Zander - Am I doing it wrong?

[LittleRed]

Hi all, Looking for some advice.

Last year, I set myself a target, a target to catch myself a Zander. After a gruelling 3 months, I managed to bank my first Zed of just under 5LB. Since then, Well I've gotten the bug. I've been trying a new water as of late, And I'll be honest, I've been struggling there, However this water holds some exceptional Zander fishing, One recently came out at 15LB. However, In 5 visits, I've managed a measly Pike, 2 Perch and one Zander which in all fairness smashed my 5LB PB weighing in at 8LB.

It's a heavily pressured stretch, I've not been there and not seen other Lure Anglers, And at times theres quite a few about. It's a canal type stretch, with a couple of bridges before it opens up into what I can only describe as a typical Fenland drain. Most people I'm seeing down there are not really roving the banks, They're mostly stationary for hours at a time throwing lures over and over again in small areas whereas I've been trying to move about to find the fish as I've been taught. However I've been doing so with little success whereas they're usually eventually catching at the very least a couple of fish.

I'm becoming quite demoralised now, As it's costing me a few bob each time to get out there to blank most sessions and I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. The next time I'm heading down there I'm thinking about just camping in one area where fish are known to come out and spend a lot longer in swims rather than walking back and forth throwing my plastics all over the place.

Anybody have any advice for me? Should I continue doing what I'm doing or should I follow suite and camp out in areas for longer?

[cookiesdaughtersdad]

All I can say is that I would bait fish with coarse fish particularly after dark.
Cant help much with lures if that the way you want to fish.

Cheers, Alan

[martin(rockape)]

I'm hardly qualified to give advice really but your roving tactic is the way to go to locate them and as already mentioned I'd use deadbaits.

I personally haven't caught or fished for Zander in donkeys years. My very first Zander was caught pike fishing on a herring tail section. I've had a few on the drains whilst pike fishing and also caught a few really small ones on maggots whilst fishing for silvers.

Regards

Martin

[Fentiger01]

A mobile approach should definitely help you to find small areas where the Zander are holding up. Once you find such a spot holding Zeds, you can then usually winkle out a few fish before the spot either fades away, or the season runs out. Don't expect the same swim to necessarily produce year after year though, sometimes you can be on a good 'area' and it will throw up fish fairly consistently but equally as often, a swim that is mint one year might produce nothing of note for years afterwards!

Except when out with good mates, I always try to avoid other anglers when Zander fishing. That also helps keeping those little hotspots to yourself. I primarily bait fish but I don't see why (once you find them), you shouldn't be able to catch them on lures if that's your thing.

I remember struggling for ages on the very first ever Fen drain I fished but I stuck with it and the satisfaction I got when it eventually came good was immense.

Very best of luck mate, keep us informed on how you get on!

[Neville Fickling]

Id do what Dave said.

[dropped_run]

If you’re talking about where I suspect you are, the 15 is an anomaly of biblical proportions.

The size of the fish you’ve caught is way above average (again, if I’m right) as well but they are good sizes to be catching on lures generally . So I’d say you’ve done well in that respect.

Fish, anywhere, are not “widespread” at this time of year. You’re not just going to find them in every likely looking spot. To be honest you’re probably more likely to find them anywhere except for those spots half the time.

Add in potentially fairly short bite windows, which has been the case for me means spending time walking about is going to work against you, especially if you have an idea from others where the fish are holding up. Add in that somewhere that heavily pressured just means they are going to be hard to catch anyway.

What’s the target, more bite’s generally? If that’s the case, scale down. All of my good zeds this season have been on small lures so far. Until today

The other thing which has been absolutely crucial for me is timing (save this weekend, full moon is my least favourite period for zander personally)- vary first or last light etc. or if it’s viable, three or four hours after darkness.

[Jack H]

As has been said, I would keep as mobile as possible, try to put a bait in as many likely spots as you can. Even if you just take a single rod to reduce the amount of lines in the water. Maybe try a different bait altogether to try and separate you from the crowd? It can be difficult on pressured venues, as the fish have often seen everything before, and are always wary. The important thing is to keep at it.

