Zander from the river

Zander are one of my favourite species and I love to fish for them on baits whether it's for the smaller canal variety or larger samples that can be found in some of the Midlands rivers.  With this in mind I headed out yesterday evening after work down to the Warwickshire Avon in hope of the latter.

As I set off along the motorway that nagging feeling loomed in my mind,  you know,  the one that tells you you've forgotten some important item  - in this case the camera left on the table next to the laptop ! Damn, I could have turned around to get it but that would mean getting off at the next junction and going all the way back.  I didn't have the time for that, as I had to get to the river to catch some baits and also if there was any light left have a go with the lure rod before the darkness set in.

The journey takes about 45mins from my house so it was tight enough already. The thought always crosses my mind in this situation, "what if I get a PB "? ah well, I've got the HTC phone camera as a back up, rubbish for pictures though it is. 

 Walking to my swim I was a bit disappointed that my swim choices A and B were both taken by the only two other anglers on the stretch, typical ! Swim choice C was still free though, so I jumped in there and set up the float rod to catch baits and started to cast about searching for bites. The first fish, a nice gudgeon, came soon after but as I popped him into the "holding  net "(landing net) I noticed that the chap in swim B was now packing down and vacating.  Five minutes later I was re-positioning my kit in swim B where would be within a short cast of where the zander would be held up near to a crease in the flow alongside a large slack area. It didn't take long to get a few baits into the holding net, and I was soon thinking about casting the zed rod out. Darkness was starting to edge its way in and I could sense the prey fish were skulking off to wherever they hide for the night as the bites started to fade away rapidly, the float becoming more and more difficult to make out now in the gloaming.



My simple single hook running ledger rig

A small roach was selected from the net and hooked through the lips on a single hook running ledger rig. I use an ESP raptor size 4 hook but any similar hook will work. I generally go for a size four or a two as any smaller and the hook might not catch in the zanders hard mouth. The roach is dispatched first then I usually just cut some slits near the back of the gill plates and stab a few holes in the flank to let the blood and juices flow into the current and draw in the attention of any passing zander. You could try to leave the swim bladder intact which might allow the fish to pop up a bit off bottom, but I generally just puncture holes down both sides of the flank and then I know whichever side the fish settles it will be venting body juices into the current, which is exactly what you want. The fresher the bait the better this flow of scent will be in my opinion, hence keeping the baits alive until the last minute and any that are not used can be released back at the end of the session to fight another day.

I have read comments on some forums and in magazine articles where the single hook rig is poo pooed by some zander anglers in favour of size 8 or 10 trebles fished snap tackle style.  I find the single hook set up I use is very efficient in hook-ups and can easily and quickly be removed with no messing about trying to free two trebles from the hard mouth of a zander.  It must always be used in conjunction with a wire trace of course, I prefer 20lb uncoated wire generally but you can use any strength above this coated or not, however I don't recommend going below 20lb breaking strain in case you get a big pike pick up the bait.

 I do find with pike that a snap tackle rig can be removed more easily than in zander, the pikes mouth is larger and more cavernous and can be accessed through the gills far more easily. Zander are a lot more reluctant to open their mouth up for you and have a tendency to snap their jaws shut quite frequently making the job even more tricky.  Removing a single hook neatly positioned in the zanders scissors or just inside it mouth is a much better prospect than trying to unstitch two trebles from the hard mouth cavity believe me. I don't tend to use single hooks for pike as I generally fish with larger sea baits like mackerel or herring that suit a set of trebles better, but I have caught a few up to 12lb on this single hook set up when after zander, again usually hooked neatly in the pikes scissors.

