Tackle, Tactics and Experience

Michel Huigevoort with a Dutch zander, it was a revelation to me to see how easy it was to catch zander - if you could find them.

In England zander have often been portrayed as rather exotic and difficult to catch with lures, but in fact they are often far easier to catch than pike. The techniques and lures have to be selected correctly but certain aspects of the zander's behaviour make the fishing more predictable. They spend 95% of their time close to the river bed, so if your lures stay within a couple of feet of the bottom you increase your chances tremendously. There are odd times when they are found away from the bottom, notably in late July and August when they relate to weeds, presumably in search of shade. But even then they will spend time feeding on the bottom, especially at dawn, and presumably at night as well, though I've no experience of that.

If you get a lure near a zander you will find that they are not usually terribly selective. I've caught them on jerkbaits, spoons, crankbaits large and small, spinnerbaits, lipless crankbaits, and of course jigs. This article is about using jigs, the simplest of lures, and is essentially a summary of my talk at this year's L.A.S. conference, with some extra information. A jig is a weighted hook with some attractive dressing: bucktail is commonly used for various species, as is deadbait, but for zander the normal dressing is a soft plastic grub or shad.

For zander the jig should have a fine-wired hook, it can have a long or a short shank, and the distinction is important, which I'll come to later. The most useful weights are between 1/4oz and 3/4oz, although on occasion a heavier weight can be required. The hook size I usually use is a 2/0, I seldom need anything bigger, but I do use smaller ones as well. Length of the shad or grub varies, as little as 1.5" up to about 6.5", but 4"-5" will usually do. I mentioned at the start that zander are often easier to catch than pike: one of the reasons for this is that unlike pike they cannot catch and swallow a month's worth of food in one go, so they are feeding more often. They are not exclusively piscivorous, eating many small food items including a lot of insect larvae, so bear in mind that even quite big zander may be feeding on smaller prey and consider scaling down the size of the trailer.

Jigs and trailers 1. 6” shad as used for pike fishing, occasionally it will pick up a zander but it is not the right way to go about it. 2. Split-tail and 3. Straight tail both mounted with stingers 4. 2” trailer useful some days 5. Curl-tail grub 6. Rozermeijer paddle-tail shad 7. Lunker City Fin-S-fish 8. paddle tail shads, this slim shape is usually far better for zander than standard drop-bellied shads.

I've no strong opinion on which is the best type of trailer, I've caught with curl-tail grubs, split-tail shads, straight-tail shads and regular paddle-tails as well. In Holland the paddle tail is used mostly with a few split- or straight-tails, but only very rarely curl-tail grubs, which are thought of more as perch lures. While mentioning Holland it's worth noting that they have been catching zander on lures for a long time, so they have a lot of experience, and there is a serious zander match scene over there with big prizes, like perhaps a Lund boat, for the winners. These matches attract big entries, upwards of 50 boats paying big entry fees, fishing usually on big sandpits, or the harbour areas of Amsterdam and Dordrecht. They are allowed to use either artificial or dead bait (no livebaiting allowed in Holland) and ¾ of the competitions are won by lures. I mention the Dutch match scene because such a competitive environment pushes the learning process along quickly, and the top names in that sport know what they are about. One recent match my friend Michel Huigevoort took part in was won with a catch of over 70 zander for one boat, caught on a mixture of soft plastics and dead baits (also fished on a jig), Michel and his boat partner managed 15 fish. These zander are not tiny school fish either, there is a minimum size limit of (I think) 40cm.

Apart from size the other issue to consider for the trailer is colour. I have simple rules that work for me. Firstly I've yet to find a colour that I can't catch them with, but a couple of times matching a boat partner's lure colour meant I started to catch. The Dutch consensus is that colour can be very important. My simple rules apply to all my lure fishing and they form a good basis to start from with jigs and zander. Without going into too much detail - because it is really only of very minor importance compared to location and technique - in more coloured water I usually use darker lures, light colours simply reflect the background colour and show up less well than say black which will provide a strong silhouette. Flash, in the form of glitter or a reflective metal insert like in Glass Shads is useful in poor light, and will reflect any light. Bright colours and naturals are for clearer water, most of the time on the Avon and Severn you can see into the water between 1 and 2 feet, that is 'normal' and at that I'm happy with any colour. I generally tend towards a natural pattern, even though these look less visible to me I see no harm in using a lure the same colour as the zander's fish prey. But remember that the diet of zander is mixed so they are looking for anything. Judging from the zander's eye, and it's adaptation to low light we might assume that they have good vision the murky depths, but in mammals that are nocturnal such an adaptation to provide good low-light vision comes at the expense of colour vision. My advice is not to worry too much about the colours of your soft plastics, if you make sure location and presentation are right you'll catch plenty.

