In 1922, ten friends got together and established the Fishing Club Saanenland; 102 years later, it’s still going strong, with 75 active members plus passive members and patrons. But as GstaadLife learned, there’s more to the club than just fishing.

Supporting natural habitat
The club’s main goals are to raise brown trout on behalf of the canton, preserve the waters in the region, and, of course, fish together.

Hundreds of club volunteer hours are dedicated to looking after the fish and maintaining their natural habitat across the Saanenland. While the canton sets the river rules, the club is mainly responsible for performing the duties. For instance, whenever the canton undertakes work near the riverbanks, it looks to the club to temporarily relocate fish from the affected area. This is important as fish spend most of their time under stones or in little gullies at the river’s edge. After completing the work, the club moves the fish back to where they were taken. Location is critical as fish are territorial, preferring to stay in “their” home waters.

The fishing club also assists with the growth of fishing stocks. Over the winter, they move the larger fish to the smaller rivers for breeding and organise their reintegration back into their home rivers.

Fish care
With 75 % of fish in Switzerland on the “red list” (denoting a threatened species), the club’s work in supporting the Saanenland brown trout is important and requires constant attention.

The biggest challenges are threefold: when rivers are too straight, they don’t promote the natural habitat where fish thrive (so the club’s volunteers help by moving stones to create areas of fast and slow water); hot summers are a threat because trout won’t survive in water temperatures above 20 degrees; and the availability of insects (the fish’s primary food source) is impacted by the frequency with which farmers cut the fields. It’s consequently essential for regional stakeholders to work together to protect the different interests.

Stefan Romang, president of the Fishing Club told GstaadLife: “We are proud to have an active club in Saanenland. We are the voice of the fish. You don’t see the fish in the water and the fish don’t speak, but we speak for them.”

Get involved
To fish in any of the Saanenland rivers you need a permit, which you obtain after completing a one-day course and passing a test. Don’t worry, it’s not onerous but covers important information on how to handle fish. With your permit you can then purchase a pass that gives access to club or cantonal waters during the fishing season (16 March to 30 September for cantonal rivers – the Saane, Grisbach, small Simme and Arnensee – and 15 May to 30 September for the smaller club rivers.) Trout fishing is forbidden over the winter as this is when the fish breed.

There are many different styles of fishing and although you can make it an expensive hobby with lots of fancy rods and overseas travel, none of that is necessary. If you start with just a couple of rods and only fish locally, it’s a really accessible sport.

There is also lots of help on hand. It can take time to read the rivers and to know the best fishing spots, but the fishing club is happy to give pointers and to even accompany you as a guide. As Stefan Romang told GstaadLife: “If you’d like to join the fishing club, we are happy to welcome new members. We’d especially like to encourage more young fishers (from age 11) and ladies, you are very welcome too!”

So don’t be shy – contact the Fishing Club Saanenland and get involved.

ANNA CHARLES

For more details, visit www.angler-saanenland.ch or Stefan Romang (president of the fishing club) on 079 208 9939.