Anyway, back in the swim, the roach had been in position on the bottom by the edge of the crease for about 10 minutes with the rod positioned tip high on the rest in the way rightly or wrongly most barbel anglers set their rods up. In this case there is a good reason to have the rods set in this way.  The zander aren't renowned for savage takes and are usually quoted as being very sensitive to resistance. This might be true in some cases but I think it gets overplayed a little, don't get me wrong they will often drop a bait if they are not happy but importantly you can easily see a bite when they pick up the bait up, and as long as you see the tip move and you are on the rod quickly to strike you should not miss the take. Having the rod high is a good way of the angler seeing the tip move as the line is able to transfer the direct movement to the tip better. You need no slack in the line though, if fact I tighten down so there is a slight bend in the tip so it will even register a drop back (when the fish moves upstream towards you).  Therefore no need for bobbins or alarms or such like, just you and your observational skills back to basics fishing really.   I only like to fish one rod like this, as fishing with two rods in this way could easily mean a missed take, a dropped run, and worse still deeply hooked fish.  Zander are not going give you an unmissable three foot twitch like a barbel might, so you need to be alert at all times when the your bait is in the water. Also, I don't always like the additional problems that fishing two rods brings, especially in the dark, so why make it more difficult that it needs to be. If you don't get a take in 15 to 20 minutes just reposition the bait somewhere else in the swim, or move to another spot along the river. The bites when they do come will be quite recognisable just purposeful small pulls and taps on the tip similar to a bream bite I suppose.  If you've done any sort of feeder fishing before you will not have any problem in discerning this movement as a definite bite. It's harder to explain than to see in reality so you'll have to trust me when I say "you'll know".

The tip of my rod pulled down slightly then jabbed forwards a couple more centimetres and I was striking into the fish before I knew what had happened. It came in quite easily but I could tell it had a little weight to it and was not just small schoolie.  First zander of the night was in the net and weighed in an equal to my canal pb at 6lb 10oz.  I was pretty chuffed with that result and managed to draft in some dog walkers that happened to be passing to help with a picture on the phone camera.

I wished I hadn't forgotten my bloody normal camera, as the pictures were pretty crap quality and that's being polite ! The framing is a not too clever either, not really their fault as it is difficult in the dark when you can't see what's on the screen, but I've ended up with a pretty severe haircut !




6lb 10oz caught on fresh dead roach 

With the fish returned it was time to get another fresh roach on and the rod back in quickly in case there were more fish about and on the feed.  Soon enough I had another tap, tap and a pull on the rod tip revealed nicely by the little green isotope on the end. The rod hooped over as I struck into another fish, shaking it's head and hugging the bottom about 7ft down. This fish seemed altogether stronger and all I could do was guide it upstream towards me slowly for a while. I could do nothing to get its head up and I started to wonder what I'd hooked ? For a second it crossed my mind that I might have a reasonable eel as it felt a bit like the fish was swimming backwards as it neared the margin in front of me?  Eventually I decided to go for it and haul it up to the surface with a bit more force. When another zander popped its head out I was a little surprised to see it.  It thrashed about a bit, head shaking violently as they do, but luckily it was in the net before it could throw the hook.  At 8lb 4oz I was more than pleased with the result. Whilst not my biggest ever zander (that came from frisby lakes) it's the biggest I've had from a river so far and so is still quite a special capture for me.

Don't let anyone tell you that zander don't fight as they can give a good account of themselves when they want to. Granted some come in like a wet sack but not all, and this one was certainly as mean and feisty as they come.  This time I managed to draft in the barbel angler 20 yards downstream of me but the best photo he got was the one where he zoomed in on the fish,  unfortunately the other one  he took was completely blurred.




8lb second fish and new river caught PB

Finally the release, always allow the fish time to recover in the net before you release it with the head facing into the flow if you can, like in the picture above.  Make sure that the fish is up right and stable as you can see here. Also check the gills are moving in and out in a regular rhythm and the fish is looking comfortable before you let it go, especially while the weather is still a little warm. On really hot days it is probably better not to fish for zander in case they go belly up due to the reduced amount of dissolved oxygen in the water during hot weather.   Now we are into September things should start cooling down a bit anyway but always take proper care of every fish, no matter what the conditions.

And one last thing if you do like a photo record of your fish don't forget your camera or like me sods law will kick in and you'll end up with just disappointing phone shots of that special fish ! still, better than none at all I suppose.





6lb 10oz

8lb 4oz

 

Zeds again

Here's the pic of a zed I caught last week on the Avon while fishing with Andy Lewis (piscatorial pastimes) . It was a funny old session with lots of weed snagging our lines at times. We both had our rods pointed skyward to try to avoid the weed, but this wasn't ideal for my bobbin approach, I still managed to get it to work somehow.

4lb 8oz

We both caught, Andy landing a new PB at 4lb 14oz and I had two fish, the four above and a small 2lber. Both my fish were taken on hair rigged baits the hooks holding in the bottom of the mouth right at the front, making unhooking a doddle. I'm liking this method so far, although there were a few missed takes the first time I used it, I put this down to takes from smaller fish ( that's what I tell myself anyway !)

