fishing?

No.

First, you have to take an official course in fishing, and THEN take (and pass) a test!

Tom

To put it simply, sort of.

In most cantons, an angler can excercise his right to Freiangelrecht on specific lakes, or get a day or a week pass without having passed a test. Anything longer than that and you need to take a course that can vary in length from a three or four hours to two days depending on the skills and desires of the angler. Naturally, it's very cost effective and far more convenient to have an annual permit, and some sections of rivers don't offer anything but annual permits.

Honestly, I think the test is a good thing. It primarily deals with fish identification, properly releasing a fish that is undersized, protected, etc., and proper dispatching of a fish to kept. Animal welfare laws apply to fish as well, and mishandling a fish (something that's pretty common and doesn't generally garner a second thought in many countries, including the US) is a punishable offense against animal welfare laws here, and knowing what those laws are is even more important for expats who may not be aware of Swiss sensibilities regarding a fish hanging in the air off the end of a line for 20 or 30 seconds...

How hard can it be? .......

....... strike match, light fuse and throw; then put up umbrella and duck.

But I bet you need a licence to keep waterfowl in the first place...

Contact form filled out, would definitely be interested in this depending on costs.

This has been discussed on EF many a time, actually

My grandmother taught me to only bring live fish home, and she killed them by beheading!

Tom

I guess I must have filtered them out before then. The title of this thread just reached out and grabbed me.

Anyway, I've never fully understood angling. Catching fish to eat is a worthy occupation, and one I used to participate in as a kid, but anything other than that I just don't see the point of.

We were taught to bash the back of the head on a nearby rock...

Having sex in order to make babies is a worthy occupation, but anything other than that I just don't see the point of.

Even if you're solely catching fish for the table, releasing undersized and protected fish is the law, and simply bashing a fish over the head doesn't always kill it. As with other invertebrates, there are legal and illegal ways of doing it. Bashing a fish over the head, followed by a slice through the gills or immediate cleaning is, under Swiss law, the proper way to kill a fish, anything else can subject someone to criminal penalties.

It is very relaxing, and passes time very easily just through anticipation of a catch, and it's always exciting not knowing exactly what's on the end of your line, and how big it is. Plus, it's a great social bonding activity to do with family or mates.

By your logic, there's not much point to many sports.

Just so you know - Course in English takes place every year in Geneva. I passed my exam there this year.
Great initiative though.

+1!

Tom

I always found it slightly bizarre that the tool used to dispatch a fish is called a "Priest" according to the fountain of all knowledge that is wikipedia it comes from the notion of administering the "last rites" to the fish or game. Anglers often use priests to quickly kill fish.

Thanks, that's good to know. I know that the Netzwerk Anglerausbildung, the official body responsible for the courses, has an set of english questions and answers, but no english course materials and no native english speaking courses. Was it the basic SANA or the expanded Brevet?

It was the expanded and the basic course - depending on what canton you were coming from. You are right that English materials were not provided.

Great initiative, thank you for doing this!