Jack

[fenland piker]

If you’re talking about where I suspect you are, the 15 is an anomaly of biblical proportions.

The size of the fish you’ve caught is way above average (again, if I’m right) as well but they are good sizes to be catching on lures generally . So I’d say you’ve done well in that respect.

Fish, anywhere, are not “widespread” at this time of year. You’re not just going to find them in every likely looking spot. To be honest you’re probably more likely to find them anywhere except for those spots half the time.

Add in potentially fairly short bite windows, which has been the case for me means spending time walking about is going to work against you, especially if you have an idea from others where the fish are holding up. Add in that somewhere that heavily pressured just means they are going to be hard to catch anyway.

What’s the target, more bite’s generally? If that’s the case, scale down. All of my good zeds this season have been on small lures so far. Until today

The other thing which has been absolutely crucial for me is timing (save this weekend, full moon is my least favourite period for zander personally)- vary first or last light etc. or if it’s viable, three or four hours after darkness.

Also assuming I'm guessing where this is. I would take reports of a 15 with a pinch of salt unless you personally saw it caught and weighed.

There are larger fish in that river but they usually come from other sections. The town centre stretch is well known for schoolie sized zeds with the occasional decent one.
One Zander lure specialist I know, swears by Carolina rigs with very small lures dragged very slowly in contact with the bottom. It may be that a change of technique will get more bites or better fish.
Why limit yourself to that stretch, try exploring other areas where the fish get less pressure and the roving approach should pay off eventually.
Just because the town centre gets lots of fishermen, doesn't mean it is the most productive area. If it's where I think, it's mainly because a lot of them get there by train and don't want to walk further.
Saying that, my best zander in that part of the world came to a whole frozen mackerel while ledgering for pike on a bright sunny day, followed by a second shortly after on a frozen smelt.

[LittleRed]

Hi guys
Sorry for the late reply.
Secondly, Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Since writing this post, I've been twice... Once during the day, Once during the night. I blanked on the first attempt, And tonight I managed to catch one small Zander.

Really struggling to come to grips with this place though, But determined not to give up even though theres easier places more local to me to fish, However none of them hold the stamp of fish I'm after like this stretch. Ideally I'm looking to catch a 10lb+ Zander, I know it's a big ask but it seems most possible from here, until then I'm happy to get a bite with the chance, even the slightest chance of hooking into what'll be a fish of a lifetime for me.

Just recently I've been contending with pretty strong flows from the stretch which is making it awkward to clear/fan out swims properly, As as soon as I cast my lure is drifting at stupidly high rates. I'm not sure if I should let the flow take the lure or use a bigger jighead to combat the tow and keep a straight line. A local swears by using a 5g jig while letting the flow 'do the work' but I can't wrap my head around the logic of this, especially when I've only got 4-5 hours of fishing time per trip, And leaving promising swims unconfident I've cleared them good enough. I've been finding that even a 20g weight isn't enough to hold bottom allowing me to search swims more effectively. Should I up my weights to 25-30g in hopes of being able to search swims more efficiently or will they be too big?

As of late, There has been some bigun's coming out with good proof (GoPro Recorded footage) of a couple of 14-15lb Fish. Albeit, From local fisherman who seem to visit and fish daily, for hours per time upping the chances massively.

You guys are clearly right on where I'm fishing, You've described it too well. I've fished the 'C' ticket section once or twice but had no luck. I've also had a walk down the other end but past the bridge, It looks quite barren, and intimidating. I'd be interested to hear thoughts.

I'd also love to fish lives/deadbaits here, Unfortunately I travel by train and I'm not comfortable on lugging around the amount of gear required to fish these types of methods, And I'm certainly not comfortable boarding public transport loaded up with dead fish on my person.