Looking forward to the next zander session in a week or two, just the small matter of a trip to Blenheim Palace to get out the way first, and maybe another quick go for the crucians, that's if the wife lets me nip out for the morning this weekend.

A mixture of fortunes

Listening to the traffic report as I got in the car to leave work meant a quick change of plans had me heading down the A46 towards the River Avon at Stratford, instead of heading up to the Trent on the M1, that had now ground to a halt on the section where I would have been travelling along it.  

The river looked low and clear, lower than my last visit a few weeks ago and the vast beds of weed could be seen clearly from my view crossing the foot bridge.  The swim I fished last time was occupied with a couple of hapless noddys, all plastic bags and cheap folding chairs, but luckily the other swim I had in mind was free, so I set up there.  Roach was the first target, so the feeder rod was quickly set up and cast in, bread on the hook and a crumb groundbait mix in the small cage feeder.

The action was pretty slack in fact I struggled to get any bites in the vastly reduced flow of the weir. The fish were there though, they were topping left, right and centre of me but they just couldn't be induced to take the bait.  I switched over to a smaller hook to try maggot and redworm and this gave instant results from the shoals of small perch.  Soon though I hit something that felt a bit better and I quite expected to see a 4lb bream rise up through the top layers and into my net.  I was surprised and then quite pleased to see a small eel wiggling its way towards me instead. Just a shame it was one of the smallest eels I've ever caught, not many points for that ! I contemplated using it as bait for my zander fishing later but decided to do my bit for eel conservation and let it go back.

A whole 7oz of wriggly slime !

Darkness was now drawing in fast so I thought about getting the zander rods ready. I realised that I'd left the deadbaits in the car ! not to worry though as the noddys had now vacated the other swim where I thought I'd have a better chance at some zander. I packed up the tackle and made my way all the way back to the car, dumped the gear I didn't need to lighten the load on the way back, remembered to collect the deadbaits then headed back to the zander swim.

I set up the rests for my preferred long drop bobbin indicators and cast the rods in both together. Just as I was just settling the second bobbin the first rod was away already. The rod hooped round into a satisfying fish and I was into my first river zander. The fish was hooked right in the front of its mouth, the whole rudd engulfed down its throat, thanks to the suggestion from merv to try hair rigged baits - it works, and no deep hooking!

4lb 10oz

After the first fish it was a hectic next half hour that saw me miss the next take on the second rod, then I connected to what I thought was another small zed. It was only when I peeled back the folds of the net that I realised this second fish was very spotty and brown, my first ever brown trout was banked. Not by conventional methods I know but it still counts to me.  Shame it's not worth any challenge points though,  maybe we should include all the game fish next time eh!

1lb 11oz Brown Trout

That was the last of my fish for the night, apart from one more aborted run that didn't hook up. I think the hair was too long on the second rod, the hook  just a little too far from the bait to be as effective - note to self, check length of hair next time.

Your time is never wasted...

I'm aware that some of us bloggers have been slowing down with the frequency of our posts lately. I don't know whether it's down to us all struggling or just that were running out of fresh ideas and interesting stuff to write about ? I've still been fishing here and there but admittedly haven't had much to report, a few more canal zeds, a roach and chub from the avon, and some more failed attempts at sea fishing have kept me busy over the recent weeks through August and into this current month.

Chub

Roach

Micro Zed !

On the subject of canal zeds, I've been wondering about the effects of the fish culling that BW have carried out during their electrofishing campaigns in recent years on  stretches of the midlands canals.  If they are taking out numbers of the larger zander and also pike to appease the match anglers  then this may explain the numbers of small zeds that we encounter on these systems.
I just wonder if they were to leave nature alone to do her thing there might be less of these smaller zander, as their numbers would be kept in check by these larger fish, giving a chance for the smaller roach,  gudgeon and other small canal species numbers to recover?


On to the Sea Fishing in Lincolnshire...

Blow lugg territory

lets pump it !

