Newby to forum

[bps1]

Hi Guys
New to forum so just thought i would come say hello
I,m mad about Zander and everything associated with them, live in Coventry and fish Coombe Abbey a lot for them, I'm keen to expand my knowledge of them and also start moving further afield to try new venues, so anyone who fancy's talking tactics, venues etc feel free to contact me.
Hope to talk to you all soon

Bri

[Norfolkboy]

Welcome to the forum, Bri

[pingu]

welcome

dave

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Welcome and looking forward to reading your posts mate

[terrysmart]

Hi

Bri

How is the zander fishing at combe these days , not fished there for sometime much coming out....

[fishypaul]

hi bri,welcome aboard

[Portland Pirate]

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

[bps1]

Hi all
Thanks for the welcome
Coombe in my opinion is a premier Zander fishery and i believe holds a potential record fish, the fishing is by no means easy as you can only fish half of the lake, with the other half being a nature reserve.
A season ticket is a must as it is the only way you can night fish, it's a shallow lake with depths averaging 5 ft all around, so it is suspectable to really cold snaps as the water temp drops very fast but once we have had a few days of settled weather the fish settle back down as well , the best conditions i have found is with a good ripple on the surface, bit of colour in the water and overcast. most of my fish have come either in the evenings and early mornings although some of the guys fishing up there have caught all through the night

I've not had a bad season fishing it this year i have caught 11 zander this year from 7lb + 5 of them doubles with the biggest being 15lb 8, there is a real good chance of dbl figure zander when you get a run here .
You also get a lot of attention from the pike, the water holds a lot of them up to 22lb, the biggest i have heard being caught this year i have had 2 just going over 20, it isnt unusual to catch 5 or 6 pike in a session, there isn't much you can do to avoid them but if your like me and don't mind the pike it keeps you entertained waiting for that big zed to come along as i believe when the pike are having it so will the zander although it can be annoying when u get a run at 230 in the morning and a jack has snaffled your livebait.

As for tactics i keep it as simple as possible , Livebaits are a must on this water to tempt the Zander, deadbaits do work BUT they must be fresh, i prefer small roach and gudgeon as livebaits, roach, eel section and lamprey as deadbaits , all other baits will catch you the pike but i stick to the baits outlined for the zander.

Size 8 or 10 trebles on a 12lb wire trace, with a bait rattle attached 5 inches from live bait is my line of attack, ledgered using a fox buyount ledger stem is the method i prefer, as most of my fishing is done at night, so it's rods on bite alarms, lightly clipped up with open bail arm, hit the runs early especially if using small baits due to the pike there, i would rather miss a run than have a deep hooked pike, or zander if it's a big one. Most of the fishing is at distance, there are some good features in the way of bushes, overhanging tree's and weed beds on the far bank of coombe, i use a baitboat to get my baits out to these features, but don't be fooled into thinking that this is the only way to catch, both of my largest Zander this year have come from a livebait cast approx 40 yds out, the baitboat is just another piece of eqpt to allow me to cover all the water as and when req.

Hope you all get your string pulled soon
All the best
Brian

[ZED MAN DAN]

Hi Brian,

Nice to see you on the forum.

[Wilza]

A warm Welcome from me!