Zander fishing: The free no1 guide for beginners!

Zander fishing is a wonderful pastime. For me, this 'spine knight' is the most beautiful predatory fish to catch. Fickle sometimes, but all too often they eagerly pounce on our bait. They can be caught on natural bait (piece of fish, worms) or on artificial bait. I will limit myself to this last group in this blog. I will discuss material, choice of cuttings and basic techniques in this Blog. Enjoy reading!

Why pike-perch fishing? 

Well, why is pike-perch fishing so much fun? Firstly, because it is a mighty beautiful fish to see. And secondly, because the bite from a friend's pike-perch can often come through so terribly hard! I can tell you that the latter in particular is really super addictive. Just ask seasoned shad fishermen what appeals to them and 9 out of 10 will mention the bite. Of course they don't always hit it hard... sometimes they can only give the bait a gentle 'lick', or they hang on it in one go. Plenty of variety, so to speak. And sometimes, yes, that happens too, they just get stuck and don't feel like it. This risk is especially high in highly variable weather.

All this together makes the pike-perch a fascinating sport fish for me!

Zander on a paddle tail 'de BAM Elst' J

Basic equipment

To start fishing pike-perch, a shad rod of approximately 260cm to 275cm is ideal. This rod must have a strong backbone. This means that the starting part of the rod should be quite stiff and should not sway too much when the rod is moved. The tip of the rod, on the other hand, must be sensitive. This is to transmit the smallest bites flawlessly. As a reel I would recommend a 2500 model. Many manufacturers have this size reel in their range. Combine this with a 0.07 to 0.10mm braided line, some Tungsten jig heads and shads and you are well on your way.

Shads, soft baits for pike-perch

Shads, also called soft baits, come in shapes and sizes. The guideline is that things can be a little less frivolous in winter. The action of the shad/soft bait may have less action. A good winter shade is, for example, a 'Fin S' from lunckercity. This directive is not legal, however. Sometimes pike-perch can also be caught very well in the summer on a so-called 'Non-action' shad such as this 'Fin S'.

The 'Fin S' 

In the summer pike-perch are often much more aggressive than in the colder months, so choose a shad that makes a bit more noise. A paddle tail is often a good choice. But please note, this is also a guideline and not a law unfortunately...

A paddletail shad… caught in the winter. That pike-perch is a fickle fish, isn't it? 

To colour

Entire books have been written about this. Obviously the action (or non-action) of your shad is very important, but don't underestimate the color. There are often days when switching to, for example, the color green with the same action produces action while they completely ignore the brown. The three colors that I always have with me are: Fluo Green, Yellow and brown. Fluo Green for somewhat cloudy (thick) water, Brown for clear water. Other good colors are yellow, white/black and pink.

Technology   

The technique of pike-perch fishing from the shore takes some practice. The simplest and effective way is: cast and when your shad hits the water, close the reel handle. As soon as you feel contact with the bottom, turn your reel one or two turns and wait until you feel contact with the bottom again. You can feel this 'making contact' (pop), but you can also see it on your rod tip. As soon as the top springs back you have contact with the bottom. This way you can comb the water in search of 'Sander lucioperca' or pike-perch. TIP: The rebound of your rod tip is best seen against a plain, different background, such as a blue or cloudy sky. 

Light or heavy fishing?

Try not to fish too light at first. The most important thing is to fish near the bottom and make occasional contact feels with the bottom. This works better in the beginning with heavier jig heads (14 grams and heavier). We once spent a boat day fishing on the Waal with wind force 5. Believe me, you won't prepare anything with a 14 gram cup, let alone even lighter. No, then the advice is to adapt to the circumstances! Put on a 28 gram jig head and start ramming. This adjustment allows you to continue to feel what you are doing, keep control of the wind and optimize your chances.

Strong wind and current? Adjust that jig head!

Installing a bottom line, or not?

When fishing for pike, a steel or titanium leader is definitely recommended. I normally fish with a leader of flexonit. I find the 0.36mm version in particular perfect for my pike-perch fishing. Please bear in mind that I often fish on the large fast-flowing rivers of our country. If this is not your 'hunting ground' then it can all be a little less thick. The flexonit 0.27mm is a nice alternative! 

Make your own shads!

You can buy shads in abundance, but it is much more fun to make your own! Because believe me, nothing is more beautiful than catching a big fish on something you have developed and made yourself! In an earlier blog I already discussed in detail about making your own pike-perch shads. The easiest thing to do is to start by copying a number of good-catching shads... In this BLOG you can read more about this here. If you want to get started right away, I can highly recommend our Pro Kit Perch & Zander. Follow this link to view all our softbait packages.

Finally

All beginnings are difficult and this certainly applies to pike-perch fishing with jighead and shads from the shore or from the boat. Nevertheless, these methods offer excellent opportunities to catch pike-perch. If you don't succeed the first time, don't give up, just keep trying and I'm sure you too will appreciate the pike-perch as one of the most beautiful sport fish in our little country!

Caught on a home-made shad… what a sight, isn't it?