Zander Rig ?

For the Zander experts ?

I fish a river where the Crayfish will eat a live or dead bait in a matter of minutes if fished on the bottom.

What do you consider the best set up for Live baiting- Single, Single Trebble or double treble.

I have been using a modified Dyson Rig fished about 3/4ft off the bottom, with a Largish Single hook and lip hooked Roach or Gudgeon ?

Any suggestion ?

Bob

Hi Bob, The CD rig is pretty usefull but not great for casting. Another option would be the helicopter rig which can be fished at various depths and as for hooking arrangements I tend to use two double hooks to match the bait size. Also I dont tend to fish baits less than 2oz as very small baits tend to attract schoolie Zander where I fish.

Andy

Thanks for that advice, do you mean the VB double hooks ?

Bob

Yes those very same ones Bob, size 8s for me and they latch well into the tail root. I find them easier to remove in the darkness and havent noticed a slight bit of difference in hook ups from when using trebles.

Interesting you ask this Bob, as I had a similar problem and have been playing around with a sort of mini version of the Catfish dumbell rig. I like it allot as you can fish it at various depths from the bottom right to the top.

Phillip,

That sounds interesting, do you use winched off the bottom and and what type of trace are you using.

I have found the Amoured Pro Leader very good for similar rigs.

Bob

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Andy,

I use to have a supplier, but they went out off business, any idea where they can be purchased now ?

Bob

Bob, the way I fish it is to cast it out and let it sink on a tight line till I feel the lead hit bottom then clip on the indicator without giving any line so I know the rig is tight to the lead. I then fish it like that for a few minutes close to the bottom (Crays permitting) with a sort of balanced indictor, heavy enough to combat the float/bait/current but still ligt enough not to add to much resistance to a taking fish. I then give it a few minutes like that then release maybe a foot of line and wait a few more minutes then release another foot and so on until I have fished it all the way to the surface. Then I can either recast or repeat the process backwards to fish it all the way back down to the lead again. Basically searching the water.

However I am no expert so I dont know if its how the Catfish guys do it but I liked the look of the rig so I knocked up a smaller one for myself and fish it like that. Out of interest I have also been playing around with a really tiny version using the plastic tube from inside a biro as the boom for Perch as well.

Trace can be basically anything of your choosing as long as its shorter than the boom.

Bob, Ted Carter at Preston stock them and they have an online shop.

Thanks Andy,

Much appreciated.

Bob