My daughter and son-in-law are moving to Chatel in the Portes du Soleil region of the Alps. They're going to run a Ski Chalet, and don't know a lot about fishing, but I have heard that the Dranse River is fly-fished in the summer months.

Anyone know anything about it?

regards,

Doc

__________________
www.doctor-fly.com

Doc, it's an area I'm very fond of. Haven't been back in a while, but I wrote this article about the place a couple of years ago:

http://www.blackrussian.cc/skiing-1.html

... originally here on our "parent" site ...

http://www.fishandfly.co.uk/tpedit0103.html

When I fish the Dranse again, I'll take some *really* heavy bugs - I don't think double-shotted tungsten would be overstating the case - and try to find the areas where the French haven't already fished everything out and eaten it. It's sad, it's a cliche, but it's true.

Lucky people, your son and daughter-in-law. Whereabouts in Chatel is their chalet... up in the old town where you still see the cows and catch a whiff of the byre as you clank down the icy road from the Super Chatel telecabine? Let me know...



Theo

__________________
theopike.com
wandletrust.org
urbantrout.net

Theo

Thanks, that's a great article, and will prove very useful I'm sure.

I don't know exactly where their chalet is, but I'm told it's just outside Chatel, in Suvay. Haven't looked at any large scale maps yet.

Regards,

Doc

__________________
www.doctor-fly.com

Yes indeed, C&R isn't that common in our country on rivers . Nevertheless I think a few C&R stretches exist in Haute Savoie on river Chéran and Fier (brownies & graylings).

Can't give any further details I never fished there.

Maybe informations here (in french)

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/aappma.alban...oguide2005.pdf

I fished last year on the Italian side on the alps in the Val d'Aosta. I'd second Theo on the need for depth-charges. I was most successful with a big black cone-head zonker. The bigger trout seem to lie deep under boulders in the swirling back eddies and snatch at anything meaty that swirls past. You need something that will get deep down quickly in fast water and present the trout with a mouthful that is worth getting out of a nice comfortable lie for.

Remember that Alpine streams are pretty much unfishable in early summer (mid May-mid June) because of snow melt from the surrounding hills.