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Rhine 

Amazing Diversity Of Species

Probably everybody knows the Rhine. I fish it from Schweizerhalle (upstream of Basle) almost down to Strasbourg. The Rhine itself in this region is a very big and fast moving river, fishing the main current is quite difficult. But there are places with a mire comfortable current and a lot of power plant and locks. And then there are quite a few backwaters downstream of Basle, the first to mention of course the Old Rhine. The Old Rhine, also called Rest Rhine, is the original bed of the Rhine between Basle and Breisach which marks the French-German border and through which flows only about a tenth of the original amount of water. Most of the water was drained to the  Grand Canal D'Alsace on the French side as part of reparation payments after world war I and is used mainly for generating electric power.
In this part of the Rhine you can find almost any middle European species of fish you can think of. I have seen the following 29 species with my own eyes (most of them I caught): rainbow trout, brown trout, grayling, whitefish, perch, zander, pope( ruffe), sunfish, bullhead, stone loach, stickleback, eel, burbot, pike, roach, barbel, bream, bleak, chub, silver bream, dace, strömer, minnow, gudgeon, nase, tench, rudd, carp, schneider. Apart from that I know credible reports of the existence of wels, asp, salmon, sea trout, allis shad, brook lamprey and river lamprey. That totals to an amazing 36 species of fish that live here! Going a bit further up an down stream you'd probably find a few species more. Of course not all of them are present in masses and spin fishing you're most likely to encounter trout, perch, chub, pike and zander maybe once in a while also a nase, bream, barbel, asp or wels.

The Particular Stretches

Now lets have a look a the particular stretches in this region from upstream:

Schweizerhalle to Birskopf

This part can be fished on the left hand side with the Rhine licence of the community of Birsfelden, the population of predators has to be described as quite weak. The uppermost part by Schweizerhalle has a woody shoreline which is not easily accessible everywhere. This is quite a nice place with even a bit of calm current in some places and once in a while you can actually expect to catch something on the spinning rod. Afterwards we come through the harbours of Schweizerhalle and Muttenz, which don't have a basin though but just a sloping concrete bank which gives no protection against  the current for the fish. So obviously you can really forget fishing there. Then, nearing the Birsfelden power plant, the current slows down again and from the last installations of the harbour to the entrance of the locks pike, perch and the occasional big trout can be caught. Zander I would also expect here, but have only caught them downstream of the locks. Up stream of the locks you can also fish off of the power plant island. Below the locks is also a quite productive area with a big groyne which is stabilized with bung walls like the whole area around the locks. Beneath the hooked groyne you will then find quite a strong current again with good chances mainly for trout until you reach the Birskopf, the mouth of the Birs entering the Rhine. The mouth of the Birs usually offers some quite water, but mostly shallow. It is always good for a nice fish

Basel

Die City of Basel gives out their own fishing licence. In this part you will find practically no quite water, so the main quarry is trout, but there are also some pike, zander, perch and chub. But the population of predators has declined in the last years like in Birsfelden. You can expect fish everywhere, where the current is slightly weakened.

Old Rhine and Grand Canal d'Alsace from Kembs to Breisach

The canal is actually quite monotonous, but around the locks you can expect pike, zander and chub. The really interesting thing is the Old Rhine, where you can find pike and the occasional trout or zander. Even though you can't really call it densely populated. At the top, right below the weir it starts with quite deep holes. Farther down there are some shallow bays which can be waded easily and practically cut off an Island. Then it becomes rather shallow and uniform until you reach the Isteinerschwelle, which is a huge rapid.
Right beneath is one of the best stretches on this part. For several kilometres the river continues through deep and quite pools, shallow pebbly stretches, narrow and fast channels. Towards the end, as we near the Kulturwehr of Breisach it gets broader and more sluggish. Beneath this weir until the joint with big canal is a relatively good place for pike and zander. Also some nice wels have been taken here.

Power Plant near Marckolsheim

Here another backwater parts from the river, similar to the old Rhine, it doesn't get much water, the most part of which streams through a power plant on French soil. The backwater is separated from the Rhine by two weirs. From the lower weir to the reunion with the canal is quite a good stretch for pike and zander but when the weather is nice there are a lot of pleasure boats and water skis. Fishing from the boat is very good here. between the weirs I have only caught chub, but the part which is connected with the main current has a good population of zander and (small) pike. 

Power Plant near Rhinau

Here it is not only an arm separated from the main flow, but the island in between is covered by a whole system of small creeks ("Giessen") an ponds all connected to each other and the Rhine, A similar landscape is found on the German shore. It is a paradise for spawning cyprinids and you should expect a good population of pike, but so far my success has been modest. 

Other Waters In The Département Haut-Rhin

Waters you can also fish with the licence of the Départements Haut-Rhin:
The Lac de Kruth-Wildenstein is considered first category, which means it is trout water. It is a small reservoir in the Vosg Mountains which seems to contain, apart from salmonids, some perch and chub. That's about all I know about it.

Fishing Tips

You can size down your gear a bit for pike fishing here, as they seldom get big, I haven't ever caught or seen one above 90cm. Good Lures are small shads about 10cm in black/white, red/white or green, spinner and shallow running plugs (in deep places rigged behind a lead). The pike prefer the calmer zones and can be found in quite shallow water. Zander take more or less the same shad and spinners as pike but also readily take a grub in white or brown. They prefer deeper places. In Birsfelden and Basel, as well as in the Old Rhine you can always expect a trout, once in a while even a really nice one over 50cm is taken. They will grab a spinner or plug in moving water which is not too deep, but the big ones also like to chase small cyprinids in the calm areas around the locks. Perch tend to be caught when fishing for other species, they go for spinners in all sizes and grubs of all colours. These also prefer quiet water but are very versatile. Mostly you find smaller individuals up to about 30cm and they are not very numerous. Chub on the other hand are quite abundant and quite big. They go for Spinners and small plugs preferably in natural designs like: minnow, trout, bullhead.