I somehow managed to convince myself that this pink curl-tail grub was not a good colour, but I gave myself a good talking-to and decided to sort it out. At first light in a good swim it produced several fish. It's easy to get yourself worried about colour - much more than the fish are. I find I'm using a lot of naturals, with white a close second. If colours don't make any difference then it won't hurt to change it, if it does make a difference then a change might turn a tough session around. You are much more likely to find that one colour is not working well rather than that one particular one is being especially successful.

Although we should look at what the Dutch are doing and pay attention to how they go about their jigging we must remember that there are important differences between fishing in Holland and over here, principally they have many large, deep waters quite unlike anything we have. They are usually fishing in water over 20ft deep, down to 60ft, whereas on the Severn and Avon 10-16ft is the norm, and nowhere more than 20ft. The size of the waters and numbers of fish they support is also of quite a different scale, the river Maas is three times the width of the Severn, and with superior water quality. And zander are not persecuted over there, some are eaten but the strength of the predator fishing lobby, and the turnover generated for the tackle trade means that there is not the perpetual call for zander removal that we have to endure from the match angling fraternity.

The very deep and fast-flowing waters at Dordrecht are very challenging, requiring heavy jigheads and fine braid. The flow is so strong that use of a lure retriever is out of the question, so any snagging (and there was plenty) means pulling immediately for a break. No pike are present so there is no need for a wire leader, which helps to reduce the expense of lost lures. I found it it very odd not to use a leader, it just looked so unusual!

The difference in depth is perhaps most important, especially where there is some flow, Michel uses 5lb test Power Pro because the thinner diameter helps to keep the lures down, and usually uses 3/4oz jigs whereas over here I use 10lb Power Pro and can fish almost anywhere with 3/8oz jigs. However there are advantages in using heavier jigheads, they are certainly a lot easier to feel when they hit bottom, and I am increasingly using them, especially when boat fishing.

Comparing the waters leads on logically to location; like I said, they aren't hard to catch, but they are not scattered all over the river, they are much choosier than pike about where they will be - and there are places where you will probably never catch a zander. There are two things that are very important to a zander - flow and light. They do not like bright light, and they do like a good flow. I certainly haven't worked out the relationship but they will sometimes tolerate bright light and relatively clear water in order to enjoy some water passing over them, and sometimes they will stand slower flows in order to find some protection from the light, either with overhead shade like a bridge or simply by going deep.

Back in 2002 I invited Tim Kelly to come and try his hand at jigging for zander on the Severn. Despite having hardly tried it on the Severn at the time I had a good idea where to try, and we took eight from the first place we tried, this was Tim's first. Location is sometimes very easy to work out.

The perfect location is a bridge piling with 8-14ft of water flowing around it: varying depth with a sloping river bed, shade and flow provide an area where there is bound to be a perfect spot for a zander, or several zander. I've not caught them in less than 8ft vertically from the boat, they just won't tolerate the boat so close over their heads, but I've one reliable bank swim that is only a shade over 6ft deep with a strong flow. If you are in 12ft or more then the boat doesn't appear to bother them. Always try to read the river for the most flow, be warned though that the flow on the surface is not always the same as that at depth. The outside of a bend is a good bet, but - at least where the Severn and Avon are concerned you have to be careful to read the depth sounder and pick the deepest run to start with, that is where the most flow is likely to run, even if it's not closest to the outside bank. Sharp drop-offs - often so good for pike - are not the best places, a sloping river bed, with say a little under a 45° slope is often a good holding area. Somewhere on that slope a zander or two will be able to find a spot with the right flow and light penetration to suit them.

