while the warm weather is here i am giving the pike fishing a rest and thinking this may be a good time to try and catch my first ever zander can anyone offer advice on zander fishing in the warmer months?
zander
- Thread starter madmatz
- Start date
Fin the Fish
Active member
Heres a handful of advice:
Use freshwater baits (roach and lamprey are my favs)
Evening tends to be the best time of day (but you can catch them at any time - my PB was caught at 1pm!)
They love moving baits - deadbait wobbling is a killer method
Fish the deeps - if you know a 15 foot deep slowly turning backwash then theres likely Zs in residence!
Last but definitely not least; cover and explore a lot of water, you wont know where they are until you find them!
Hope this helps, zander are a great species to target if just for the chance to gaze upon such awesome creatures when you finally have one on the bank! They aren't all that hard to catch, when you start getting results then more will be just around the corner
Tight lines!
Use freshwater baits (roach and lamprey are my favs)
Evening tends to be the best time of day (but you can catch them at any time - my PB was caught at 1pm!)
They love moving baits - deadbait wobbling is a killer method
Fish the deeps - if you know a 15 foot deep slowly turning backwash then theres likely Zs in residence!
Last but definitely not least; cover and explore a lot of water, you wont know where they are until you find them!
Hope this helps, zander are a great species to target if just for the chance to gaze upon such awesome creatures when you finally have one on the bank! They aren't all that hard to catch, when you start getting results then more will be just around the corner
Tight lines!
River or stillwater?
I found on my local river they tended to be dawn feeders in summer, moving to evening and night in autumn/winter. On the other hand, each different river population seems to make up its own rules as it goes along.
Same with the lakes. There aren't really any hard and fast rules so try everything. I've never found them to be rig-shy, standard dead-bait pike-wire treble-rigs with smaller baits and hooks on a running lead and drop-off indicators are fine. Bait size up to 6 inches and freshwater, not sea-baits.
Margins dawn and after dark particularly good, the most difficult thing is finding them. They're very mobile when they're on the prowl.
On stillwaters I found windy days good for daytime bites (wind direction doesn't seem to matter).
I've spent a lot of time targetting them, caught some very good fish and aint an awful lot wiser than when I started.
And I think most honest Zed anglers would tell a similar tale.
You'll be after something like this then?
Let us know how you get on.
Andreafish
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
- Messages
- 53
- Reaction score
- 0
Me and my bf go Zander fishing on the Trent. I have caught one of 3 pnds and that was just below the bridge at Dunham Bridge on the Tidal Trent. it was the first pog on the match stretch just down stream of the bridge. I caught it an hour into the dark. We are going back there soon. There are plenty of Zanders in the Tidal Trent and if you find a spot that holds small fish, they will be there. We are thinking of getting a Scunthorpe association book and its less than 20 quid for the year and they have loads of place to fish on the tidal Trent. Good luck oh there are a lot of barbel fishers around the bridge at Dunham and its not always easy to get in. Let us know how you get on.
Andrea, if you read Steve Younger's book "Fenland Zander" he recommends trying to fish pegs where a match has taken place that day.
All the bait/groundbait going in in a concentrated area of river attracts the small fish and the bream, with the zander following behind.
Worth a try.
All the bait/groundbait going in in a concentrated area of river attracts the small fish and the bream, with the zander following behind.
Worth a try.
How widespread are zccander in england? I live in Manchester and I never hear of anyone catching them around the northwest
---------- Post added at 08:08 ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 ----------
That's zander ...
---------- Post added at 08:08 ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 ----------
That's zander ...
Dicky (Angling Trust PAC)
Senior Member
How widespread are zccander in england? I live in Manchester and I never hear of anyone catching them around the northwest
---------- Post added at 08:08 ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 ----------
That's zander ...
I'm pretty sure your nearest venue is the mighty Trent...
---------- Post added at 21:06 ---------- Previous post was at 20:33 ----------
Nice Z Simon. It's very skinny tho. Looks spawned out... could go much bigger?
Is that stillwater or river?
Last edited:
Thanks ****y.
A lake, never stocked, which has a short channel to a river. The fish can come and go as they please. It's not Bury Hill.
Probably was spawned out, I think I caught it in May-time. Biggest recorded weight in the lake is 16+?
When I can afford the petrol again, I aim to return.