[The great Gavino]

I don’t use lures very often, but if it’s any help.. My biggest Zander have (mostly) come from the near shelf. I’m not saying they’re not always there, just don’t be fooled into thinking you need to be hitting the far bank all of the time.

[paintman]

I'd also love to fish lives/deadbaits here, Unfortunately I travel by train and I'm not comfortable on lugging around the amount of gear required to fish these types of methods, And I'm certainly not comfortable boarding public transport loaded up with dead fish on my person.

You don't have to carry the kitchen sink to fish deads.

I do a lot of mobile short sessions for pike on the local canal/canalised river.
Rod, net, small bag of kit for lure & deadbait fishing.
Half a dozen sprats or small smelts in a plastic bag inside another plastic bag. No smell escaping so no-one will know.
Jacket wise I opt for an ex British army smock type jacket as it's pretty weatherproof & it's got plenty of pockets for bits & pieces. If you use the plastic treble hook guards then you can put lures in your pockets.
If you want to take rod rests attach to the handle of the net with velcro straps for ease of carriage.

[Runaway Train]

Lot's of experienced advice above.

Not a water I fish but having spent 15 years concentrating on a serious Zed water i can say they will drive you nuts at times.

Keep at it and double check rumours as lots of BS out there.

Here's a method i used for searching out a long canal stretch near me https://www.dlst.co.uk/Writings/walktroll.html. It's great if the banks enable this and it does work, i caught in depths as shallow as 3 ft walking small soft plastics. It does confuse the dog walkers though who seemed fascinated with what I was doing.

[paintman]

Here's a method i used for searching out a long canal stretch near me https://www.dlst.co.uk/Writings/walktroll.html. It's great if the banks enable this and it does work, i caught in depths as shallow as 3 ft walking small soft plastics. It does confuse the dog walkers though who seemed fascinated with what I was doing.

Not seen those before!
Every day's a schoolday

[Jack H]

I’ve tried the walk trolling before. Found it very effective for perch with spinners and small plugs. It’s a good way of fishing long featureless stretches, as the margins are often a good place for the fish to hold up. I can remember seeing a video of someone in america trolling a stretch of water from his truck for musky! Rod out the window with a planer board.

Jack

[Fentiger01]

Ref taking bait gear on public transport, as has been said above you really don't have to carry a ton of gear with you if you want to fish baits, nor does your gear need to be minging or smelly. If you're using 15lb line or say 50lb braid, you should really only need to take maybe half a dozen leads with you max, as to be fair you really would be incredibly unlucky to be losing any of them on gear like that to snags on an average fen drain. One of those little black square compartmentalised tackle boxes for your swivels, beads, stop-knots and clips etc which is tiny and weighs only a few ounces. A set of scales, unhooking tools, a weigh sling and your phone to use as a camera, with a lightweight attachment such as the iFish set up to connect it to the top of a bankstick. Two ten foot rods, 4000 size reels an unhooking mat and a trace tidy with half a dozen traces in it. A landing net and a couple of rod rests completes your tackle. https://www.temu.com/kuiper/dn9.html?su ... gIPu_D_BwE

At this time of year with coloured water you can connect small isotopes via tiny little holders that clip to the top of your rods and fish them up high watching for taps on the tip. As regarding bait, I use one of the Pikepro freezer bags. They are fantastic and will keep deadbaits fresh and tidy in your rucksack easily for a full winters day or more without any unwanted odours or whatnot, job done! https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/pikepro-cool-bag.html

All of the above as well as a flask and a packed lunch can be packed in a pretty small daysack or rucksack which when combined with a small rod quiver for your rods, rests and net, means you should be able to walk as far as you want for your fishing. Get the gear above in it and just pad it out with your waterproofs/warm gear. I use one of the Korum Transition rucksacks - it is ace and I can easily fit everything in it with ease, whereupon all is tidy and tucked away: https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/korum-t ... gKHuPD_BwE

I used to carry the kitchen sink with me back in the day but these days I will often walk miles for my Zander fishing and so a few years ago I really did start to cut down on the crap that I used to take with me (leads being a great example - how many do you ever really lose in a day on 15lb line or 50lb braid?). It means I can reach those more remote bends in the river which hold additional depth and sometimes the odd fish during the middle of winter.