You should, with practice, be able to feel through the rod what sort of river bed you are on, silt means not enough flow; gravel, bedrock or hard clay are what you want, and finding this sort of river bed is usually good news when prospecting likely areas. Even if I don't find a zander in one of these hard-bottomed areas on my first attempt I know that I can come back and check it again with some confidence. Once you have caught a zander from a location you can be sure that you will catch more there at some time. The numbers you can expect from a spot is quite small, between one and four is quite normal, but you might get eight, it depends on the spot. Some spots are very tight, I've found a couple of places on the Avon that nearly always hold one fish, but never yet two, these spots are very small, no more than a foot or so square, it's very easy to miss these places so take very careful note of exactly where you are when you get a take, especially if it turns out to be a solitary fish. It takes a while to find enough swims to add up to a good morning's sport, but in decent conditions I can cover half a dozen swims on the Avon or Severn, usually catching fish from 3 or 4 of them. Although some of the spots are very tight there are areas which turn up fish often enough without there being any particular spot that regularly produces, these big areas - one is two thirds the width of the Avon and stretches for about 300m - take a long time to cover and don't appeal to me too much, I'd rather troll these sort of swims. It rather gives the lie to the myth of huge shoals of ravenous zander regularly patrolling the river - there is plenty of water where zander cannot be caught, in daylight anyway.

Now to the tackle, the rod is very important, from the boat six foot is long enough. There is no place here for soft, ultra-light style rods, you do need a fairly soft tip in order to keep in touch with the jig, especially to know when it has hit bottom, but you need plenty of power in the butt to set the hook. Failing to match the rod to the weight of the jigs means you won't be able to 'read' them properly, and your results will be very poor. If you are struggling to understand what your jig is doing then your rod is probably the reason. I've built a rod on a St Croix Avid AS56MF blank, this is certainly the tool for the job, sensitive and powerful, it will deal with big fish easily (like the double-figure pike that show up from time to time) but give lots of feedback about the river bed. At the lighter end of the jig range it is a tad too stiff, but I can live with that.

You must strike hard, and really use the butt power in the rod to set the hook , a zander has a lot of hard tissue in and around its mouth and surprisingly powerful jaws, and they will hold onto a jig without being hooked, at least until they see the light increasing as you haul them towards the surface. I actually landed a zander from 25ft down in Holland which was not hooked, it just bit hard on the jig and didn't let go. But they usually spit the jig before they come to the boat. This striking cannot be over-emphasised; you will at some point lose zander because you have failed to set the hook.

One endearing habit that the zander has is that quite often when you lose one soon after hooking it (i.e. before you've dragged it too close to the surface) then it will take again, so you get a second chance. One 6lb fish I lost 5 times in 5 casts before the exaggerated violence of the 6th strike finally set the hook. I'm sure this willingness to take a lure several times applies to baits as well and may explain the multiple dropped runs for pike anglers that leads to the assumption of a river full of zander, one fish can keep you awfully busy!

From the bank you might prefer a longer rod, I've used a 9ft spinning rod for this, but it's too soft really, I don't think a rod of that sort of length exists with the correct taper. Having used the boat jigging rod from the bank I now prefer the shorter rod, it's just easier work.

A fixed spool reel is my preference, and most people's, but you can get away with a low-profile multiplier if it has a 'flipping-switch' that allows you to drop the jig with no spool tension. The reel should have a 100% anti-reverse with no slop, any play will irritate you immensely, you need to feel what the jig is doing and not be distracted by movements of the reel. My current favourite fixed spool reel is the Shimano Sedona 100FA, but these are hard to get and pricey, I've recently been very impressed with the Cortland Ultralite which has a rock-solid anti-reverse and appears to be well up to the job.

So to the technique: I'll start in the boat. You should sit to jig, hold the rod a little away from the body so that your clothing does not touch the rod or reel, or you will be striking at life-jacket takes! Then release the jig, as soon as it hits bottom tighten up and check that the line has settled into the line roller on the bale arm, or when it does slip into place you'll think you've missed a take. Now, holding the rod horizontally, gently flick the rod tip upwards, and continue the upward movement in a steady lift, you should lift between about 6" and 2'6" above the river bed, usually 9"-18" is about right. Now the important bit is to lower the rod tip slowly back to the river bed, so that the line stays tight as the jig falls. This is where you will get most of the takes. And the takes are often pretty positive, you often feel a startlingly sharp downward rap, the sharpness of this hit is perhaps why it is so easy to forget to strike hard. Throughout the jigging action you must bear in mind the need to strike and keep the angle of the rod as flat as possible so you have plenty of leverage to make a firm strike.

