Russell Fitzpatrick

this is what i would do... i'd feed chopped lobs and red maggots for at least half an hour,build up the swim,then i would leger or float fish 2 large lobs,if i was legering i would pop the lob up a few inches off the bottom,i like to use fox leger stems or a decent run ring when legering,i use drop off indicators too or light bobbins. size 6-4 hooks 5lb mainline lead of at least 2oz for ledgering and for float fishing a waggler would suffice or a chubber float,again i would use a run ring,with a length of mono,attach the shot to this not on the line -less resistance.fish one rod in open water and one close to the cover,see wich area produces.go for an early morning,just as it gets light and just before dark. i'm sure you will get a few replys,probably better than my ideas but its a starting point! lives or deads would sort out the better fish but dont fret,my PB was on double lobs.

rods i use for both pike and zander are 2.75's but they are quite soft,made of a glass fibre mix i think,deffo not carbon,always been ok for carp and cats too! good luck kestrel i'm sure you'll be alright!

cheers guys, thats the gore-tex DPM! better than realtree it looks like its at night but it was bang on dusk,from a pit too,had my first 2+ the next morning

this is what real baby zander look like,these are french zeds no difrent to ours tho

our perch are large when they get over 2lb,once that size they are classed as specimen size,this is my biggest a fish i am very proud of,sorry i couldnt resist-it weighed 3lb 9oz

i did ask for it.... made intresting reading tho,didnt realise there were alot more fish out there that are similar to zeds,apart from the walleye of course,love to see some pics of em,might have a google. talking of there eyes,thats one of teh things i love about zander,they have that glowing pink eye in photos taken at night,looks mad! mark will probably know what the "record" was,anything zander... MB knows! thanks for the waffle!

i fished it once for cats,my mate bagged a 27+ mirror on pellets,16mm's two of them i think,fished close in,from teh duff corner swim,we had 2 20+cats,and a 7+ tench too so much for teh duff swim!

i too use braid for both pike and zeds,never really had a problem,i did bump and lose a few fish, a change to a single size 2 korda wide gape sorted that out! on my close in rod i use 15lb mono,really for no other reason than i had to strip the braid off one night and havent yet repleced it. i never use mono for trotting/drifting float fished baits only for float legering will i use mono with floats,no control lack of feel and more omportantly braid floats well!

really? bit of a mix up! so they are closely realted,thought as much, more budgie waffle please

apprently they are a difrent species(probably closely related,as perch are a cousin of zander),over here altho it is frowned upon,pubs in the fenland areas offer pike and zander on the menus,never tried it myself but zander are supposed to taste very nice,personally i think they should all be put back not eaten.. zander in the US would almost certainly be imported?

A) How long have you been fishing after the age of 12? 4 years-break then about another 4 years How many days a year do you fish? pretty much every weekend C) How many times have you had your Rod Licence checked (by official WA/NRA/EA baillif as opposed to club baillif or fishery owner)? 4 times last year,once this year

for me it has to be the pike,i love'em simple as really, many ways to target them also,and they look like they mean buissness and have brilliant markings,my favourite is river pike,a close second is the chub, chub are a funny species that eat anything,omnivorous, theycan be easy one day and damn difficult the next,the bigger they are,the harder they are to tempt,they dont grow enourmous but my god a real biggie is quite a challenge,the wary'ist of all fish in my opinion.This winter i aim to get a real good'un(6lb+) on a fish bait,most likely a deadbait. zander also run close second(like walleye) not caught many but they are a fascinating fish over here,not alot is known about them ,they still have a bit of mystery to them. they look like a proper predator too! i mainly fish for predators,so i am a little biased! (big perch are awesome creatures too!)

maybe due to teh warm weather,eels love warm weather,i would have thought thier would be carp in there,also tench and jack pike,nice to see you can still catch in an inner city canal.

i use fox drop offs and open bail arms,even on rivers or drains that have a decent flow,some of my friends use lighly set baitrunners and carp style bobbins,doesnt do tooo much harm,but in winter when its really cold especially at night,the zander can be very very finicky so they often revert back to drop offs and open bails, same goes for rigs,resistance free at all times.

had a PM last night,(before we got hacked) and have another wanting soem help,thats 2 attending fitzy's pike school

no problem ali,have a good day out,let me know if you cant contact mr nice

me too i just posted on the caorse forum,never mind i can remeber what i posted on last night,we all sorted now then?

cheers ferret i thought i was going loopy!

hi all i replied to several posts last night,my posts are gone and it looks like its reverted back to teh same as yesterday, i also got a PM yesterday,i replied to it but i got exactly teh same one again today,i also replied on teh zander indication thread yesterday there was several dozedn replies now theres only one? can you guys tell me if you can see what i cant,i think its my computer,but teh otherforums i go on are ok. help its freaking ,me out

gerry-good to see ya on-line fella,hope ya getting better mate those pike are waiting for ya

well done jamie good luck hope all goes well fella,hopefully i can get mr horton to bring the lea valley region alive again!

no problem mate my mate mr nice will sort you right out,hes a good laugh n all, tight lines! thanks jamie,budgie and of course mr nice

i have already offered to take matt hillman out and show him how to pike fish safely,and hes up for it we just have to sort out a date. its a good idea anderoo,i'm in east london/essex/hertfordshire ie anywhere i can get a quick train to really,wich is loads a places!

hi ali,i have contacted a friend who lives near you,explained the situation,and hes happy to help you out,i have given him teh details of this thread so he willl be in touch soon...once you catch or see one theres no going back! good luck mate,n tight lines

ali are you anywhere near needham market? i might know a chap who can help you