Good luck mate!

[fenland piker]

Hi guys
Sorry for the late reply.
Secondly, Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Since writing this post, I've been twice... Once during the day, Once during the night. I blanked on the first attempt, And tonight I managed to catch one small Zander.

Really struggling to come to grips with this place though, But determined not to give up even though theres easier places more local to me to fish, However none of them hold the stamp of fish I'm after like this stretch. Ideally I'm looking to catch a 10lb+ Zander, I know it's a big ask but it seems most possible from here, until then I'm happy to get a bite with the chance, even the slightest chance of hooking into what'll be a fish of a lifetime for me.

Just recently I've been contending with pretty strong flows from the stretch which is making it awkward to clear/fan out swims properly, As as soon as I cast my lure is drifting at stupidly high rates. I'm not sure if I should let the flow take the lure or use a bigger jighead to combat the tow and keep a straight line. A local swears by using a 5g jig while letting the flow 'do the work' but I can't wrap my head around the logic of this, especially when I've only got 4-5 hours of fishing time per trip, And leaving promising swims unconfident I've cleared them good enough. I've been finding that even a 20g weight isn't enough to hold bottom allowing me to search swims more effectively. Should I up my weights to 25-30g in hopes of being able to search swims more efficiently or will they be too big?

As of late, There has been some bigun's coming out with good proof (GoPro Recorded footage) of a couple of 14-15lb Fish. Albeit, From local fisherman who seem to visit and fish daily, for hours per time upping the chances massively.

You guys are clearly right on where I'm fishing, You've described it too well. I've fished the 'C' ticket section once or twice but had no luck. I've also had a walk down the other end but past the bridge, It looks quite barren, and intimidating. I'd be interested to hear thoughts.

I'd also love to fish lives/deadbaits here, Unfortunately I travel by train and I'm not comfortable on lugging around the amount of gear required to fish these types of methods, And I'm certainly not comfortable boarding public transport loaded up with dead fish on my person.

I'm not surprised the flows are bad at the moment. Currently on duty as a flood incident officer for that part of the world and the flows upstream are in full flood mode. All control structures are wide open to get rid of the rain we have been having though flows have been dropping back in the last 48 hours. For context further upstream on a main gauging site was at 90+ cumecs (cubic meters per second) last Friday and is now dropping towards 70. "Normal" flows are below 10 and at 40-65 we are opening everything we can to prevent flooding.
Long term flood forecast is slight drop in flows and levels this week then likelyhood of terrible weather up to and after Christmas.

You haven't said what sort of gear you are using. A thinner braid might help deal with flow as much as heavier jig heads, equally try fishing the near margin as that can be especially productive in high flows. Some types of lure also deal with those conditions better than others- smaller or less profile to them.

If you are coming by train maybe try stopping at other stations along the line that are also near the river, especially downstream. There are several other less pressured sections easily accessible this way that are more likely to do a fish the size you are looking for. Also try looking for areas where fish can shelter out of the main flow and you can properly present a lure, there are few in the town centre but other areas have reed beds or slacks off the main channel that are worth a look.

[Fentiger01]

Hi guys
Sorry for the late reply.
Secondly, Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Since writing this post, I've been twice... Once during the day, Once during the night. I blanked on the first attempt, And tonight I managed to catch one small Zander.

Really struggling to come to grips with this place though, But determined not to give up even though theres easier places more local to me to fish, However none of them hold the stamp of fish I'm after like this stretch. Ideally I'm looking to catch a 10lb+ Zander, I know it's a big ask but it seems most possible from here, until then I'm happy to get a bite with the chance, even the slightest chance of hooking into what'll be a fish of a lifetime for me.

