I’d always had a few Zander session planned before the season end and this was the first of those, even down to baits chosen, and areas to target.
However a spanner was put in the works….
I read an interesting article on Zander the other day you see ( Zander and how to Catch Them - Barrie Rickards ) about using Smelt, which for targeting Zeds, was one of his favoured baits, even over coarse fish such as Roach which I exclusively use and have had some good results from.
You see apparently one feature of them , is that when still fully frozen they float, so they can be fished pop-up style’e for half an hour or so before the bait would eventually sink to the bed where it will remain as a bottom bait. Now after sorting through the bait freezer the other day I came upon some smelt I forgot I had.
Not only that but after waking up early and trying to get back to sleep, I’d had a half awake, half asleep dream where some of the above was part of it, and guess what, it ended with a big Zander in the net. The so naturally once fully compos mentis after a strong cup of Java Lava that dictated a future session and a plan was hatched. Maybe it was a sign or premonition, I wonder….
As someone susceptible to vivid dreams and also because I’m an identical twin which I’m sure adds to the subconscious going on in my brain, it was something I could relate to. Premonitions are a feeling that something is going to happen - it is foretelling the future. Most people have experienced premonitions to one degree or another. The phone rings and you "know" who it is calling, even though the call was unexpected. Sometimes the premonition isn't as specific, but just as strong or stronger. Perhaps a great, unexplained feeling of sadness has been bothering you all day. It is only later that you learn that a close relative has died.
There are many such instances that we experience now and then, and sometimes (skeptics would say always) they can be attributed to mere coincidence. Others say there's no such thing as coincidence, but that's another topic.
As someone susceptible to vivid dreams and also because I’m an identical twin which I’m sure adds to the subconscious going on in my brain, it was something I could relate to. Premonitions are a feeling that something is going to happen - it is foretelling the future. Most people have experienced premonitions to one degree or another. The phone rings and you "know" who it is calling, even though the call was unexpected. Sometimes the premonition isn't as specific, but just as strong or stronger. Perhaps a great, unexplained feeling of sadness has been bothering you all day. It is only later that you learn that a close relative has died.
There are many such instances that we experience now and then, and sometimes (skeptics would say always) they can be attributed to mere coincidence. Others say there's no such thing as coincidence, but that's another topic.
There are times, however, when a premonition is so strong that the one experiencing it has little doubt that it is going to happen. These powerful premonitions are much rarer but happen often enough that some paranormal researchers believe they are real.
Some people seem to be more sensitive to these types of feelings and may be called "sensitives" or "psychics."
These feelings are also most powerful among close relatives (I’m an identical twin), where the psychic bond seems to be strongest. And if this talk of "psychic bonds" irks you as sounding like New Age gobbledygook, consider that even some mainstream scientists, quantum physicists and psychiatrists alike, understand more and more that all human consciousness is connected.
Premonitions can be as subtle as a gnawing feeling or can be so overwhelming that they jolt you out of your everyday routine and prevent you from thinking of little else. They can be vague, nothing more than a feeling, or they can be so vivid that some experiencers say it is like watching a film. Premonitions can foretell something that happens a minute later... or weeks or even many months later. They can come while you're doing the dishes or they can come in dreams.
So naturally once fully compos mentis after a strong cup of Java Lava that dictated a future session and a plan was hatched, need to get it out of my mind, otherwise I’d be looking at more sleepless nights.
I’ve tried a few times over the past couple of months for Zander, and in my usual ‘reasonably’ productive areas too with little or no success. In-fact thinking about it, the last decent fish I had (7lb 6oz) came to a lure I think, when the lily pads were still around. So for this session I decided to fish a two part session to give me more of a chance of tempting one.
The first part, up at the deep bit I found that I’d lost a good fish and banked a few when a shoal moved in, and the second, in shallower water where it’s more oxygenated where , again I’d caught fish before. The conditions are certainly not favourable for Zander as they would likely still be shivering, tucked away with their winter coats, but hey, put a bait in front of its nose. Hopefully it would be an offer they couldn’t refuse.
