Lake Maggiore cheat sheet
Every fish, the licence and the rules, the rigs and the one box of tackle. One page to take to the water.
Lake Maggiore
Spring is thin: pike opens 1 May, pike-perch and perch in June. The salmonids close in turn over winter. Agone and eel are closed to fishing.
Licence
On the Piedmont side: the Type D regional licence (€14, valid 3 months, paid online via PagoPA), plus FIPSAS membership (about €30; juniors €6) for the lake concession, plus a boat permit (€50/year, €20/week, €10/day) if you fish afloat. Carry the catch log. Confirm with fipsasvco.it and isolino.it.
Sizes and limits (2026)
Pike and pike-perch 40 cm, perch 18 cm, lake trout 40 cm, char 25 cm, whitefish 25 to 30 cm. Daily: pike 2, pike-perch 5, perch 50, salmonids 15 (max 5 trout). Whitefish is the table fish.
Contamination (read this)
Agone and eel are closed to fishing over the lake's DDT and PFAS contamination, and eating agone is restricted by an advisory. Check the current advisory before keeping a char, a lake trout or any oily fish.
Bank vs boat · season · time → rig
| Fish | From the bank | From a boat | Best time | Rig |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perch | Yes, the main bank fish | Yes | First light, last hour of daylight | Drop shot or sliding float rig |
| Perch (deep, tight to bottom) | Yes, over the drop-off | Yes | Dawn and dusk | Slip-float paternoster or vertical jig |
| Pike | Yes, the bays, reed edges and river mouths | Yes, the plateaus and drop-offs | Low light; strong in May | Pike rig |
| Pike-perch | Possible off deeper quays in low light | Yes, the real edge | Low light, dusk, autumn | Vertical jig or drop shot (heavier weight) |
| Whitefish (coregone) | No, really a boat fish | Yes, over the deep | Through the day at shoal depth | Gambe / sabiki or trolling |
| Arctic char | No | Yes, deep over the central trench | Salmonid season, deep | Trolling (book a guide) |
| Lake trout | No | Yes, near the surface and the breaks | Cooler months, trolled | Trolling (book a guide) |
Bank only is a perch-and-pike trip at dawn and dusk. A boat adds the pike-perch, the deep whitefish, and the trolled char and lake trout.
The rigs
PE 0.8 braid → 0.22 fluoro leader → small soft lure on a hook in-line, weight on the tag (3–14 g)
PalomarBraid → 0.22 fluoro leader → 10–21 g jighead with a 2/0 hook and a 4" paddletail, worked straight down with a lift-and-drop
Palomar · non-slip loopMain line → bobber stopper → bead → float (~11.5 g) → split shot → swivel → hook with maggot or worm
PalomarBobber stopper → bead → slip float → dropper loop with the hook on the branch → small weight on the end
Palomar · dropper loopWire or heavy fluoro trace → big soft shad on a jighead (lure), or a deadbait under a float (bait)
Palomar · non-slip loopA string of small nymphs on dropper loops with a weight on the end, lowered to the shoal over the deep
Palomar · dropper loopLeadcore or a downrigger → a spoon or lure pulled deep behind a moving boat, for char and lake trout
Non-slip loop · PalomarWhat you need
One light spin outfit and one small box of terminal tackle build the everyday rigs. The pike trace and a sabiki are the extras; trolling gear comes with a guided day.
The knots
| Knot | Ties | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Palomar | The workhorse, every rig. | Every rig |
| Dropper loop | A standing loop in the line for a hook branch. | The paternoster, the gambe |
| Non-slip loop | A fixed loop at a lure or jighead. | The vertical jig, pike lures, trolling |
Learn the Palomar first; it ties most of this. Wet every knot before you pull it tight.
This one page is the printable I take to the water.
Give me an email and I will show it to you, ready to print. A one-page reference: what's on by month, the licence and rules, a rig for every fish, the shared tackle box and the knots.
I'll send you the cheat sheet, and email you when I add a new place to fish. Nothing else.