River Zander Fishing

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Targeted the sharpness cananl then my back went but this bloody winter is going to be different

[fishingboy]

Strangely, I've not caught any zanders from the river i fished. All of my catch were from a canal connected to the river. I guess the Zeds here must prefer the ralatively still murky canal water than to the clear and slow flowing river. Or, I must have missed out the spot which they hide

[Z Girls]

Hi Richard

You could try using "sprats", we have had reasonable success with these on the Grand union canal, ( Hatton area ).
My best z so far has been around the 3lb mark, and fell to half a Sprat, cut diagonally, and using the head section. I caught the one in my display pic just after dark.
My friend has caught an immature zander on suprisingly a cube of luncheon meat !!! which in honesty was intended for Carp.
I guess the Zander in the canal however arnt that fussy, so if you have no joy on the Avon the canal is worth a go.
Another tip is to actually fish in the locks, or just below them in the slucies etc
Regards Z Girls

[mithrandir]

The story is the record Zander of 20+ lbs was caught on a halibut pellet, maybe the special tactics the zander fisherman have been using are not necessary, I also here spinning lures works quite well too.

Must try and get to the severn this autumn and give the Zander another go.

[Z Girls]

I'm wondering, if this lousy weather we are having has killed the fishing !
We popped down yesterday evening to the grand union, to try some evening zandering.
3 takes, with 5" sprat as bait, however all 3 dropped the bait after running with it for about 5 -10 seconds. I was using the wobbled dead bait method, with a treble size 8 hooked into the head, and a single 8 through back. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, it looked good in the water !
Also the float i was using was only a 3 AAA chubber.
Can anyone throw some light onto , why the Zander are dropping my bait ???
Should i cut the sprats in half and use a treble in the head only ???
Z girls

[terrysmart]

lures fish it - good fun

Never fished the avon -

went to the Gloucester canal in may with the LAS -everybody stood side by side 18 anglers fishing 25 foot of bank churning the water into froth. What a friendly group what a day!!!! 22 zeds biggest 9 and a half pound followed by another over 8lb lovely fish . good day

[markl813]

i wonder if there are any fish left in the severn now it normaly takes me 10 minuets to get to the water now i can do it in 2 and thats walking

[Barrie C]

Hello Z Girls,

just looking at your post and the only things I could come with are:

1. Hit the run quicker (they may realise its not their natural food once taken)
I would think you would be better off with a treble in the back if you end up missing runs striking early

2. maybe smaller baits - but bring hooks closer together as appropriate

3. Are there many Eels where you are fishing? Hopefully that wont be the problem, but this time of year they get very predatory

I'll be honest and say I know very little about the Zander in that water - so hopefully just some ideas

Barrie

[Z Girls]

Hi Barrie

Thanks for the reply, and advice. We returned to the canal yesterday evening, with a new tactic, with Suprisingly good results : )
We have scaled down the float, to a 4 ssg Chubber, and a seven strand drennan trace rated at 15lb, (so its quite fine), to the end , a single size 10 barbless. 1st Bait was 4inch headless sprat, to which fell a zander of 2.5lb. the second of 5.12lb to small roach cut diagonally, i used the head section. Thats my best zander to date , and i'm really impressed with it : )

The depth of water on the section i fish is only an average depth of around 3ft, and what i found is there is a sluice above where i fish next to the lock, and also a stream inlet, which gives 2 directions of flow. the bait i have just tripping the bottom, and i use the flow to drift my float slowly in the current. I am guess that the baits slow movement is the key to the confident takes, and possibly the fact that i,ve precut the baits.

The single 10's i used, are very easy to remove despite the larger fish having taken the bait down. i think also the simplicity of this rig was the key, and the float being small so as to give minimal resistance when the fish run.

Is there anywhere on this site , i could post up a pic of my zander, it really is a cracking canal specimen ?

Regardz zed girls

[Fentiger001]

Hi Z Girls,

Well done on your Zed!

Regarding hooking arrangements, I learnt a trick from a wise angler many years ago, he used to 'whip' hooks together and fish them as 'doubles'. This allows a better selection of hooks for given situations. For instance, if you are using a small bait then why not use a smaller 'bait hooking' hook, leaving a decent sized hook proud of the bait for hooking the predator. I normally will go for an 8 or even sometimes a 10 for hooking small baits and because its only a 'double', I will then use a sharp Carp hook in size 6 or 4 whipped to it. These 'doubles' are then used in tandem as you would trebles.

I believe they are a lot less obtrusive than trebles, I miss no more runs using them and actually believe that I may even get a few extra runs because of em. Best bit of the lot, especially with the more modest fish, they make unhooking very easy indeed and of course, they just fall out of your landing net :-)

Kind regards,
Dave