With the river season coming to an end, got to keep the motion going even though a blank is most likely to be on the cards. Like many a fish, Zander don’t like winter, they are far easy to catch in the autumn for example.
“Mick, enough of the preamble did you catch anything ?” I hear you cry….
Baits out in the deep bit at dawn, twiddle ones thumbs, watch the nesting cormorants nothing doing.2 hours pass without as much as a bleep, baits changed a couple of three times, Roach on one rod. Time to move down I think. Again baits out, feeling a little bored. Decided to get the cheesepaste out on the Chevin set-up I had. Luckily with minutes the tip is being pulled round and a small Chub takes the bait.
Deadbaits again, are not doing it as all. I gave it an hour and a bit, so again, time to move down. Weirdly this was a place I least expected to get one as a match that took place here over the weekend can out them off. But the left hand rod with a smelt on goes and a fish is on. I thought it was a decent Zander at first the way it was plodding about, but no a Pike, surfaced. Ok not the fish I was after but welcome all the same.
10lb 3oz, so a double but I'd have rather it been a Zander. Oh well. It had a distinctive mouth affliction so easy recognisable if I catch it again. With the season fast coming to an end and hopefully the water starting to warm up a little. Eels and Carp will be on the agenda before the close. With maybe a brook trip and a few Chub trips in-between.
Some people seem to be more sensitive to these types of feelings and may be called "sensitives" or "psychics."
These feelings are also most powerful among close relatives (I’m an identical twin), where the psychic bond seems to be strongest. And if this talk of "psychic bonds" irks you as sounding like New Age gobbledygook, consider that even some mainstream scientists, quantum physicists and psychiatrists alike, understand more and more that all human consciousness is connected.
Premonitions can be as subtle as a gnawing feeling or can be so overwhelming that they jolt you out of your everyday routine and prevent you from thinking of little else. They can be vague, nothing more than a feeling, or they can be so vivid that some experiencers say it is like watching a film. Premonitions can foretell something that happens a minute later... or weeks or even many months later. They can come while you're doing the dishes or they can come in dreams.
So naturally once fully compos mentis after a strong cup of Java Lava that dictated a future session and a plan was hatched, need to get it out of my mind, otherwise I’d be looking at more sleepless nights.
I’ve tried a few times over the past couple of months for Zander, and in my usual ‘reasonably’ productive areas too with little or no success. In-fact thinking about it, the last decent fish I had (7lb 6oz) came to a lure I think, when the lily pads were still around. So for this session I decided to fish a two part session to give me more of a chance of tempting one.
The first part, up at the deep bit I found that I’d lost a good fish and banked a few when a shoal moved in, and the second, in shallower water where it’s more oxygenated where , again I’d caught fish before. The conditions are certainly not favourable for Zander as they would likely still be shivering, tucked away with their winter coats, but hey, put a bait in front of its nose. Hopefully it would be an offer they couldn’t refuse.
With the river season coming to an end, got to keep the motion going even though a blank is most likely to be on the cards. Like many a fish, Zander don’t like winter, they are far easy to catch in the autumn for example.
“Mick, enough of the preamble did you catch anything ?” I hear you cry….
Baits out in the deep bit at dawn, twiddle ones thumbs, watch the nesting cormorants nothing doing.2 hours pass without as much as a bleep, baits changed a couple of three times, Roach on one rod. Time to move down I think. Again baits out, feeling a little bored. Decided to get the cheesepaste out on the Chevin set-up I had. Luckily with minutes the tip is being pulled round and a small Chub takes the bait.
Deadbaits again, are not doing it as all. I gave it an hour and a bit, so again, time to move down. Weirdly this was a place I least expected to get one as a match that took place here over the weekend can out them off. But the left hand rod with a smelt on goes and a fish is on. I thought it was a decent Zander at first the way it was plodding about, but no a Pike, surfaced. Ok not the fish I was after but welcome all the same.
10lb 3oz, so a double but I'd have rather it been a Zander. Oh well. It had a distinctive mouth affliction so easy recognisable if I catch it again. With the season fast coming to an end and hopefully the water starting to warm up a little. Eels and Carp will be on the agenda before the close. With maybe a brook trip and a few Chub trips in-between.
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