Zander location in stillwaters

[Philip]

I am hoping to have a go after some Zander in a large pit not too far from me. I managed to get my hands on the report of a fish survey they did on there and it looks a good bet for a fish or two.

The trouble is Zander are such a contrary fish. Is there anything that can be described as a consistent feature to fish to when after them ?

The Pit in question is very large and has little in the way of surface features although beneath the surface there will be bars, snags and weeds. The difficulty with such a large chunk of water is even where to start. My gut feeling is to fish to any pronounced drops offs but I was wondering if anyone on the forum had any insights they wanted to share.

 

[S-Kippy]

They are THE most contrary fish in my rather limited experience. For what its worth, based on my experiences at Bury Hill

1. They move around. Hotspots one day can be devoid of fish the next.
2. If any area consistently produces bream then a zander or two wont be far away.
3. Bright sunshine and high pressure is the kiss of death. I dont bother going if high pressure is about.
4. A bit of depth in an otherwise fairly consistent bottom can be good.
5. Wait for an orrible wet south westerly gale with airpressure of less than 1000 and fish into the wind.
6.Fish after dark if the rules allow

I say again....this is based solely on my experiences at Bury Hill where they are quite pressured at times. Its also pretty featureless though there are a couple of known deeper spots that can ( dont always) produce.

 

[Philip]

Thats an interesting point about fishing into the wind Skip. I have not considered wind influence when it comes to Zander. Given the expanse of open water I am intending to fish the effects of the wind will be very evident there.

Food for thought !

 

[S-Kippy]

All my best days at OBH have been fishing into a big, mild ( usually wet) s/w hooligan. I usually try to get the tail end of a big low so that its had long enough to move the fish around. OBH is fairly shallow so maybe the wind has more of an effect than elsewhere but a big s/w low and I'm pretty confident where the zander will be....they will certainly be having it.