	The Wrong Way!If you let the rod go up at this angle you will not be able to strike well enough to set the hook
	I've slightly exaggerated it here but holding the rod as horizontally as possible when you lift means you have plenty of leverage left to strike effectively.
	And if everything goes well you'll be unhooking a zander. Beware that they are very spikey, with sharp gill covers, it's not unusual to get a minor cut or two, this can catch you by surprise when you grab one.

Actually touching the riverbed on the drop is not essential but it is important to stay within that bottom 2ft band of water and if you do tap bottom you know you are in the zone. This relates back to location, you are working up and down a slope, trying to find the depth/flow combination where the zander are lying. Two extreme examples of the variation in presentation you need to be aware of are firstly just dragging the jig across the riverbed, this often gets a take but most places have too many snags for this to be a sensible option; the other one is to just sit and hold the lure as still as you can one or two feet above the riverbed. Be patient and think of something else, resist the lure angler's habitual obsession with action and don't waggle it about, something will finally take exception to this strange object quietly taking the mickey and deal with it appropriately, it will make you jump when it happens so do remember to strike.

More subtle variations include adding an extra upward flick, changing the height of the lift, and delaying the drop. The pause between lifting and lowering the jig is usually a couple of seconds, but sometimes increasing that to say 10 seconds can be necessary as was the case in February this year in Holland, and I was a little slow picking this up so Michel had 5 fish before I had a take. I mention that to point out that although jigging is a reliable method the ability to understand and apply the variations are very important. The time that a complete lift and drop cycle takes can be varied infinitely, but 5 seconds is on the fast side, effective sometimes in summer, but limited, simply slowing it all down is often enough but actually holding the jig still at various positions on the cycle will often be the best way to trigger a take.

Most newcomers want to get each jigging cycle done too quickly, trying to get lots of movement into the jig, so relax, and try counting to help your timing. Say... flick - 1 - (lift) - 2 - 3 - 4 - (hold) - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - (lower) - 11 - 12 - (hold) - 13 - 14 - (lower) - 16 - 17 - touchdown... This is just a representative cycle, at the slow end of the range of cycles you could use, adapt it according to fish response. Using a simple count in your head helps you to establish a nice rhythm and to vary each stage by changing the count. Remember what you've done, once you've hit on a variation that works stick with it, it will probably work all day. If you can pick out the single bit of the cycle that seems to be getting the hits you can focus on making sure your jig is doing that as often as possible. If two of you are fishing together see who gets the first fish or two and copy that. In September 2004 out fishing with Neil Roberts he had a couple of fish and a missed take before I'd had a touch, so I carefully watched what he was doing that was different to me, copied it and immediately had a fish, I told him what I'd done and he said he thought that he was copying me!

Although many takes are pretty obvious - and very pleasing - sharp pulls as the lure falls, some are more subtle. One of the other common takes is for the zander to just hold the jig as it reaches the bottom of its drop so as you flick up again you feel a slight tension, sometimes you'll hook these if you realise what's going on and strike in time, most often they do not stick. You occasionally feel all sorts of different things, if in doubt, strike! And strike hard! You really must concentrate and notice these more delicate takes, little clues like this give you a hint about how you might adjust your technique to give these fish more opportunity to take the lure. I can't think offhand of any other branch of lure fishing where such intense concentration is required and you noticing and reacting to tiny scraps of information can make such a big difference to the result. For most of the time a basic flick-lift-lower will do fine but when the fish are telling you that they want something else then you give it to them. There is no other form of lure fishing where your own input makes such a huge difference to your results.

I'd covered this swim thoroughly with a regular 5" trailer on the jighead for no result, switching to a small 2" trailer got the take from this nice near-6lb fish. Down-sizing the trailer is a worthwhile change when takes are not coming from a good swim. Note that the trailer has been pulled from the jig head. If you get a take and miss it you should check that the trailer has not moved away from the head. You can alleviate the problem by adding a dab of superglue on the neck of the jighead.

