My 2017 Zander Quest in a Nutshell!

Well after a great summers fishing, it is now time for me to concentrate my efforts on the predators.

This time of year, I tend to focus on the Zander. Over the last few years it has been really difficult, to find these in the fenland drains and rivers, so I decided to concentrate on the Roswell Pits, which is well known for it’s zander population.

I arrived after work, setup the rods and cast out. I have made some small changes on my rigs, and it payed off.

On this occasion, I was using smaller baits and set the rods up with the minimal resistance possible.

Certainly paid off. After a couple of hours, the left hand rod screamed off. At first I thought I thought it was a pike, but I was proved wrong, it was a zander.

Over the moon, and this being the first zander I have caught for a very long time, I was over the moment. It graced the net, and then I lifted it out the water and placed it on the mat.

Envying over my success, I took a couple of photos, and released it back in the depths. Within minutes of returning the fish, the right hand rod, screamed off. Zander number two graced the net.

As you can imagine, having one fish in one night was an achievement, but two was fantastic. I took some photos and released it back into the depths.

After a nice brew, an hour went by and the right hand rod went off again. Thinking it was a zed, I was getting rather excited, but it was a lovely double figure pike. What a fantastic night!

After this session, I had seen reports of a few zander coming out of a stretch of the Wells Creek, which I haven’t fished before, showing during the summer months. I knew where the venue was, but never fished this. Curiosity took the better of me, and headed over the river after work, on evening. On arrival, it looked perfect, so I was feeling positive. I  stuck with the methods I used in the still water, and cast out.

After an hour or so, I had my first run of the evening, which I missed. Felling gutted, I sat back down and finished my brew.

However, it wasn’t long before the fenland silence was broken by a buzzer, and I struck into the fish. After a few minutes, my first fenland river zander for a few years graced the night. I was buzzing!

It was great to be among these again, and it wasn’t long before I headed back to the venue, and bagged another two zeds and a lovely pike.

Great Fun!