Headless

I tried out a new boillie called V12, it worked a treat on the first trip, but I struggled on the other trips. I did try Squid and Liver bollies and had a few Cats, but big halibut pelltets was an excellent bait. A bunch of popped up lob worms caught me my biggest and numerous Cats, the problem is the shoals of Bream in there loved the worm as well. Darrell

Go to Jimmy's lake at Corringham, it is stuffed full of Cats. The swims are very tight, but you should catch. My first visit/attempt at Cats was there last March/April time. I caught eleven Cats up to 20+. I thought I was the ****s until I saw a bloke catch thirty of them in 12hrs!!! You only need normal 2.3/4 carp/pike rods, 12-15 line and free running rigs. It is a bollie and pellet venue only. The Cats go to 70lb, but I have only had them to 30lb. £10 per rod per 12hrs. Fishing is from 7am to 7pm and 7pm to 7am. Best to go midweek if you can. you def need a rod pod as the ground is rock solid.

Well done mate, Sounds like a cracking session

I know two anglers who fish the same areas as me and swear by sea bait's, but their catch rates are very very low and the sizes of the Zander they are catching are nothing special. I think some anglers get tunnelled vision and get stuck in their ways. I regularly use frozen baits with good results, but they are baits that I have caught and frozen. I would have to be desperate to use the shop brought baits. One of my mate is mad on using Lamprey, I personally only seem to attract Pike on the bait!!

One thing I have noticed over the years on waters where Zander have been introduced is that despite initial panic about them decimating prey stocks its simply not happened! however one thing Ive definitely noticed is that they have had an affect on pike. The affect Ive noticed is that in some areas the Zeds have taken over from the pike.Some once prolific areas are now nearly devoid of them and replaced by Zeds.However in other areas the pike numbers have increased.Once again though all part of nature balancing things out. Spot on, I totally agree with you Budgie. There are loads of small Roach and Skimmers in the Ouse etc.... Roswell’s main Pit has far more Zeds than Pike. The Fens Rivers and drains seem to have pockets of Pike and Zander, however there are exceptions; I have had many good catches of both Zander and Pike in the same session. Last Friday night I caught seven Pike and nine Zander from the same swim. This is not the first time it has happened either, maybe its the time of the years when all the Roach etc...are tightly packed Two years ago I was getting plenty of double figure Pike up to 23 lb while night fishing for Zander, however the last two years I have struggled to land a double figure Pike, biggest being around the 14 lb mark. This seems to have coincided with the increasing numbers of foreigners that are fishing the areas I fish!! I may be wrong!!! Darrell

Go on line, there is plenty of info about Celtic Lakes. You wont be guaranteed prolific Zander fishing anywhere !! If you do keep it to yourself!!

Last season I had two or three doubles on Eel section, but only had three or four runs on it. I have tried Eel this season with no success at all, I think it works better mid March time as it is warming up, but thats when I stop targeting the Zander. I have tried Lamprey, but have only caught Pike when using it. My favorite bait for the Zander is dead Rudd, Trout has been a good bait as well.

good lad

I only use dead baits, ( I have nothing against live baiting, I just prefer dead baiting) Roach, Rudd and Dace, as fresh as possible or baits that I have caught and frozen. I do not use shop brought baits, even though I have used them a few years back and caught on them. I also use a bait that I purchase from the supermarkets, it has caught me many Zander....including doubles over the last two seasons, but I am not saying what it is!! My mate caught a 2 lb + Perch on worm the other week and I have heard from reliable sources that the Perch are there in numbers, but again location is the key. Eels are very thin on the ground. Darrell

Some lovely fish and cracking scenery John!! Darrell

Overcast and windy nights are the best times to fish the pits for the Zander and Bream, the same could be said for the rivers/drains. I spoke to a mate today who fished Ely town. He caught Roach none stop all day, perfect bait sized fish!! Last week he could not get a bite from the town section!! I never fish the town section, too many anglers, dog walkers, boats, **** heads and Pike. I am not into catching Pike, I only want Zander (other species if I am targeting them) I love the peace and quiet of the areas well away from Ely and other towns. I am not fussed about the rain issue as I have been catching Zander over the seasons when the river is still and clear or when pushing through, location is the key. I have spent the last three years fishing the Fens from September to March which has given me plenty of time and experiance to fall back on. I will say that this year the Zander fishing for me has been better than the last two seasons for numbers and sizes of Zander. Last season I had the numbers of Zander, but struggled with the amount of doubles I caught. Darrell