Just recently I've been contending with pretty strong flows from the stretch which is making it awkward to clear/fan out swims properly, As as soon as I cast my lure is drifting at stupidly high rates. I'm not sure if I should let the flow take the lure or use a bigger jighead to combat the tow and keep a straight line. A local swears by using a 5g jig while letting the flow 'do the work' but I can't wrap my head around the logic of this, especially when I've only got 4-5 hours of fishing time per trip, And leaving promising swims unconfident I've cleared them good enough. I've been finding that even a 20g weight isn't enough to hold bottom allowing me to search swims more effectively. Should I up my weights to 25-30g in hopes of being able to search swims more efficiently or will they be too big?

As of late, There has been some bigun's coming out with good proof (GoPro Recorded footage) of a couple of 14-15lb Fish. Albeit, From local fisherman who seem to visit and fish daily, for hours per time upping the chances massively.

You guys are clearly right on where I'm fishing, You've described it too well. I've fished the 'C' ticket section once or twice but had no luck. I've also had a walk down the other end but past the bridge, It looks quite barren, and intimidating. I'd be interested to hear thoughts.

I'd also love to fish lives/deadbaits here, Unfortunately I travel by train and I'm not comfortable on lugging around the amount of gear required to fish these types of methods, And I'm certainly not comfortable boarding public transport loaded up with dead fish on my person.

I'm not surprised the flows are bad at the moment. Currently on duty as a flood incident officer for that part of the world and the flows upstream are in full flood mode. All control structures are wide open to get rid of the rain we have been having though flows have been dropping back in the last 48 hours. For context further upstream on a main gauging site was at 90+ cumecs (cubic meters per second) last Friday and is now dropping towards 70. "Normal" flows are below 10 and at 40-65 we are opening everything we can to prevent flooding.
Long term flood forecast is slight drop in flows and levels this week then likelyhood of terrible weather up to and after Christmas.

You haven't said what sort of gear you are using. A thinner braid might help deal with flow as much as heavier jig heads, equally try fishing the near margin as that can be especially productive in high flows. Some types of lure also deal with those conditions better than others- smaller or less profile to them.

If you are coming by train maybe try stopping at other stations along the line that are also near the river, especially downstream. There are several other less pressured sections easily accessible this way that are more likely to do a fish the size you are looking for. Also try looking for areas where fish can shelter out of the main flow and you can properly present a lure, there are few in the town centre but other areas have reed beds or slacks off the main channel that are worth a look.

Great info and advice there mate.

If the venue is where I think it might be, I used to enjoy some fairly consistent sport not to far from a small Town a few miles North of the main venue.

Good shout staying on an extra train-stop or two, better fun to get away from the crowds when Zandering.

[suffolk si]

Had a zed trip to fenland today, lures useless, lives not much better but lamprey and freshly killed roach worked a treat in the coloured water , had a dozen runs in less than ideal conditions. Keeping on the move was the key after a couple of hours sat static, got bites quickly in new swimsI’m certainly no zander expert though!

[fenland piker]

Hi guys
Sorry for the late reply.
Secondly, Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Since writing this post, I've been twice... Once during the day, Once during the night. I blanked on the first attempt, And tonight I managed to catch one small Zander.

Really struggling to come to grips with this place though, But determined not to give up even though theres easier places more local to me to fish, However none of them hold the stamp of fish I'm after like this stretch. Ideally I'm looking to catch a 10lb+ Zander, I know it's a big ask but it seems most possible from here, until then I'm happy to get a bite with the chance, even the slightest chance of hooking into what'll be a fish of a lifetime for me.

Just recently I've been contending with pretty strong flows from the stretch which is making it awkward to clear/fan out swims properly, As as soon as I cast my lure is drifting at stupidly high rates. I'm not sure if I should let the flow take the lure or use a bigger jighead to combat the tow and keep a straight line. A local swears by using a 5g jig while letting the flow 'do the work' but I can't wrap my head around the logic of this, especially when I've only got 4-5 hours of fishing time per trip, And leaving promising swims unconfident I've cleared them good enough. I've been finding that even a 20g weight isn't enough to hold bottom allowing me to search swims more effectively. Should I up my weights to 25-30g in hopes of being able to search swims more efficiently or will they be too big?

