Canal Zander – Music to my Ears

With the river out of sorts and Sam eager for a fishing session I did offer the ‘joys’ sat at a mud puddle to catch some ten a penny lipless mud sifters but no, he asked.

“I want to catch a Zander on the canal”

Couldn’t have Zed it better….

Now luckily for us there is plenty to go at in the locality and as someone who fishes for them exclusively in the closed season I’m a dab hand at catching them too.

And some bigger ones have graced my net 7, 8 and 9 lbers.

My standard method I leapfrogging areas of cover with two rods till the fish are found.

In the winter they tend to be laid up and then that’s when the bigger fish usually reveal themselves and in the summer and autumn months they move around in packs and pockets where multiple captures and runs can be achieved.

The float set-up goes like this from top to bottom, float stop, white bead, small inline pike float (Drennan Zeppler being my favourite) drilled bullet, quick change bead, 18lb fluorocarbon and then a offset Sakuma Manta size 1. It’s been perfected over many a trip, by fishing over-depth the float sits angled or dead flat on the surface and any interest on the Roach deadbait is easy to see.

When the fish picks up the bait the runs are brilliant to see, they can go from left to right in stages, can go from static to quick in a split second and then in an entirely random fashion.

But staring at floats ain’t for little Sam at the minute, he needs to be a little more active.

So I was behind the floats he had a lure rod equipped with a Berkley Havoc white worm to work the margins.

After an hour or so without much happening in a couple of usual hotspots Sam had a little Zander drop off the lure.

Gutted he was….

But then the left hand float goes off and he’s witnessed his first Zander run….

It was only a small schoolie which is the norm but it had engulfed the bait so well it was acting like a gobstopper.

Hook removed, baits back out, nothing doing.

On to the next swim, this time Sam casting rather than working the margins a Zander took a liking to the lure. His first canal Zander was on, he is quite confident now playing fish and with him shouting

“Oh my God, oh my God !!!”

The fish was quickly landed, rod down

“High Five Dad” jumping in the process, “My first canal Zander”

He was well chuffed.

So with time against is it was on to the last swim. One bait tight to the lock overflow, the other in the middle of the channel, the lure working the edge.

Within minutes the roach deadbait tight to the brick was on the move but this time Sam wanted to strike and play the fish on the bigger rod.

And a good job of it, he did too.

A passer-by expecting him to be playing a small Perch not a 2lb Zander.

He went away happy, I well, I'm hoping he will become a fellow Zed head.