last minute venue change pays off

[baitmaster]

well i been meaning to get a zed session in with my mate Paul who has been all loved up and we finally got a chance to go .
before we went we met up at mine and loaded the car and then spent an hour deciding where to go , and also i think which is important to have back up venues just in case your first and second choices are either not fishable due to weather conditions or whether there is other in the area,
first order was to catch some bait just to give us the options of either deads or lives this was done in no time at all as my mate is a dab hand at the bait catching .
the weather was looking rather wet and the decision was made to head to our first chosen area but my mate did not want to walk that far as we would have been soaked right through from the off which would not be enjoyable we talked about it and our second choice swim was also the same sort of walk so we decided to compromise and fish the third choice which was a short walk indeed .
so off we headed and soon we made the short walk and set up base camp. in no time at all we decided to get tea out of the way and then get down to some serious zedding .
it was about an hour after dark when the first run came our way and i was soon on to the rod and after a brief battle a zed of 4lb popped his head up and was soon netted this was soon released .

again it was not long before my mate was playing a zed either as he did not want to be out done and i was on hand to land it for him .
he was pleased to get his wedding season under way with a zed of 6lb a this was soon released .

we both sat back with a welcomed coffee content we had a couple of zeds under our belt early in our session .
another hour past by and Paul was in again and was soon on the rod and i scramble down with the net and waited for the fish to surface which was giving my mate a good run around eventually the zed came up to and it was not a bad fish either we carried it up the bank and it was lightly hooked so that was done while the scales were zeroed and on weighing it it did not quite go a double but at 9lb 7oz . he was not a bit disappointed soon it was back in the water and slowly swam into the dark.

while we watched it one of my rods started to scream out and after making my way back up the bank past my mates rods i was soon leaning into a good fish myself with my rod arching over nicely i was thinking is this a big zed and it tried to dive for the bottom i could not feel the distinctive head shake and thought it must be a pike and sure enough it surfaced and it was a nice looking pike it tried to surge off and throw the hooks but i some how manage to keep it attached ,soon Paul was next to me and soon scooped up the fish in the net .
i quickly had it unhooked and on weighing it it went 11lb 6oz not a bad fish a couple of shots were taken and it was let go .

i soon had the rod back out and one final coffee was had before we went of to our bivvies for some sleep .it seemed that we had not be asleep very long when i heard my mate alarm go off i got up and walked down to him to see him just netting his third zed of the session
it again was weighed and this time the scales stopped at 8lb 2oz still a nice zed again a pic or two was taken then i left my mate to release the fish and headed of back to sleep .

i just got into the sleeping bag and i was straight back out to a small jack i chinned it out and just unhooked by the waters edge and gently let it go .
the paternoster was rebaited and sent back out the bobbin we as set and off back to sleep i was woken yet again in the early ours by the paternoster rod and quickly slipped into my bivvy boots and headed down to the rod it was really going for it and i lifted into it and the tip just arched over what ever i had hooked felt a good fish .
i played it or to be honest it felt like it was playing me after a good battle it came up and looked as if it was steering at me and then in a instant it surge away launching into a spectacular tail walking attempt at this point i thought it might slip the hook but i need not have worried as they held firm and after a couple of minute i had it safely in the folds of my landing net .
i struggle with rod ,net and fish up to the to off the steep bank to my unhooking mat and on removing the mesh away from the fish i could see it was a big fish indeed i soon had it unhooked and returned the fish to the water in the landing net while i went back and got the camera ready as i was not going to wake my mate as it was silly o,clock soon i had a couple of nice pictures of this pike which weighed 18lb 8oz i was happy indeed.

