Good, but.......

[headless]

Hi

I arrived at the pits around 3pm, feeling confident after my last trip. Tactics for the overnighter was three rods. The left hand rod was a free running rig with a large cage feeder and an 18” trace, two size 8 semi barbless hooks baited with Trout section, with the feeder stuffed with Trout fillet, cast around 60 yards out. The second rod was again a free running rig, same trace etc… with a cage feeder. Bait was fresh Roach dead bait, cast around 30 yards out. The third rod was a free running rig, 3oz lead, same trace etc…and baited with Rudd dead bait. This rig was cast to the right around 30 yards out to a shallower area,

Within minutes of setting up, I had a run on the third rod, the bait was dropped straight away….gutted. Around an hour later I had another run which I hooked and after a good fight I landed a Zander of 7.3/4b, a stunning looking fish, not a mark on her/him.



It was a few hours, just before dark before I had another bite, again the bait was dropped. This was the pattern for the night. I had runs regularly all night, but only hooking six Zander, landing three and losing three at the net. The three Zander landed were 6lb, and two around 5lb, all coming to the right hand rod. The three Zander I lost were around the 3-4lb mark, two came to the second rod and one to the right hand rod.

I was gutted to lose three Zander, but I was more annoyed that I missed so many runs on all three rods during the night. On reflection, I think the dead baits I was using were a bit too big, time to catch some slightly smaller baits!! I did try using small sections of Rudd on a single hook (mainly due to running out of bait), but this was not until the last hour of darkness, sadly no runs.

Fingers crossed, with smaller baits, next weeks I will land a few more.

Darrell

[MRG2000]

Cracking Zed fishing , good luck with the smaller baits , you should have a bumper haul ,if your theory is right ..

[headless]

Thanks Mike, the trouble is you rarely get days/nights when there so many Zander about. You have a good night then go backing thinking you have cracked it only for the Zeds not show up, but I will always try

Darrell

[Echelon Pest]

Originally Posted by headless

Thanks Mike, the trouble is you rarely get days/nights when there so many Zander about. You have a good night then go backing thinking you have cracked it only for the Zeds not show up, but I will always try

Darrell

From your experience Darrell, do you find that if you're on a pack of little'uns the chance of a 'better than average' fish is virtually nil ? Do you find these small fish move off given enough time ? If you specifically want a larger fish would you move to another area or sit it out ?

I was interested in your use of a feeder to add scent to the area rather than feed. I've been thinking about how to attract/hold/interest fish in a swim. My initial thoughts were to use ground bait and/or scalded pellet to bring in the silvers but I guess this will tend to bring in the smaller school Zander.

Thoughts appreciated

Steve

[headless]

Originally Posted by Echelon Pest

From your experience Darrell, do you find that if you're on a pack of little'uns the chance of a 'better than average' fish is virtually nil ? Do you find these small fish move off given enough time ? If you specifically want a larger fish would you move to another area or sit it out ?

I was interested in your use of a feeder to add scent to the area rather than feed. I've been thinking about how to attract/hold/interest fish in a swim. My initial thoughts were to use ground bait and/or scalded pellet to bring in the silvers but I guess this will tend to bring in the smaller school Zander.

Thoughts appreciated

Steve

Hi steve

I have caught double figure Zander while I was being plagued by small zeds. I normally fish with three rods, fished in three different areas. Even if I am catching in one area I would still leave the other rods in the seperate areas. One of my early Sept trips I was catching zander on the near self. None of the zander were bigger than a pound or so. The two other rods were cast to the far shelf and middle of the river. During the night the middle rod had a run resulting in a 9lb+ zed. I would stick at it and change baits to something that the ser zander don't take as often as roach or rudd, Eel section and trout are two I would use if being plaque by the small Zander.


feeder fishing, a very interesting topic. I first used a feeder when the river was very coloured. I added sprats to feeder and fished a small section of Sprat as bait. I did hook a zander but it very slow fishing. I then changed to Roach and Rudd baits but with Sprat in the feeder, the result was instant and I caught several more zander.

When I use trout as bait I always use fresh Trout from the supermarkets, prefably fillets. I use a 3-4 inch long section about the witdth of of my thumb for the hook bait, I then cram some trout section into a cage feeder. The feeders I have been using are the Korum ones, the have a flat weighted bottom and com in numerous sizes. 60-75g are the ones I use. This rig and bait has caught me several double figure Zeds as well as other sized Zander, but not the small ones.

Another method I tried was using a quiver tip rod. I used a running rig with a piece of Roach or Rudd as bait. The weight was a grip lead. I made some brown crumb up and added chopped Roach and Rudd and loads of fish scales...I make the ground bait so it disitegrates a it hit the surface when cast. The ground bait mix is moulded around the gripper weight. The idea is that the scales and small fish pieces fall through the water and settle on the lake bed. The scales will act as a visual attractant while the fish pieces add the scent...its messy but effective. It is brilliant when the tip of the rod wraps round.

I am sure as the water gets cooler the bigger zander will be caught. There are so many small fish about at the moment for the Zander to feed on,
Reducing our chances

Darrell

[Echelon Pest]

Darrell Cheers for a comprehensive reply mate. I'll be trying these methods over the next month or two.

Barbel fishing on the Lower Severn is still very poor (according to my sources) so I'll be back on the cut this weekend. We are due some rain tomorrow which will keep the colour level up and the Zeds feeding during the day, hopefully

Thanks again

Steve

[Echelon Pest]

Just a short 4 hours on Saturday afternoon for one fish about 3lb. Water was very coloured after Thursdays rain.

Steve

[headless]

Originally Posted by Echelon Pest

Just a short 4 hours on Saturday afternoon for one fish about 3lb. Water was very coloured after Thursdays rain.

Steve

Hi Steve

You are consistantly catching Zander now, a big one wont be far away.

Darrell

[Echelon Pest]

Originally Posted by headless

Hi Steve

You are consistantly catching Zander now, a big one wont be far away.

Darrell

I hope so mate. A double will do for this year (We know they're in there somewhere )

Trouble is some sections of the Lower Severn are just starting to produce good Barbel

Steve