'Not Quite' The Close Season Zander Quest Pt.142 – Vbucks and Vagaries

The weather kind still, the kettle not quite under its protective cover yet, the relatively lackluster summer still holding on, the sun still shining. The river tough going at the minute, things are on the turn though, that cold autumnal air comes and goes and when it's there noon and night, the fish start to feed. Munching a homemade burger thinking about where to fish, Zander appeared in one's mind again. The bigger Zander seem to show themselves more when the weather changes for the better for us anglers.

Last week you see the canal Zander were on it so to speak, a shoal located, bite after bite, this one particular overhanging bush a haven for these hardy creatures. If I ever fall on hard times I know what I would feed the family on, smoked Zander for breakfast, a Zander salad for lunch and a Zander curry for tea. For someone who has caught hundreds and hundreds of these fascinating creatures I've yet to try one.

They were as rowdy as those 'couldn't organise a pee up in their own brewery' MP's in the House of Commons, they needed ASBO's dishing out for their behaviour and all given a restraining order, especially the speaker of the house who appeared to be auditioning for some naff

American sitcom such his over the top acting and verbal bullying. Luckily for me the Skullcandy Crushers and repetitive beats doing their best to shield me from this utter National Embarrassment.

Anyway back to the fishing when they are on this though, it has to be seen to be believed. Unless you fish for Zander as much as I do, those sessions are few and far between, but when they do happen it is an eyeopener, it really is.

No big'uns from the last session though, ok a 4 pounder would be a waspers delight, but not the scale of fish I am after....

....I'm after a >80 cm fish that I know swims within these turbid waters.

A change of fortune is all you need though....

"Sam what would you do if you won £133,000,000 on the EuroMillions ?"

"I'd buy loads of Vbucks and play Fortnite for a week because Mummy won't buy me any !!!!"

"Errrrrrrrrrrr ok"

And it's a change of fortune I need you see, the search for a double figure Zander continues and I'm no closer to bringing this stupid quest of mine to its conclusion. There are some encouraging signs though, the Zed size and biomass on the increase in this area and the transient bigger fish can appear anytime when you least expect it. Sometimes though it's nice just getting bites, the overdepth float set-ups I use a visual treat when the smelt gets some interest.

Back on track I've got some fishing to do. This was a session of convenience, one where the tyres on the Wife's new car would stay clean, the terrain easily negotiable before my new wagon turn up that will get me anywhere I decide to go. So all change on the car front,I think the neighbours might think we've won the lottery, but then I've cashed some of my hard earned chips in.

What a lovely morning, 5.5 degrees when I got bankside at 7.00am and the sun came up nice and strong. The Zander though were another story, compared to last week bites were hard to come by, in-fact only two runs and one fish banked. The blue-green algae was more prominent this week though so maybe that had some effect on the fishing. For sure the oxygen would be less and that could well labour the fish from feeding.