I was sat at home sorting through my lure gear in the late afternoon, when all of a sudden I had a gut feeling that for some reason I should be on the River Severn. Even with the rain hammering down outside and showing no signs of slowing, I set off and made my way down to my local stretch of the river. I arrived just after 16:00 hours and was greeted with a very coloured river, which was carrying a bit of extra water, making conditions against me. But after the last few sessions I had had down there losing a few big fish, I wasn’t to be defeated and set up as I normally would with my 9ft lure rod and open face reel. The reel was loaded with 28lb power pro braid which I attached a 20lb trace to and clipped on a salmo boxer lure in the fire tiger colour, which when cranked hard on the impact with the river I knew would get me down to the bottom of the Severn. I thought was a perfect choice on a session like this. On the retrieve I let it float up a little before cranking back down to the depths, and after 3 or 4 casts I felt a thump on the rod tip which at 1st I thought must of been a floating log or some other debris that was floating down stream, however when I pulled the rod sharply up I could feel that it was in fact a fish. I continued to reel it in I could feel the fish start to fight, but just has it broke the surface my possible first ever zander unfortunately dropped off as I reached for the landing net. I reeled back in feeling once again disappointed and changed over to a bright orange Savage Gear soft lure on a 15gram jig head, which I thought would be brilliant in the coloured water, but after 5 or 6 casts with no success I changed the lure to another colour, however again with no success. After going through 3 boxes of lures I had not had another take. It’s always important to take a good selection with you to see what the fish want as this will often be the difference between catching and not catching.
I thought about packing up and looked up to the sky in the pouring rain and thought to myself “ is this zander ever going to come?” It was becoming a bit dark at this point to continue using the lures, but as I was de-rigging a voice said through the darkness “caught anything jay?”
I recognised it to be mark and 2 mates who I fish with normally on short evening sessions when time allows, and as I was telling mark I’d lost a small zander earlier on in the session, he suggested I stay on longer, but stick a dead bait out. However, not having any dead bait gear on me I had to improvise and use my lure rod. I rigged up like I would when I was lure fishing, but this time I connected a size 2 single hook to the trace via a swivel and bead to buffer the free running 1ounce lead I had on the braided mainline. I put half of a dead bleak on, which mark had kindly given me, and this is where it got interesting! I cast out and realised I had no bank sticks or anything with me, so I was forced to touch ledger while mark and the other 2 set up and cast out on their zander set up’s. Holding the braided mainline in my left hand and the rod in my right hand I felt for any bites. After about 15 minutes, one of the lads had caught 2 zander, the biggest being about 5lb. All of a sudden I felt a sharp tap on the line and rod tip, so I struck and as I did my rod arched into a full on battle curve as a fish made a break up stream for freedom. After a short, but hard fight the fish broke the surface and mark said “there’s your 1st zander Jay,” but I chose to ignore this until the fish was safely in the waiting landing net. As I slipped the fish over the net I peered into the net with my head torch, and I could in fact see my 1st ever zander defeated in the net! As mark had her in the net I got the unhooking mat, tools, sling and scales ready, then we lifted her on to the mat and peeled away the mesh of the net to unhook her. Once the hook was out I slipped her into the sling which one of the other lads had zeroed and had waiting for me, then mark lifted her off the ground.When he read out 10lb 10oz, I was amazed and over the moon as it was my 1st zander and indeed an impressive looking fish. A few snaps later I placed her back in the river with her head held in the flow until she powered away out of my hands. After mark and the 2 others gave me a few handshakes and a few ‘well done’s I called it a day, packed away my gear and said thanks and bye to mark and the 2 others. I made my way home cold, muddy, and so wet that it had looked like I’d actually been swimming and not fishing, but had a huge smile on my face. I couldn’t help but think what the next session would bring…
I recognised it to be mark and 2 mates who I fish with normally on short evening sessions when time allows, and as I was telling mark I’d lost a small zander earlier on in the session, he suggested I stay on longer, but stick a dead bait out. However, not having any dead bait gear on me I had to improvise and use my lure rod. I rigged up like I would when I was lure fishing, but this time I connected a size 2 single hook to the trace via a swivel and bead to buffer the free running 1ounce lead I had on the braided mainline. I put half of a dead bleak on, which mark had kindly given me, and this is where it got interesting! I cast out and realised I had no bank sticks or anything with me, so I was forced to touch ledger while mark and the other 2 set up and cast out on their zander set up’s. Holding the braided mainline in my left hand and the rod in my right hand I felt for any bites. After about 15 minutes, one of the lads had caught 2 zander, the biggest being about 5lb. All of a sudden I felt a sharp tap on the line and rod tip, so I struck and as I did my rod arched into a full on battle curve as a fish made a break up stream for freedom. After a short, but hard fight the fish broke the surface and mark said “there’s your 1st zander Jay,” but I chose to ignore this until the fish was safely in the waiting landing net. As I slipped the fish over the net I peered into the net with my head torch, and I could in fact see my 1st ever zander defeated in the net! As mark had her in the net I got the unhooking mat, tools, sling and scales ready, then we lifted her on to the mat and peeled away the mesh of the net to unhook her. Once the hook was out I slipped her into the sling which one of the other lads had zeroed and had waiting for me, then mark lifted her off the ground.When he read out 10lb 10oz, I was amazed and over the moon as it was my 1st zander and indeed an impressive looking fish. A few snaps later I placed her back in the river with her head held in the flow until she powered away out of my hands. After mark and the 2 others gave me a few handshakes and a few ‘well done’s I called it a day, packed away my gear and said thanks and bye to mark and the 2 others. I made my way home cold, muddy, and so wet that it had looked like I’d actually been swimming and not fishing, but had a huge smile on my face. I couldn’t help but think what the next session would bring…
Here is the end result, all 10lb 10oz of her:
I would just like to point out that when fishing for predators such as pike, zander and even perch it’s important to have the correct unhooking tools with you such as, forceps, long nose pliers and cutters in case you have to cut the hooks to help with unhooking. Also a decent unhooking mat is essential to cater for the impressive size some of the fish can go to. Plus to protect it from the ground if the banks are gravelly or concrete. Lastly, if you’re not confident at unhooking predators make sure you go fishing with someone who knows what they’re doing for a few sessions until you get the confidence yourself.Thank you for taking the time to read my 1st article feedback welcome!
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