River Zander Fishing

Fishing Forum Admin · #1 08-13-2006, 10:30 AM

River Zander Fishing

Need some help guys --- I know there are some Zander on a stretch of the River Avon and was wondering what would be the best tactics to get them. T

The River
Depth - upto 16 foot
Width - about 30 yrds
Flow - 1 - 2 MPH clear (summer) 1-4 MPH (winter)
Bank side - lots of over hanging trees plus clear reed stretches

So would I be best trouting my bait or should I nail the bait to the bottom ? IF on the bottom what would be the best set up as the flow on the water would make bite alarms a bit iffy

What baits would be the best ( roach ect in the water )

Full of questions today

baitmaster · #2 08-13-2006, 11:37 AM

firstly either trotting or nailing a bait to the bottom will work .but because most of my zedding is done at night or after dark i,ll wil try to illustrate static set ups .
none of the rigs have had hook sizes specified but i would reccommend either size 8,s or 10,s but 8,s would be my first choice as i normaly would use 10,s when the zeds are a bit spooky of been caught a few times .
also the first diagrams has a inline float i would actually fish a pencil stem float for firstly less resistance and secondly if fished on a snap linkit can be quickly change for night time fishing i have all my set up like this for quick change for day time to night time fishing .

standard float ledger set up

sunken float paternoster
there are a few variation on paternosters but i,ll only use the sunken float paternoster ,
i will use this set up if i,m live baiting the good thing with this the length of the line from float to lead can be varied to suit if you want to fish up in the water but it does have its limits as to long and it will be hard to cast out i,ve found two to three foot length has given me the best result now if i,m going to used dead baits on this rig i just remove the sunken float and fish it as a ledger paternoster again this work well for less resistance .

fixed paternoster

there are other variation and situation that will call for different set ups but i think these three set ups cover alot of the zander anglers armoury when fishing at night .
trace wire
there are loads of different trace wires on the marketand i,ve used most my favourite by far was wonder wire by a company called callibre but they no longer exist .so the two wires i now use nearly exclusively is carbo flex and pro logics savage both very good and i can,t find any faults with them.

indications
now on the drains i will use my bite indicators but as the drains are normally not moving i use bobbins, when its windy the use of bobbin can give you false indication if its too windy then i again would change to drop offs .
also i like the fact that as they are light i get less resistance .and if its a gentle pick up it will register even if its a couple of bleeps unlike with drop offs where it might just feel the resistance of the drop off indicator and drop it and no bite would get registered unless you were watching your rod tip at that moment and saw the tip pull round a bit thats only if they are finicky biting ,under most circumstances they will pull it out of the clip.
but if i,m fishing when the drains are moving or very windy i change over to my fox drop off indicators these are good because they can be set with the front clip so the flow of the water does not pull them out or set off your bite indicators also you can buy these drop off indicators with a counter weight on the stem of the drop off for really heavy flows .

note
but if day time fishing and adopting a leap frogging tactic for the day i will use floats and do away with carrying indicator and bank sticks and just lay the rods down as there no need to carry to much gear as you will be walking some distance and more gear will tire you out quicker .
where to fish

as to where to fish the margins are going to be the best bet especially under over hanging trees if you can find gulleys where the zeds can lay up out of the main flow they will be good ,as well any structures that attracts bait fish .
bends are also worth alook and on some fen drains are good hot spots ,
aslo collasp banks or where cattle have come down to drink are worth investigating .it might pay to read through this featureless fens as it might refresh and give you similar feature for you to go and investigate .
also follow match reports and find area where bream shoals are as zander do follow bream shoals in fact that 12lb zed i posted the other day came on the back of a bream shoal .
now as i mention bream shoals this is why i they follow the bream cause the bream stir up the bottom making the water cloudy and zander like cloudy condition to sneak up and attack there prey although bream are to big by there own action small fish feed amonst them and this is what the zander are after..another thing is where pleasure anglers have introduce ground bait for bream would certainly be an area i would target on the fens and it would probably be wise to think where bream anglers fish .
when (optimum conditions )

when to go changes through the season from june to july all feeding is done at night from august through to the end of september the feeding times become longer .then october with light levels lower and on the dullest of days zander will feed i,ve found from november through to the mid february i found dusk to about 4 hours after was the optimum feeding time and then again just before first light the odd fish was caught through the dead of night but these are my own findings and could be completely different on the waters you might fish but its good to have a guide line to start with and if you get it right fish like this 11lber can be had

also its worth noting that all waters vary in depth and width so temperture changes have to be considered as a shallow water will warm or cool differently to a deeper water and this will effect feeding times on each water you fish so as i said earlier use it as a guide
baits
firstly keep to coarse baits roach, rudd .bream crucians and eels.

now when i get baits in packs like this what i do is open them and rap them up in cling film individualy like this pic below this will save on taki
the only sea bait i use is lamprey and this is very good .
now some baits are better used as lives and are about useless when fished dead (example bream ) but roach are the most commonly used and are good as lives or deads but a good live bait i,ve found are gudgeons and i,ve had some good fish on them .as to size i like my baits to be about 4"to 6" or 2oz to 5oz class .
some use bait up to 8oz but i personally think they are to big but there results show that they do catch some goods zeds but again this is going to be what you feel comfotable with .
keeping a log
a good idea is to keep a log and map your swims , weather conditions, barometer reading ect ,the condition of the water,times of runs , size of fish caught , whats the best bait? what rig/method, this will help you build up a picture of the waters you fish and fish movements and becomes good reference for the next season , and you will soon build up when and where to go on your given waters .
tightlines
kevin

Fishing Forum Admin · #3 08-13-2006, 12:00 PM

Amazing post kev and will be re reading this one a few times

Really got me think ( which does not happen often )

Right now I need to find some where that sells - fox ledger stem - one of them ledger floats

Man my heads spinning thinking of getting out with all this info under my belt

Cheers

baitmaster · #4 08-13-2006, 12:11 PM

i will probably will add some bits to it by the time you next read it but here is a better picture of the fox ledger stem and the sunken float .
the sunken floats come in three sizes small ,medium and large i normally use the large ones. most good tackle shop will stock them if not try mail order off one of the online shops

tightlines
kevin

Fishing Forum Admin · #5 08-13-2006, 12:25 PM

Thanks kev now I know what they look like I feel a sunday afternoon internet shopping fest coming on

pingu · #6 08-14-2006, 12:36 PM

wow thats just an awsome reply there kev, top job

Norfolkboy · #7 08-14-2006, 12:53 PM

Fishing Forum