Vidar6

Congratulation, well done indeed :thumbs:

Would have loved too, but this weekend family calls. I'm strongly considering Grafham or Rutland next Saturday.

Grafham and pike is not an easy combination, and location is perhaps more essential than most waters I've fished.

It is really only the potential record for the 8Ib line class they are talking about and nothing to do witH an overall record. Although I'm certain many UK matchmen have landed similar sized pike on much lighter lines. Anyone remember the AN Lower Itchen Grayling fish-in some years back where my wife hooked, and I landed, a pike topping 17Ib on Drennan 3.6Ib Floatfish line and a no 16 hook.

When vertical jigging for zander I tend to move the jig from the bottom and no more than 2 feet off, if that. With the dropshot rig the distance from the bottom is sort of set and if you use of stand-out hook there is very little need for any additional movement other than the boats drift speed, and all I do is to give it a wiggle from time to time. However, when I fish a dropshot rig for perch I tend to fish it a lot more actively.

I tend to carry two rods, one for vertical jigging and one rigged for dropshotting. Yes, Rutland has been fishing its head off this autumn, but as you say the average size is much smaller than Grafham. I was going to fish Sunday too, but three days on Grafham in freezing cold and windy conditions knocked the stuffing out of me so I had to cancel. I am however going back a few more times before it closes so if you fancy coming with me for a day out on the water let me know??

Had another couple of sessions on Grafham last week and managed a handful od Zed's up to 9.5Ib. By the way, I have been using dropshotting techniques for a very long time, and it is for certain anything but crude :)

I no longer bother with a stinger on smaller lures to say about 3-3.5" or when casting from the bank as it is normally far to much hassle with snags and/or weed. I have experimented many times, but for me the tiny increase in hookups, if any at all, doesn't justify the hassle. However, when vertical jigging for zander from a boat I always use a stinger.

Thanks :)

As always the biggest problem is to find the fish on such a huge place as Grafham, nevermind catching them :) Rutland has a good head of smaller zander, but again just finding them :rolleyes:

Yes, it is :D Although, I would recommend somwhere other than Grafham if you want to try it out for the first time as it is a very difficult nut to crack.

Now that is well done :clap: :clap:

Yes, very happy with that one as it my biggest UK zander, but still a bit to go before I beat my PB of 16.5Ib that was was caught in Norway 15-16 years ago :D

Yup, it was Grafham, and you are spot on that the wind makes boat control next to impossible, especially now when bringing your own electric trolling motor is banned due to some numpty short-circuiting his battery terminals and causing a small fire on the boat . Even with a drogue the drift is much too fast rendering correct presentation of the jig very difficult indeed. I’ve only been to Grafham once this year, where as I say the wind made vertical jigging impossible, but the last two trips of the previous season brought me an 8.5, 10.5 and a 14.13Ib zander plus a cracking perch just a shade under 3Ib.

Good spot :thumbs: Yes, the wind was very awkward indeed and I had to give up vertical jigging for the zander as it was more like slow trolling, but whith a consolation prize like that I'm happy.