Zander fishing

[Vagabond]

Are you coming on the zander fishin Dave ?

I think so - see post on verticle jigging thread

[Tigger]

I think so - see post on verticle jigging thread

 

 

Nice one Dave .

[Vagabond]

. Despite being small they were in a very aggressive mood today, the bigger the lure and the more exaggeration the action, the harder they hit it.

Is that atypical? 'cos that was what I initially expected (see vert jigging thread) but you said not

[Vagabond]

A funny thing happened out there today - jigging along the bottom in 60ft of water, I snagged something that I could only just move. Eventually I got it up.

 

It was the drogue I lost about 6 weeks ago!

 

The odds of anyone picking it up off the bottom must be thousands to one, the odds of me picking it up must be minuscule!

 

 

Brilliant !

 

However, for future reference, remember Dick Walker's advice "If ever you fluke anything, never let on you are surprised - act as if you meant to do it"

 

ie You would have said to your boat partner. "Ah, I thought it must have finished up about here"

[Vagabond]

they were really aggressive today, savage takes and good hard scraps

....and again (see#153)

 

...or does the nature of the take vary ?

Edited August 26, 2014 by Vagabond

[Anderoo]

It varies and on some days they can be really quite aggressive but it isn't typical, and I wouldn't go expecting to get really positive bites or you could end up missing a lot of fish...

[Anderoo]

...also once you've done a bit of it and you get used to it all, what you consider a 'savage bite' changes - even when they hit the lure hard it's still very rare to get the kind of wallop like you do from a pike, it's more like a short sharp 'donk' or 'rap'. Plus it's still very possible to miss the savage bites if you don't strike quick enough!

[Anderoo]

I miss the zander fishing - already looking forward to September...!

 

...and now it's only 4 days away! Really looking forward to it, got several new toys to play with this autumn too

[Phone]

Anderoo,

 

I agree with you on the walleye "bite". After your bait sinks to the bottom retrieve with a series of twitches and pauses. After each twitch maintain a taut line while the jig (lure) sinks back to the bottom. Walleyes usually hit while the jig is sinking. If your line is not taut you won’t feel a strike, sometimes you will feel a distinctive tap, other times you will feel light pressure as if the jig is hung up. Whenever you feel anything different set the hook. IMO when fishing with jigs a must have is a fast action sensitive rod so you can feel even the lightest taps, the fast action gives the power for an immediate hookset. Also a good case can be made for braid mainline.

 

Your next challenge are the bottom bouncers or "walking rigs".

 

Phone

[Anderoo]

Thanks for that Phone. A couple of questions for you:

 

1. what advantages do bottom bouncers have over shads + jig heads and in what conditions would you use them?

 

2. what are the US bass like when you catch them on lures - 'delicate' like zander/walleye or 'aggressive' like pike?

 

I'd love to fish for your bass with lures!