i had another small pike at around 6am i made a much needed coffee and took one to Paul who was just stirring he ask if i had caught any more and i told him of the 18lb + pike and he informed me he had a further zed of around 5 lb so we had not had a bad night at all .
we got breakfast out of the way and re organised the rods .the morning was surprisingly slow with one small pike of about 5lb
then around dinner they started to pump the drain and so we both took our chance to have a nap as we were both tired after the night .
at around 4 o,clock the drain stopped being pump and with the colour it had put into the water my confidence was high for a few more fish .and after a small pike of about 6lb i got another got run and i knew had another good pike on it surface in front of me and i could see it was a very good fish Paul was on hand with the net and we were both giving a fantastic aerobatic display with it tail walking and defiantly trying to shake the hooks .
soon we had it netted and it was a cracking fish with good marking we weigh the fish and the scale went round and stopped on 16lb 8oz .
i wanted to get some pictures but i have a dodgy lead from a external battery supply on the camera and it kept going off so i made the decision to release the fish with any pics but was still happy .we were now more confident than before and coming up to dusk we were hoping for a reepeat of last night .
Paul had another pike of around 5 or 6lb before darkness fell and nothing happened and we sat patiently believing action was going to be coming our way and around 8pm Paul got a fast take and he was on it straight away it hugged the bottom and slowly he got it to come up and that distinctive reflective eye could be seen and knew we had yet another zander it look really big in the water and soon we had it netted and not before time as the hooks came out .
it was weighed and it just went over 9lb and at 9lb 2oz was another very nice fish indeed .

this gave us more confidence and we both rebaited up allrodswith fresh baits and continued to work the baits by twitching and recasting regular.
it was drizzling steadily was with constant recast we were looking like drowned rats and keeping dry no further runs came during the evening.
we turned in i was woken up at around 3am by my margin rod i slipped my coat on and went out to investigate i watched the bobbin closely as it twitch i pointed my head torch up away from the water and aimed it at the rod tip and it gently pulled down as the indicator bleeped i grabbed the bobbin and pulled it back sharply to see if it was the bait causing the twitching suddenly it rose up steaderly i pick up the rod and leaned into what had moved off .
sure enough i was met by solid resistance it stayed deep and i felt it was a good fish i played it hard and it stayed deep i was thinking is this fish is this the one i,ve nbeen waiting for .
finally it surfaced and it looked a very good fish i leaned out with the net not giving it time to shake the hooks .
i was relieved when it was in the net i looked down and in the net to see a very good fish i quickly had it unhooked and made sure the camera did not let me down i soon had a few pics of the fish for me and then i weighed it it pulled the scales slowly passing the 10lb mark then the 11lb then the 12lb and settle at 12lb 6oz i was well made up and did not mind the soaking .
i was pleased to see it swim away and it was a shame my mate could not see such a beast but i was not going to wake him a 3pm .

i recast the rod and sat down in the bivvy and i put the kettle on but before it was boiling i had a run and i was soon looking at yet another zed but this time it only went 6lb 4oz as i left the tripod where it was i swung it round crouched in the door way and took a couple of pics of the fish and let it go

i drank the coffee then hung the now soaked coat over a bank stick in the porch area of my bivvy and went back to sleep.
Paul woke me up and told me it had been quiet in his swim after the biggun how did i do and when i told him he was very pleased that between us we had done really well and i agreed it had been a great session. we had bagged 9 zeds and 7 pike in total and for the level that's a very good session .
it did not take us long to pack down and made the journey home happy zedders .

tightlines
Kevin

[ZED MAN DAN]

You Done it Again Mate, Super fishing. !!!!!

[perch_king]

well done to you and your mate kev cracking fish what more can i say well done

[Norfolkboy]

Looks a brilliant session mate. The biggest pike and zander look like absoloute monsters, great catches!

Well done

[BaggieRich]

Flippin heck Kev, what a session.....

Huge respect to you mate, there's some mighty impressive fish in that lot!

Consider my cap well and truely doffed!





Rich.

[Barrie C]

Kevin,

that is one heck of a good session! This is were I can see your experience really pays off!

Makes me want to get out there! though I dont think I would do that well

Well done!

[Rob M]

Nice one Kev, great report mate!

Rob

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Bloody well done guys -- thats the way to do it !!!

[fishypaul]

great report kev,that big zed is a lovely fish,well done mate

[Twiddler]

What a cracking session Kev, well done to both of you, not just great zanders but fab pike too.....you are truley the zed master