zander

[chrissh]

help please
I have never fished for zander and its one of the fish I would like to catch my questions are

1. would my pike gear be ok for zander (greys prowla pike rod & shimano 1000 baitrunner 15lb line)

2. I have been told that pike bait like sprats , mackerel, are no good for zander

3. do you fish the same as you would for pike

4. what the best bait and when is the best time of year to fish for them

5. where can I fish with in a 2 hour drive from Lincoln, I'm not after a monsters I just want to enjoy a day's fishing.

I can go any day as I have retired early

thanks Chris

 

[keora]

Here's a useful article on zander fishing by Mark Barrett, who often writes in the Anglers' Mail about predator fishing.



A Beginner’s Guide To Zander with Mark Barrett - UK Match Angler

 

[binka]

Hi Chris,

Keora's link to Mark's article should answer your questions.

Regards venue you are close to the Trent at Newark along with the upper tidal reaches and like much of the middle and lower river there is a good, established head of zander well into double figures with a fairly good "stamp" size which seems to be around 7lbs.

You'll find, even more so at this time of year, that they are very nomadic and a roving lure approach would be a good option or spinning a small deadbait like a sprat if that's what you prefer.

It's a myth that zander won't take a sea dead although I use roach out of preference when I really start to target 'em from October onwards and I use the same gear as for pike as you'll likely encounter a few of those too.

As a general rule a low resistance free running rig will catch you fish, it's commonly thought that it's not the resistance that will make a zander drop a bait so much as increasing resistance and by far my favourite method is the float.

Good luck with it.

 

[guest61]

Baits bounced along the bottom worked for me, been a long time since I fished for them as there aren't any where I live now. When I fished the canals near Gloucester the main method used was shads/rubbers/jigs on a slow retrieve at depth.

Shallower baits produced the pike, deeper baits caught the zander. Hope this helps! may need lighter gear for still waters, heavier gear for running water to combat flow/current when attached to a fish.

 

[dan reynolds]

My advice to you is don't give up after on session, they move so often that they are almost impossible to track, but when they are there, you can have some good fun. Although if you are fishing the Trent make sure you have a vast collection of leads as you WILL loose a lot. For bait i tend to catch roach and use them both live and dead.

Lures can be a pain to target them on in the Trent as you snag up almost every cast, If you have access to a boat, Use that, a lot of the fish are in the main flow where casting from the bank just isn't a viable tactic but you will find them closer in as the light fades though

As for the lure rod needed, all i would say is make sure it has some decent backbone because setting the hook on them requires some force!