8s or 10s?

[zedcar]

Hi, just wondering if anyone could tell me the size of hooks I should use if fishing for zander. Read the post by baitmaster (very interesting) and he suggested size 10s if they were finicky feeding, was under the impression zeds are finicky feeders at the best of times so therefore one would think a size 10 would be better hook to use? Also I would like to ask if zeds are prone to swallowing the hooks like pike do sometimes?

Any help would be much appreciated, thank you.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

1o are better but single hook are the way to go in my opinion. My way its small 3 inch roach ( sometimes cut in half and just fishing the head) I use double hooks myself.

Zander are less agressive than pike on the takes.

Im sure others will chip in on what works for them

[perch_king]

i use 8s and zeds will wuff a bait down so yes a chance of deep hooking and read all baitmasters post about zander every thing there to know about them and how to catch them he is top class zed man

[zedcar]

Thanks Perch King will bear that in mind. Got another question, if for some reason I end up getting a deep hooked zander how do you go about getting the hooks out, with pike you pull out the gut and remove the hooks that way but what do you do with zander?

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

[perch_king]

hi mate i have never had a deep hook zander so realy i dont know but always strike early and you should not have a problem and yes you pull gut out with pike maybe same for zeds but dont know

[Dave Smith]

Are we saying then that we don't match the size of the hooks to the bait?

my standard hooks for zander are 8's because my standard baitsize is 5/6 inches. I go upto 6's for bigger baits and 10's for smaller baits.

that said I have been experimenting with a single hook and bait tag (www.zandavan.co.uk) which is working well but rather than being a convert I just look on it as another rig to have up my sleeve.

[Zanderandy]

Hi, Deep hooked Zander are a big problem as they are a very delicate species. I always strike runs early as possible to overcome deephooking and use 4oz baits with minimum size 8 hooks. I also tend to find that using small baits with small hooks attracts schoolies and tiny hooks can be tough to remove at night.
A hair rigged bait could possibly get around the deep hooking issue as well as upping bait /hook size.
Its often been said that a deep hooked Zander is a dead Zander so its something that I always try to avoid.

Regards Andy

[zedcar]

Thank you for all the replies and for the excellent information you have provided, it's very much appreciated and has all be taken on board. When I'm predator fishing (pike) tend to use the head section as appose to tail/full fish so, will try using the head section for zeds on at least one of the rods, (using three in total). I'm going to go for a size 8s hooks too as this seems to be the most popular type anglers use when fishing for zeds. I will of course take extra care when/if a bite takes place and try my very best to avoid any deep hooking situations. I'm still not 100% sure what type of bite indication I'm going to use, thought about open bail-arm and 'back drop off indicators' also thought about using light bobbins on the carp alarms, what bite indication do you guy's use when fishing for zeds? Many thanks

[Dave Smith]

I use http://www.zandavan.co.uk/rollovers.html most of the time, drop backs when the severn is charging through or a float.

[perch_king]

i use bobbings