Now to casting, and although this is mainly used from the bank it has applications afloat in shallower water where putting the boat over the zanders' heads might upset them, given the depths on much of the Severn and Avon there are plenty of swims with less than 12ft of water which, at average clarity, appears to be the minimum depth that zander will tolerate the boat overhead for more than a few minutes. So I find that I am often casting from the boat. One advantage of casting is that while it is technically limited in what you can do with the lure, it does allow you to search water more quickly. Even if you don't get a take you should be able to read the flow from the line angle and feel for a hard bed, giving you a clue as to whether you should move on quickly or examine the area more thoroughly.

The retrieve technique is very simple, let the lure hit bottom then lift the rod tip a couple of feet and lower it, keeping the line tight by reeling in the slack, until you feel the jig touch bottom again. You must not let the jig fall on a loose line. The whole sequence should be unhurried, and controlled, if you find that you are having to rush then you have too much lead on, so try a lighter jighead; on the contrary if you are not sure the when lead is hitting bottom you need more weight: gauging the weight necessary is part of the skill you must master. The most common mistake to make is lifting the rod tip too far - you must always be ready to set the hook; if you are fishing in the right spot, with sufficient flow, a sideways movement of the rod tip will lift the lure quite a way as the current acts upon the line.

Bank Fishing Fishing from the bank is not difficult if you can find suitable swims, if you have flowing deepish water close in with no marginal shelf then you have a chance. This little one took when I lowered the jig back down before lifting it for another cast.

One important trick when casting is not to lift the lure straight away when you've worked it back to the bank or boat, lift it from the bottom and hold it, jig it again, hold it, and lift slowly. Zander will often follow a lure and giving them a little extra encouragement gets a few more fish, sometime the only one you catch comes to this technique, so don't think you can ignore it.

There is obviously less scope for presentational variation with casting - you certainly cannot hold the jig above the riverbed - but you compensate a little by covering more water. Of course you can drag the jig across the bottom, but from the bank this can be expensive in lost jigs and leaders. Beware also of losing the point on the hook, the. fine-wired jigs you should be using are prone to having the point of the hook snubbed over, you won't see this without checking it closely, and you won't hook any zander with no point. A few touches with the hook file will soon put it back in order. Barbs are usually very small on these hooks and are probably pretty unnecessary, the soft tip of the rod will keep pressure on and stop it shaking free. Zander don't fight particularly hard, and sometimes not at all, but a biggish one can pull a bit and dive hard. An impressive fight usually means you've hooked a pike.

An Avon zander swimThis is a cross-section of part of a zander swim on the Avon, the right of the diagram is the outside of the bend. From that bank it is hopeless trying to present a lure in the deep run that holds the fish, you can reach it from the opposite bank but the depth and flow make it a very limited presentation, you certainly won't be able to hold the jig in place for long. Note that on this swim it is the slope and flow rather than the drop-off that makes it a good swim. Under different flows the zander move up and down the slope away from the drop-off.

I mentioned snagging, of course with a lure bumping the river bed and relatively light line you will suffer some losses. Jigs and trailers are relatively cheap, it's losing the leaders that hurts most! Take plenty with you, I lost 4 jigs in 6 casts from the bank in a swim that had been clean the week before, something nasty had come down the river and lodged in my target spot. Quite often the hook will straighten a little and you get everything back, now it's your call as to whether you should bend the hook back into shape. A purist would insist on replacing the jig but I view each one on its merits and try to bend them back into shape if I can. When you see all the odd-shaped hooks for sale I think there is a little room for imperfection. Of course if you lose a big fish soon after doing this will you blame the hook or your inadequate strike?

Jigheads There are several different shapes; for vertical jigging a round-head jig will work well, but for casting some of the special shapes can help to keep the hook upright when it hits the riverbed. 1. Round-head and 2. football-head jigs from Catch 'Em Lures, with a nice long shank for medium-sized trailers.3. Round-head jig from Harris Angling and 4. another that has been bent back into shape after snagging a few times, this one is ready to be thrown away! 5. Erie jigs. The football head and Erie jigs are designed to keep the point pointing upwards when the head hits the riverbed. I couldn't say if any of these shapes make much noticeable difference in real fishing terms, but the length of the hook shank is important