I also spent some time on the Lincolnshire coast trying in vain to catch firstly smoothhound, then when I couldn't get any peeler crabs I fished for anything that would take my bait. The bait in question now being freshly dug lugg worm.  Well I say dug I actually bought a bait pump and used that to pump out some blow lugg on the low tide, with some limited success. The locals round these parts all seem to pump for worms, but as I learned they go for the larger Black lugg that will only appear on the lowest tides of the cycle and will bury themselves in vertical holes. This is where the pump comes in, the pump is placed over the black lugg cast and the worm sucked out of its lair before it knows what's happening. 

blow lugg cast and blow hole

The blow lugg however lives in shallower tunnels that loop round in a U shape from cast to blow hole, so the most effective method is to dig them out with a fork to avoid breaking them.  I didn't have a fork with me only a kids plastic beach spade and after some considerable effort I failed to find any worms with it. So, instead I tried angling the pump at 45 deg to the hole to try to get some worms out intact.  I as able to extract a few as well, enough for the session and without ripping too many to pieces.

it's a fish delacacy round these parts

 This was not the right tide for black lugg so the blow luggs were the only option I had anyway. I 'd bought my bait pump from a local man who also happens to sell frozen baits to the tackle shops and anyone who managed to find out abot him. His frozen baits would always be my back up option, but I was determined to find my own bait.  He told me how to go about it and where to find the beds of black lugg ( on the right tide). Alhough this didn't help me on this visit, I am all set for my next visit in the Autumn when the bass and codling will be in, along with hordes of whiting. Shame there were no fish about during my 4 days there ! Appently there had been little caught for the past weekor so.  And it was also noticable by the lack of other anglers on all the popular marks - which says it all really.

One thing I realised whilst spending most of  my available fishing time (early mornings) hunting for bait rather than fishing, is that despite blanking during this trip,  time is never wasted especially while your learning about  new styles and techniques of fishing and even new bait gathering methods. In fact lugg worm digging could be a pastime in it's own right !

The Bloggers meet on the Avon

Saturday 30th July

After a hectic morning cramming all the last minute bits in the car, I finally dropped off my kids at Mom and Dads and headed to Harvington's Anchor Meadow to meet up with the other midlands bloggers.

I finally arrived about 3pm and after a little hiccup in finding the campsite I eventually met Steve and Gary setting up their camp. I ditched the car and headed to the river to find the rest of the bloggers already fishing with a few  reports of small barbel and chub landed so far.

Not long after I'd arrived Andy managed to catch a 6lb Pike then followed it up shortly after with this nice 12lber.

and the winner of the biggest fish is ...

I set up my tent....well it set itself up really.  I'd bought a new argos pop up job, which sprang out of the bag and was all ready to peg down. Well worth the £20 and very snug too, but I think 2 man is stretching it  a bit though, more like one & a half man, but being a short arse I fitted it a treat.

"compact and bijou"

The fishing was pretty slow for all and I found it hard to get motivated once the cans of beer were flowing, in fact I was just as happy chinwagging with the others rather than wet a line.  My plan was to fish for Barbel and zander from evening so after a few hours I'd just caught a few bleak ready for the zed fishing later.

Keith, who'd arrived a little while after me suggested that we venture across the weir to the pub, so off came the shoes and socks and we waded across.
In the pub the landlord was not the most welcoming of sorts, and after two quick pints laced with strong hints to basically just go away from the owner, we left him to ponder his pretentious and no doubt overpriced menus whilst waiting for his empty covers to be filled ( lol), .. what a tosser.

Jeff prepares to join Keith and Martin for some extreme fish spotting !

We crossed back over the weir to find that Joe Chatterton had turned up too. After we'd all introduced ourselves, I decided to head off to get ready for the evenings fishing.

I fished a barbel and a zed rod but the only action after an hour was this small bream.

After a while I headed back over to Danny and Andy's camp on the point of the island so I could get some food cooked. David was in the next swim and had a nice BBQ going, he kindly let me use it to rustle up a sausage sandwich as I'd managed to bring an empty gas bottle for my stove .. doh!  After eating and more drinking I never made it back to my swim, in fact my fishing for the weekend finished there. I ended up sinking a few more cans and chatting with the lads before heading to my tent about 1:00 am (I think?)

I woke about 6:00 and headed back over to the lads but never managed to get the rods back out.  It was soon time for breakfast so I pooled my resources together with Danny and Andy who cooked up a breakfast fit for a king on their cookers, washed down with plenty of tea.  Sometime during the morning Dave caught a little Barbel, the only one I saw all weekend, then we all slowly started packing up and heading home except of course for Jeff whose better half was meeting up with him to stay for a few more days.

It was a great weekend, not for all the fish caught of course but certainly for the craic and the chance to meet up with all the lads. I'll look forward to the next one, and maybe I'll even get some fishing done as well ?