Fishing at the Weidachsee — Over 500 Years of Tradition, Five Minutes from the Front Door

Some outings don't need a journey. The Weidachsee sits right in the middle of the Weidach district, about five minutes on foot from the Wilderer Chalets — a flat, elongated mountain lake at around 1,100 metres, framed by the Wettersteingebirge and the Karwendel. What many people don't know: it's one of the oldest documented fishing lakes in Tyrol. It's mentioned in Emperor Maximilian I's Fishery Book of 1500 — as "the soul of Leutasch". And it still is today, even if most visitors don't come for the fishing at all.

What Makes the Weidachsee a Special Fishing Water

The Weidachsee isn't a federation water but a privately managed one. It's run by the Leutascher Fischerei (Gebirgsforelle.at), which has its own fish farm right in the valley. That means two things that set it apart from almost any other Tyrolean water. First, you don't need a Tyrolean fishing exam (Tiroler Fischerprüfung) or a licence here — the day ticket on site is the only authorisation you need. Second, it's a classic salmonid water with no pike, carp or eels: regularly stocked from the on-site farm, clear water, quiet atmosphere.

Which Fish You Can Catch

• Rainbow trout
• Brown trout
• Lake trout
• Brook char
• Arctic char
• Golden trout

Six species, all from the salmonid family. If you're after pike or zander, this isn't your lake — if you want to spend a morning with trout and char, you're in the right place. The fish are in good condition, and the chance of going home with an empty bucket is fairly small.

Practicalities: Day Ticket, Gear, Jetty

You buy the day ticket directly on site at the Fischrösterei by the lake — no booking ahead, no online reservation. The price (around €25) includes 2 kg of catch; every additional kilo is billed on top. Anyone who only wants to fly fish has a separate ticket. On weekday afternoons from 3pm, "free fishing" runs: no admission, you only pay for what you catch. Gear can be hired on site if you've travelled without a rod. Catch & release isn't customary here — the lake is a managed water, and fish you catch are taken home or prepared right next door at the Fischrösterei.

• Day ticket: around €25, including 2 kg of catch — additional fish charged by weight
• Fly fishing ticket: about €30 per session
• Free fishing on weekdays from 3pm: no admission, you only pay for what you catch
• Gear hire available on site
• Season: 1 April to 31 October, daily 7am to 7pm
• Closed on Mondays, except public holidays
• Ice fishing January to March on request
• Children under 14 only when accompanied by an adult angler
• No fishing exam, no fishing licence, no permit needed

The 400-metre wooden jetty is one of the most distinctive features of the lake. Long, straight casting lines — good for beginners, good for families letting their children pick up a rod for the first time. The jetty is reserved exclusively for paying anglers. If you only want a stroll, you take the lakeside loop.

With Children at the Weidachsee — What Actually Works

One thing up front that surprises a lot of visitors: swimming isn't allowed in the Weidachsee. The lake is a fishing water, not a bathing lake. If you want to take children swimming, you head to the Alpenbad Leutasch (three minutes by car, indoor pool and outdoor basin) or to the Möserer See near Seefeld. In return, there's plenty else around the Weidachsee that fills a day with children.

• Lakeside loop, 3.8 km, flat, around an hour — buggy-friendly
• Watching from the jetty: trout drifting past, anglers casting, fish being weighed — surprisingly gripping for children
• Fischrösterei with sun terrace right on the water — grilled char, trout burger, farm shop
• 24-hour fish vending machine: fresh and smoked fish, even when the Fischrösterei is closed
• Spielplatz Weidach (Weidach 320): three slides, climbing towers, a basket swing, spring rockers, a wooden house, shaded benches
• Erlebnisspielplatz on the Leutascher Ache between Weidach and Unterweidach: pirate ship, climbing tunnel, climbing nets, sandpit with sun protection
• Dogs allowed on the loop and on the Fischrösterei terrace (on a lead)

A Break at the Fischrösterei by the Lake

If you eat at the Weidachsee, you eat fish — fresh, smoked, grilled or as a trout burger. The Fischrösterei is a self-service cafeteria with a large sun terrace right above the lake, plus a farm shop with whole fish, fillet and smoked produce from the on-site farm. The hot kitchen runs from ten to six, the cafeteria area from seven to seven. Closed on Mondays, except on public holidays. And for anyone who heads home and decides the next morning that they fancy fresh fish after all: the 24-hour fish vending machine at the entrance makes that possible without opening hours.

Walking Around the Lake — Three Spots to Pause

The loop is 3.8 kilometres long, almost flat, and one of the few hiking paths in the valley that's genuinely buggy-friendly — even in spring, as soon as the snow has gone. About an hour at an easy pace, considerably longer with children or a dog. Three spots are worth a mention: the wooden benches on the western shore with a view of the Wettersteinkamm, the small jetties at the reed belt where children like to stop, and the Fischrösterei itself — as a starting or finishing point for the loop.

The Oldest Documented Fishing Lake in Leutasch

What Region Seefeld mentions almost in passing on its website is in fact remarkable: the Weidachsee appears in Emperor Maximilian I's Fishery Book, drawn up around 1500 by the Innsbruck court hunting scribe Wolfgang Hohenleiter. There the lake is recorded as "the soul of Leutasch" — over 520 years of documented fishing tradition at a place that today looks like any other mountain inland water. So when you sit on the jetty, you're casting in a line as old as Tyrolean mountain husbandry itself.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Address: Am Weidachsee 289, 6105 Leutasch
• Altitude: around 1,100 metres — the water stays cool even in high summer
• Size: about 4.5 hectares
• Parking: not directly at the lake (reserved for paying anglers) — use P15 Musikpavillon Weidach, P21 or P23, a few minutes on foot from there
• Admission: free for walkers, day ticket for anglers
• Fischrösterei opening hours: daily 7am to 7pm (hot kitchen 10am to 6pm), closed Mondays except on public holidays
• Dog: on a lead, not in the water, welcome on the cafeteria terrace
• Swimming: not allowed — alternative for children: Alpenbad Leutasch or Möserer See

From the Wilderer Chalets to the Weidachsee

The Weidachsee is the lake on our doorstep. From the Wilderer Chalets in Weidach you reach the jetty in five to ten minutes on foot — no car, no journey, no hunt for a parking space. That makes it perhaps the most practical day out this valley offers: a morning hour with a rod on the jetty, a trout burger at the cafeteria at midday, the loop with a buggy or a dog in the afternoon, and in the evening, on the chalet terrace, you grill the fish you caught yourself or picked up at the farm shop. There aren't many places where all of that comes together with so little effort.

“The Weidachsee isn't the most spectacular lake in the region — it's the closest. And that's precisely what defines it. A day there doesn't feel like an excursion, it feels like home.”

— Wilderer Chalets Team

If at first glance you're after a beautiful mountain lake, Tyrol has plenty on offer. If you want a lake where you can fish without a fishing exam, spend a whole day without swimming, and prepare fresh fish in your own kitchen in the evening — the Weidachsee is the one. Five hundred years of tradition, five minutes from the front door.