From September I fish the Fens virtually every Friday late afternoon through to Saturday morning and the odd Wednesday evening for a couple of hours. I have found that Fens have fished its head off this season. Early September the small fish and skimmers could be caught from most pegs and there has been loads of small (around 1 lb mark ) Zander present, which is good news for the futre. When the weather cools there are a couple of areas that I can confidently say that I can catch fresh baits, plus some nice sized Roach and Rudd any time during the winter months. Location is important for the bigger species, the bigger Bream (4 lb+) you need to night fish to get them feeding confidently. The numbers of Zander, including good sized Zander (8 lb+) have been very good, including plenty of double figure Zander. I have been lucky and only blanked twice this season while targeting Zander and that was because I was trying out new areas in search of the bigger Zeds. I Have noticed that this season the numbers of double figure Pike have been very very low. The web sites of some of the local clubs yield loads of info and the local match men are quite open about where the Roach, Bream and Tench are being caught. Roswell Pits two years ago was full of Eels, but this season I have not caught one!! Darrell PS John is not bad company

Well done John Two nice looking Zander Darrell

Hi For the past three years from September to the end of February I have targeted Zander on the Fens and Roswell pits. I night fish nearly every Friday night, plus a few midweek nights when possible. I sleep/doze while I am fishing, I even get into a sleeping bag when it is cold and I can honestly say that I have never had a Zander deep hooked. I only every fish swims that allow me to be set up tight to my rods. I set my rigs so that they are as sensitive as possible and I will investigate every single bleep of the alarms. The volume on my alarms are set low, but I have never not heard my alarms go off. I strike as soon as I possibly can, I dont wait for the line to peel off the reel like some anglers do. I wake up with the slightest noise, yet I know a competent Carp angler that needs to be kicked to wake him, yet when his alarm goes he is out of his pit like greyhound. We are all different in how we sleep/doze and I would like to think that any decent angler will not fish / sleep at night if he cannot get to his rods in seconds. Darrell

Hi I am planning on re-newing my Diawa Regal Z 4000BR reels that I use for my Zander fishing. I have been very happy with the Daiwa reels, but they only seem to last eighteen months due to the bail arm mechanism packing up. I have been looking at various reels online and keep looking at the Wychwood Solace 10 ACS Reel. I was wondering if anyone has used theses reels and what they think of them? Also what size is the reel compared to a Diawa 4000 cheers Darrell

Hi I have used the Korum rubberised nets for the last two years for my Zander fishing. I also put a rod out a few times for the Bream while after the Zeds. The Korum rubberised nets have been perfect for both species and are so much easier to remove hooks from the mesh than standard mesh, but I am carfeul when lifting a Zander out as the gill plate and dorsal can get caught. The depth and material of the spoon also reduces the potential for it to snag on reeds etc.... One downside I found was the grub screw locking mecihinisim is very week. I have had to strengthen mine by putting in a couple of locking pins. Darrell

I was at the place last year with the missus and kids, not fishing. I spoke to the bailiff, He said fishing for pike and zander was allowed, but it was single hook only and that all Zander caught had to be killed. He also said that the place is netted yearly to remove the Zander and check on the health of the other species. I have not bothered to fish there as I will not kill any Zander and if netting is done annually there cant be many Zander about. Darrell

Hi Dale Well done on a good session, some lovely Zeds. They look a bit thin or is it the way you are holding them? Darrell

Hi Richard Sorry, a bit late in replying to your thread. I used to fish the Forty Foot regulary up until two years ago. I found that fishing at night produced the best results. I had good catches of Bream, Tench and Zander. There are some big Carp present near the new bridge west of Ramsey along with the Roach, Rudd etc.... Darrell

Hi Dale I am not a member of Luton AC but I am a mad keen Zed head. I go past the South Lagoon most weeks but have yet had the chance to fish it. I have popped in a couple of times to see how the venue is fishing. I have not seen any Zeds on the bank yet, but a regular did tell me that the Zander are still in there and in numbers. As South Lagoon is connected to the Ouse, I am sure that the Zeds move in and out. large Bream shoals that inhabit the pit should attract the big Zander. I have been told a 16+ Zed came out last season. I am having two days and nights at Roswell this week, there has been a few Zander showing but nothing big. The Ouse from Ely to Littleport over the past two weeks, has given me Zeds to 9+ with loads of 1+ Zeds showing, (its looking good for the futre Zed fishing) so well worth a try if you are out this way. Darrell