Just read a letter in the A.T claiming that a holiday maker had cought a 4cm zander whilst wip fishing for roach about .75 miles up from the mouth of the river Ant on the Bure. The letter came about as a reply after a member of the Martham Anglers claimbed that zander are not populating and breading on the Norfolk broads. Could this holiday maker been mistaken as 4cm ( just under 2inches) is a bit small to identify may be or if mistaken what else could it have been. has anyone else caught one. Not up on zander but i now they breed like wild fire and desimate fish stocks.

[ 16. November 2004, 10:21 PM: Message edited by: paul.s ]

Guests - this sponsored link will vanish when you log-in. Click here to register for free.

You could ask AN stalwart Nugg about Zander on the Broads.

This one has already been looked into both by the EA and the Broads Authority. I suspect its the same fish because the details are the same. The concensus was that it was a bass! A clear photo was passed around and that well known matchman Tom Boulton suggested it was a 'king bass', but non of us knew of that species, but we all agreed it was simply a bass!!

corr that was a name from the past Tom Boulton he used to fish with my dad in the roding valley match group years ago. Good i'm pleased it was a bass the last thing you need is zander in the system

Not up on zander but i now they breed like wild fire and desimate fish stocks.

paul.s - Assuming you meant 'decimate', that would mean they reduced the existing stock by 10% (decimate - from the latin and based on the policy of Roman troops to kill every 10th man in a town that gave them problems).

Zander is simply one more pred and fills a size niche between perch and full-size pike so basically target the same fish as jack pike do. Certainly they will reduce the number of smaller fish since that's what they eat but as with perch and pike, the water will soon reach a balance and you'll simply have one more pred you can fish for. Note that having an established zander population will probably have an effect on the number of jack pike though.

They are not some sort of super eating machine that will wipe out the entire fish population of a lake or stream.

Peter - any chance of seeing one of those pictures?

[ 16. November 2004, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

Personally I'd love to have zander on the broads. Nature would soon balance things out. Might take a year or two but prey versus predator stocks would eventually even out and we'd have a new predator to fish for. Don't believe everything Peter Collins says about Zander!!

Sorry Newt, the fish picture is with the Environment Agency. It was seen by some pretty able anglers, sort of household name types in the UK, and a fisheries scientist so I'm confident that the identification is correct.

Thanks for putting me right Newt (and on the spelling)as i said not up on zander but understand what you say thanks.

Paul, so long as Tom isn't gadding about abroad then I shall see him in a week or so. We both sit on the same Broads Authority fisheries advisory group. Is he likely to remember your Dad? I can pass on regards if you wish.

From what I recall, there are a lot of ruffe on the Bure. I wonder if it is a case of mistaken identity? Hope not. Coloured water would suit them fine.

There's a lot of 'rough' on the Broads Fenboy!