Dan shows me how to catch zeds

[baitmaster]

me and Dan decided to do a two day session in search of catching him his first zed .
i pick him up early on Tuesday and we made are way down to the fens .
we talked on the way down at the possibility of putting this elusive predator on the bank for Dan and i knew the location which i hoped would do this .
as we arrived and started over the drain Dan commented he had not seen this drain in the day time and he looked impressed .
with us having a bit of time the plan was to set up are base camp and then go off to catch a few baits for the day ahead .
we this done off we went and the baits were not coming as easerly as we expected but soon with the hemp being introduce the caster and taresstarted to bring fish to hand one a chuck and in no time at all we had enough baits for the afternoon and night ,and tomorrow we would hopefully do the same for the night after .
we walked back to base camp with the rest of the gear and in no time at all we were all set with rods clipped up to the far banks and baited we sat back for a welcomed brewmiester brew

we got tea out of the way and rebaited for the coming evening soon Dan was into the first of hopefully a pred filled session but it managed to escape and left Dan with clean trebles it was soon back over tight to the far margin and we sat back and waited then suddenly Dan rod spurted into ;life and this time Dan set the hooks and we both waited to see what was going to come to the surface and then there it was Dans first zander trying all it could to get away and it went into one Lillie bed and then the other side i was even surprised how it fought and Dan was believed to see it eventually pass over the draw string .
it was soon unhooked and Dan got himself ready for his first pic with nice 5lb 10 oz zed (well done Dan )

this was soon released and we were both happy and now could enjoy the session and see what would come are way .
we sat back and relaxed but as dusk feel no runs came are way and i thought with the conditions how they were the zeds would have fed well but nothing .
suddenly i was into a fish it fought hard and at first i thought i,de hooked a big zed but it was not and a pike popped up on the surface and Dan soon had it netted .
again the unhooking was done quick and a few shots of this 12lb 8oz and it was soon on its way

and it was quiet and we turned in and see what would happen through the night .
at around 2 am i was awoken by a run and was soon playing aa nice zeds Dan came down and once again done the netting of this 6lb 4oz
zed

the rest of the night went through with a couple of more pike landed and Dan had one around 6lb so pics done and more points for for the species hunt .

it was quiet for the next couple of hours and nothing came until just after first light and another pike was banked around 8lb to 9lb

with this put back we had a coffee reeled in the rods and went off to catch a few baits
we spent most of the morning huddled under the brolly as it rain hard but it did not stop the fish feeding and a few very nice roach were caught and we were enjoying it but we decided to go off back to the predators in the afternoon .
i set one up as a free rover and Dan enjoyed watching this swim around and suddenly the float just sank and sat about two inches under the surface and did not move off this i seen zeds do this so i waited and struck and played the fish and it did not want to know about coming up and i watching the water and suddenly saw the back end of a nice zed turn under the surface and dive down and this is where i parted company with the fish .
another couple of pike were had during the afternoon and i then changed it back to the paternoster rig for later ,
we were all set for the early evening and settle back with a nice brew and chatted about how things were going and what we hoped to expect that even .
then Barrie c turned up and spent an hour or so with us and i expected some action but none came time was getting on and Barrie had to go and wished us good luck for the evening .
i wondered if we had made the right choice by staying in this swim and wondered if they were going to feed and at around 8.40 pm i was away and played a spirited zed in and again nicely netted by Dan .
the pics were soon done and it weighed 6lb 14oz

this was soon released and again the swim went quiet and as the rest of the evening went by no more action came are way and i hoped the would come through early hours as they some time do .
we turned in for the night and it seemed as if i had been asleep for a minute when i heard Dans alarm i got up and Dan was just striking into another fish it was soon in and it was another small pike which i unhooked in the water again the rod was sent back over and we returned to our bivvies .
i just dropped of when again Dans alarm went of and i again being his Gilly which after all the jilting Dan done the night before for me i did not mind .
and soon we had his second zed again i unhooked it and a few shots were taken and it was let loose to cause more havoc with the roach.

we were a lot more happier with a couple each and again went back to sleep but Dan was soon into another fish i got up and netted yet another zed for Dan and as soon as i looked at it in the net i knew it was a new pb and at 7lb 4oz i congratulated Dan on his new pb .

i decided to pop the kettle on for a brew and see what else came are way and we tallyed up our catch over a coffee it read 5 zander and 10 pike i added a further pike with a another free rover caught pike to make that 11
we were both tired and we soon made the decision to pack base camp up and just relaxed by the bridge catching a few nice roach on hemp and tares and had a couple of pike rods out but with the nice sunny conditions no further predator were added but me nordan were bothered and we then headed home all ready planning are next trip .

nice one Dan really enjoyed it

tightlines
Kevin

[Charter Skipper]

Wow.......great read,great pictures, great fishing session....well done guys ....

[Fishing Forum Admin]

That is a great read guys

Well done Dan mate you worked hard for the zander and you got them !!

Kev mate top job as I know the work you must have put in for the session

[Barrie C]

Well done fella's! thats a good session - I think Dan's beaming grin says it all!

Zander: the best fish you can catch in freshwater!

Look forward to your next report

Barrie

[mithrandir]

greta post, a good read as ever with good pics.

Well done on the Zander Dan, bet it was a buzz that first one on the line!

[Rob M]

Well done chaps! You both look well happy with your fish, what a great way to spend a couple of days!

Rob

[Norfolkboy]

I needn't say more..


Bloody fantastic session, pictures have come out well and will look brilliant on my wall
The wait for a zed was well worth it and to get one of 7lb+ I was well pleased, even though I'd have been happy with one of 1lb.
Great fighters, an awesome turn of speed and you really do get your string pulled when playing one of these beasties!

The bait catching was fun and while bringing in a few roach we both got attacked by jack pike, but they let go after a few heart stopping runs.
There were loads of pike in the swim and I think we did well to end up with 5 zeds between us. I have to say the pike impressed me too. Extremely hard fighters and when the zeds aren't feeding it's great to be attacthed to one.

Learnt a few new methods and as Kev has said I really enjoyed watching the free rovers and the bites were great as the float would either zoom under or skip across the surface. I also saw a couple of pike tail walk for the first time.

I can't thank Kev enough for all his assistance and it was nice to meet Barrie C too, top guy.

Here's to the next session

[pingu]

great read and session there you two
chuffed for both of you, dan definately looks like the cat thats got the cream

glad to see dans lucky hoodies still going as well

[Norfolkboy]

Originally Posted by pinguprogress

glad to see dans lucky hoodies still going as well

LOL, although, interestingly enough Dave, that was the first zed session I had wore it

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Sorry to repost but....

Just love this pic as this is what fishing is about ( plus the zeds ;-})