for example here
The boat driving licence (analogous to your car driving license) is necessary only if you use motors of a certain power and above, you won't need it.
The boat itself, when is less than 2.5 meters long:
- does not require registration
- can not be used for fishing
The boats that are more than 2.5 meters long require registration, regardless of the engine (with some exceptions for beach crafts, but once again - I think you won't be able to fish on those).
This means that you need to register it, the same way you do with a car: you will get a licence plate, you must get boat insurance, you pay taxes on the boat and you pass periodic inspections.
But do not get discouraged, it is usually a small amount of tax and small amount of insurance premium for these boats. I'd suggest to call or go directly and chat with Schifffahrtskontrolle des Kantons Zürich in Oberrrieden. Those folks where very patient and helpful for me, and they also speak english.
If you find a solution on how to obtain a place quickly and without paying insane annual fee on Greifensee or Zurichsee - let me also know
By the way, on the Greifensee you can rent boats, for examples in Uster. They have special tariffs for fishermen (until this year it was a bargain of 4.5 chf per hour, this year it is 7 chf per hour).
The drawback of this approach is that when the fishing season it high it gets harder and harder to get a boat in the morning, and sometimes pretty much impossible as people who have lock keys (cos they pay annual fees) pick them up before the place even opens. (but you can look into the annual rent if you want)
My inflatable kayak is over 4 meters, more than sufficiently sized for fishing, and does not need a registration. You do however need to write your name and address on it as well as an easily readable name to identify it.
Here is the law for that: https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1..._337/de#art_16
I once asked a lady at Schifffahrtskontrolle if I can fish from my 2m inflatable boat that does not require any registration - and she said that it's not allowed.
So I assume that it might be generically "fishing not allowed from a non registered boat", which would eliminate all the exceptions to the 2.5m rule. I am not 100% sure about it though, worth clarifying if OP is interested in that option
https://www.amazon.de/Intex-Boot-Exc...id=62060128699
The last I knew, with the rowboats that you can rent in Uster, they only allow you to take them out for one hour at a time. But maybe their rules have changed since then (no idea).
I do often see people fishing on the long dock here in Greifensee as well.
Re renting boats in Uster: there is no time limit, the longer you are out the happier they will be to charge you If you show a fishing license they will sell you 10 hour cards for 70 chf that you can consume in fractions of 30min, with the exception of Sunday afternoon
Yeah, like you mentioned, there is a little ramp into the water right next to that dock that a lot of people use to put their boats into the water. Some people also store their boats long-term near the shore there. There is also an area where you can put inflatable boats into the water just a little ways down the lake from that spot -- a small beach area -- but you can't access it with a car (there is only a wide bike/walking path that goes there). Those inflatable boats are quite heavy, so to do that, you'd need some kind of trolley cart or something to carry it down there unless you're Hulk Hogan.