As of late, There has been some bigun's coming out with good proof (GoPro Recorded footage) of a couple of 14-15lb Fish. Albeit, From local fisherman who seem to visit and fish daily, for hours per time upping the chances massively.

You guys are clearly right on where I'm fishing, You've described it too well. I've fished the 'C' ticket section once or twice but had no luck. I've also had a walk down the other end but past the bridge, It looks quite barren, and intimidating. I'd be interested to hear thoughts.

I'd also love to fish lives/deadbaits here, Unfortunately I travel by train and I'm not comfortable on lugging around the amount of gear required to fish these types of methods, And I'm certainly not comfortable boarding public transport loaded up with dead fish on my person.

I'm not surprised the flows are bad at the moment. Currently on duty as a flood incident officer for that part of the world and the flows upstream are in full flood mode. All control structures are wide open to get rid of the rain we have been having though flows have been dropping back in the last 48 hours. For context further upstream on a main gauging site was at 90+ cumecs (cubic meters per second) last Friday and is now dropping towards 70. "Normal" flows are below 10 and at 40-65 we are opening everything we can to prevent flooding.
Long term flood forecast is slight drop in flows and levels this week then likelyhood of terrible weather up to and after Christmas.

You haven't said what sort of gear you are using. A thinner braid might help deal with flow as much as heavier jig heads, equally try fishing the near margin as that can be especially productive in high flows. Some types of lure also deal with those conditions better than others- smaller or less profile to them.

If you are coming by train maybe try stopping at other stations along the line that are also near the river, especially downstream. There are several other less pressured sections easily accessible this way that are more likely to do a fish the size you are looking for. Also try looking for areas where fish can shelter out of the main flow and you can properly present a lure, there are few in the town centre but other areas have reed beds or slacks off the main channel that are worth a look.

Great info and advice there mate.

If the venue is where I think it might be, I used to enjoy some fairly consistent sport not to far from a small Town a few miles North of the main venue.

Good shout staying on an extra train-stop or two, better fun to get away from the crowds when Zandering.

That's what I was thinking, couple of stops along the train line to the north gets you to a smaller town with less fishing pressure and some better water to cover

[Fentiger01]

That's what I was thinking, couple of stops along the train line to the north gets you to a smaller town with less fishing pressure and some better water to cover

We're right on the same wavelength there mate.

[Fentiger01]

Had a zed trip to fenland today, lures useless, lives not much better but lamprey and freshly killed roach worked a treat in the coloured water , had a dozen runs in less than ideal conditions. Keeping on the move was the key after a couple of hours sat static, got bites quickly in new swimsI’m certainly no zander expert though!

That's fantastic Si, great angling mate!

[suffolk si]

Had a zed trip to fenland today, lures useless, lives not much better but lamprey and freshly killed roach worked a treat in the coloured water , had a dozen runs in less than ideal conditions. Keeping on the move was the key after a couple of hours sat static, got bites quickly in new swimsI’m certainly no zander expert though!

That's fantastic Si, great angling mate!

Loved it Dave, nothing big but being in the flatlands seeing the float go a few times with a mate was very enjoyable hope you’re well and getting a bend in the rods

[Fentiger01]

Had a zed trip to fenland today, lures useless, lives not much better but lamprey and freshly killed roach worked a treat in the coloured water , had a dozen runs in less than ideal conditions. Keeping on the move was the key after a couple of hours sat static, got bites quickly in new swimsI’m certainly no zander expert though!

That's fantastic Si, great angling mate!

Loved it Dave, nothing big but being in the flatlands seeing the float go a few times with a mate was very enjoyable hope you’re well and getting a bend in the rods

Magic Si.

Not done too much myself this winter yet as we've been in flood for much of Nov/Dec but hoping it settles. Got a few weeks off now, so maybe even get back up for a day or two on the Fens myself.