You will probably get many different answers from people all over the country, people in Scotland, Ireland and the lake district in general fish all year through, where as because I live in the fens I probable wont be getting the baits out for pike until September at the earliest, but if the weather is not right then I will wait until October. For zander I start right at the beginning of the season and fish through normally until September, I do occasionally pick up pike from time to time when zedding as it is unavoidable.