Naturally you will catch fish other than zander; all the regular predators will take the jigs. You will tend to get more pike when lifting higher and holding higher, as well as when using bigger trailers. Of all the small lures that you use a jig is the most likely one to take bigger pike. Neil Plumbley was rather surprised by a double from the Avon last summer, and Tim Kelly and I shared 3 doubles from a spot on the Severn, using small trailers. Perch have been rather irregular captures, I think they don't like the same flows as the zander, but when searching new areas I get a few. In Holland, on the deeper waters especially with a sloping bed like where a side canal joins the main river, catching perch is sometimes seen as a sign of fishing too deep, i.e. too far down the slope. I have only ever taken one chub on a jig, but that I'm sure is a reflection of the low chub numbers in the areas I fish and the closeness to the bottom of the lures, fished at mid-depth I'm sure chub would nail them.

Ugly Zander! A surprising number of good pike take the jigs, I presume they are stalking the zander but cannot resist the easy target.

I want to go back to the jigs and trailers and talk about the use of stinger hooks. I very rarely use them on trailers less than 4", and I am happy with my hooking ratio, but in Holland they invariably use them. Bearing in mind that they are often fishing for prizes then we should ask why they find it necessary and I sometimes don't. The size of the trailer makes a difference, on a 6" shad a single hook at the front looks inadequate, and they tend to use trailers at the long end of the size range. But they also use stingers when using shorter trailers so there is more to it than that. With heavier jig-heads I think the zander don't get the lure into their mouths quite so well. When I use heavier jigs and stingers some fish are hooked on the jig hook and some on the stinger, it's about 50/50. Using stingers does result in more snagging, but with the heavier jigheads and longer trailers that I am increasingly using I am having to add them. I mentioned long- or short-shanked hooks. If using a stinger I prefer a short shank, it allows the stinger to be more effecive, I'll usually use a long-shanked hook on a medium-sized trailer without a stinger, like a 4" curly-tail grub or straight-tailed shad. There is little to attach the stinger to anyway and such a thin tail collapses into the fish's mouth.

> Use something like 20lb test 7-strand wire, crimped, make a loop to fit over the eye of the jig. Hook sizes around 6 or 8 are about right depending on the brand of hook and the size of the trailer. Favourite hook for me is a Gamakatsu 13, expensive but just about perfect.

The decision about whether to use a stinger is tied up with the size of fish as well as size of jig; how big are the zander we catch? Most fish will around the 2lb mark, from as small as ¾lb to 4lb is the regular range and small zander have small mouths, that little treble gets a lot of fish that would miss the jig hook. I've seen a Dutch video of a fish well over 20lb from Amsterdam taken with a normal-sized jig, so they do take big fish, my best on a jig is a comparably insignificant 8.04 taken from the Severn in August 2004. Large zander are scarce, anything above 6lb is a nice fish and vertical jigging is no search method, it is best employed when on a known good area with plenty of fish, the bigger the shoal the smaller the fish, so it is not the method but the way it is employed that does tend to result in a modest average size. It is not unusual to take a smallish pike or two from among the zander but a final note about location and zander size refers to 'proper' pike. Pike love zander, but in the way I love salami rather than the way I love my wife! Small zander avoid big pike. I know one or two swims that have everything to keep a good shoal of zander happy, but there are good pike in residence too often for the zander to be comfortable, once the zander are of a decent size, say about 6lb, they are less worried about large pike, but for numbers of zeds those good pike swims are best avoided.

>This 7lb plus fish came from the Warwickshire Avon in 2003, it took a stinger-less 10g Catch 'Em foootball head jig with a Castaic trailer.

All this jigging for zander stuff is very much "work in progress" and every time I go jigging I learn a little more, so this piece is certainly not the complete story, it is though a good basis to start from. Good luck!

Zander, in my opinion, will become more and more important as lure anglers' targets as they spread, as more lure anglers learn to refine their techniques to catch them, and especially as more lure anglers get afloat. They seem far more tolerant of repeated capture than pike, and if the general tackle trade woke up to the fact that we are using sinking lures on light line (so we have to buy lots of replacements) you might hear fewer tackle shop owners advising their customers to kill them.

If you try vertical jigging from a boat and have even a small success you will be entranced, its essential simplicity contrasted with the concentration required and subtle technical variations you can employ make it is the most compelling and addictive fishing I've ever tried.