Lure Fishing UK

Zander on Lures

A New Challenge?

Zander are not targeted very much by British lure anglers, partly because they are not as widespread as pike, and partly because there is no tradition of lure fishing for them in the UK. However, they can be caught readily enough if the right approach is followed.

You may pick up the occasional zander when fishing for pike but results should improve when you deliberately fish for them. Unlike pike, zander move in shoals, so you usually have a situation where there are either a lot of zander in front of you or there are none. Location is the key to success, of course, but lure selection and presentation is very important. All my zander have been caught from the Warwickshire Avon and Severn, so all my advice refers to those two rivers.

The retrieves used for zander should be less erratic than those for pike. A straight retrieve, or a straight retrieve with pauses will work, but best of all is a retrieve of varying speeds. Slight changes in lure speed, and perhaps the corresponding change in depth, is the most effective presentation to trigger zander. Raising and lowering the rod tip will vary the running depth of the lure, expect takes when the lure is rising. I have read articles that strongly recommend a "bottom-bumping" retrieve, although I have caught some zander this way I have had best results running the lure about two feet above the river bed. Depth control is important and I suspect the "bottom-bumping" retrieve is popular because it is easy, you know where the lure is all the time.

The few articles I have seen on lure fishing for zander have concerned the drains of the fens, I believe these waters are relatively shallow so perhaps the zander hold tighter to the bottom than those in my local rivers. I have a suspicion that zander like to hunt from a slope in the river bed, rather than a drop-off like pike. They will follow a lure sometimes but not as close to the bank as a pike.

When choosing a plug for zander look for a steady, rather than wild, action. Remember that a zander has a smaller mouth than a pike and tends to attack its prey rather differently. A pike tries to grab its prey and hold it until it is ready to try to swallow it. A zander, with its smaller mouth, often tries to immobilise its prey with a bite or bites and pick it up after. This means that quite often the zander does not try to engulf the lure but tries to hit it and bite it.

Probably 3 out of 4 zander caught on plugs will be hooked outside the mouth. This does raise a few ethical questions about foul-hooking but I think as long as the fish has attacked the lure it doesn't matter much where it is hooked. A consequence of this behaviour is that a plug with three hooks is better than a plug with two hooks. I prefer fairly fine-wire hooks and not too big, size 1 is big enough.

Lures should be smaller than those used for pike. Plugs of between 2" and a maximum of 7" long are alright, and spinnerbaits up to about 3/4oz.

My first ever zander, 6lb4oz from Wick, near Pershore. March 1992, on a chrome/black spinnerbait

Spinnerbaits can be very effective lures for zander. Use a trailer grub of 3" to 4" long on a single stinger hook. Zander are quite obliging in their ability to target the grub and therefore the stinger. Colour choice can be crucial, I have found flourescent colours to be very useful.

I will mention jigs because other anglers say they are very good, I have tried jigs and caught lots of pike but no zander, perhaps it's me.

Plug size does have a bearing on zander size, I prefer using plugs at the larger end of the size range, these certainly offer a better chance of a bigger fish. Smaller fish readily attack bigger plugs but do not get hooked so often. Generally I have found minnow-shaped plugs to be effective but they usually have limited diving performance.

It is not unusual to feel bumps as small zander knock the lure, it is a waste of time striking, they are the ones that have missed the hooks. Wait until you feel the zander firmly on, then strike. Too powerful a rod might rip the hooks out, so be careful.

They usually do not fight particularly well, but since they are often quite small and the tackle used could easily deal with a twenty pound pike, that is not surprising. The bigger ones do go a bit though, especially in the summer, and since the lure is usually outside the mouth you often have to contend with a degree of "kiting" because the line does not run to the front of the zander's mouth.

I use a 10ft long rod with a casting weight range of 3/8oz to 1.1/2oz, I have tried a shorter rod but I could not get the retrieve style right. A longer rod allows steady changes in speed and running depth, I find I am a little too erratic with a short rod. A fixed spool reel with either mono line such as 12LB b.s. Big Game, a braided line of 30LB b.s., or Spiderwire fusion in 24LB b.s. Obviously the low stretch of braid or fusion offer improvements in sensitivity but braid can be troublesome with tangles on a fixed spool reel and fusion is prone to wearing out quite quickly although it is cheap to replace.

I would not like to give the impression that zander fishing is easy, it is not, they are much more choosey than pike. But the biggest problem is location, if they are there they can be caught. Like pike they are easier to catch from the bank if the water is not too deep, try to find a weirpool with maximum depths of around 6ft. Perseverance pays.

Lures For Avon Zander

Luhr Jensen Javelin x 2, Salmo Roach, home-made rattling minnows x 2

See also - Bagley Monster Shad

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