Steve Walker

I would that obtaining enough maggots to get a worthwhile yield of casters is difficult or expensive?

Someone took a tea break from shovelling coal in the back of the server.

Phone - the tare; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicia_sativa

The Wingham lads were fishing small baits, usually fake, hair rigged over a bed of particles.

Probably helps to summarise that you aren't watching the tip for bites, you're feeling for them (and watching the line for slack).

Sharp hooks are indeed necessary. I bought some small fine wire trebles to make up the stingers, and I can confirm that they stung me repeatedly in handling them. Bloody evil things.

Fluoro - and yes, a knot is the answer. Rusty said that it was better for the action, and I added that it was better for the tip ring!

Oh, I've just remembered the other thing I did with the stinger - I put a little piece of silicone tubing on it to help snug the loop up to the eye of the jig.

Could be Alice...

Maybe check the rules, see if you can use trebles now. Its a lot less faff.

Tackle shop wasnt bad as I remember, but probably a lot cheaper to buy online. I always made the stingers up myself. Not too difficult. When they allowed trebles, I just tied one to a bit of heavy braid and made a tiny loop on the other end that would fit snugly over the eye of the jighead. With singles, same thing, but with a small bead to stop the hook pulling into the lure and a baiting needle to thread the line through the soft plastic.

I'm not far south of you John, and it's been bloody windy all day and there's been some short torrential rain.

Interesting article on walleye at depth here, where the author makes exactly your point; https://ontariofishingnetwork.com/2012/fishing-for-walleye-in-deep-water/ I think the situation at Rutland may be a bit peculiar in that you aren’t allowed to fish for them except in the autumn and winter, you are restricted at dawn and dusk by opening times and the shallows are not extensive and fairly barren. There are masses of small fish in the shallows but there are also lots of pike. So I suspect the zander spend the daytime in the deeps, eating each other, and only come into the shallows to feed after all the boats have docked.

Phone - I know what you mean - that action seems to work, but its more than I would normally use. Sometimes apparently deadsticking works, so its a matter of experimentation. Its a large drinking water supply reservoir so the water is pretty clear. In the boatyard I would say you can see the bottom in 10-15 feet. But youre generally fishing 40-90 feet down and its pretty dark down there. I once dropped my Waterwolf over the side to see how dark it was. There was a bit of an algal bloom that day, but even so... https://youtu.be/jhiyHRI6elA I suspect that the zander migrate to the shallows at night to feed, but in the day theyre usually pretty deep. You could get a topographical map, but its quite a big, featureless expanse of water so Im not sure how easy it would be to get much from it.

Also clatters into the tip ring if you aren't careful!

Oh, and as for time of year, this is when Anderoo and Kappa usually mount their campaign. And Grafham - I've not fished it, but I understand that the zander are a lot bigger but a lot fewer. Fair chance of a couple of decent fish. Fair chance of a blank too.

John, there's a lot to be said for having an echo sounder and someone who knows how to use it in the boat. Anderoo or Kappa are very good at it. You find suitable fish holding areas - slopes, drop-offs, features, etc - or sometimes just areas which are at the same depth you've been catching fish at - and then you drift over them. You use a drogue to slow your drift. It can be quite hard if there isn't enough wind to drift, but that's unusual. A lot of the anglers use H-markers - these: https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/fox-h-block-marker - you drop them, the line unwinds until it hits the bottom while the float stays at the top. You drop one where you have found fish and then aim to cover the same area on your next drift. You need heavy jigheads - you are fishing on the bottom in very deep water. A range from 20g to 50g would be sensible. And large, soft plastic lures. 5-6 inch ones, with stingers. Check the rules, there is a minimum lure size and last time I was there is was singles only for stingers, no trebles. You don't need massively heavy tackle. 10lb braid is about right, 8lb or 14lb would be fine. The heavier (thicker) the braid, the more lead you need to keep in touch with the bottom. You don't particularly need a very sensitive tip. I have a six foot Savage Gear vertical jigging rod. It's actually quite stiff, because it's designed more for giving action to the lure than for bite detection. Bites are felt through the rod or seen when the line goes slack on the drop. Nor do you need something as heavy as a pike rod. The rods you describe should be OK. Not perfect, but OK. If you want an actual jigging rod, you can pick them up for £30-£50, though they are a bit of a specialised rod to buy and you might not get much use out of it. Once fishing, you drop the lure right to the bottom. Then you quickly lift it a foot or two, then lower it, following the lure down and controlling the descent. Often bites occur on the descent, and are indicated by a slack line before you hit the bottom. Otherwise you are feeling for taps. The bites can be quite subtle. If there isn't enough wind to drift, you may need to cast and retrieve, jigging it over the bottom. That can be effective but it's a lot easier and more effective to jig vertically if you can. This was a few years back in the boat with Kappa (and a terrible head cold). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iurEaro7Dwo There's a classic slack line bite at 6:10 - watch as the lure stops before it hits the bottom. Should point out that we struggled for drift that day. We sometimes had to get it moving with the engine, but you're not allowed to troll under power. Just a matter of not taking the Mickey.

Chesters, Id have thought you would be all for a good outbreak of something, would ease the congestion!

John, I still quite like Drennan float fish for the stick, even though its nothing special in most respects. I mostly buy the posh stuff for hooklengths, though I have spooled a reel with 5lb power max for tench fishing and been pleased with it.

When really if they knew the truth they would have written Phone sneaked round and threw a bar of carbolic soap in my swim when I wasnt looking?

To be honest, John, on the line issue, I'd embrace the change. Some of the new lines are really excellent. That 2.1lb Perlon appears to have a diameter of .14mm. If you buy Preston Powerline, the .13mm has a stated BS of 4lb12oz.

John, you can catch loads of modest sized zander at Rutland Water while sitting on your bum and waggling a short rod up and down!

JV44 looked into it, he reckons its quite affordable if you can get two or three anglers together for it.

To be fair, hed be going down for 30 years if hed been planning to do that at a McDonalds in Bradford.

Dave, did you watch the Accidental Angler episode in Nepal? Those trout got shifted a long way!