Monday, March 21, 2011

Zander Fishing- lures, spots, technique

How to catch a zander ???

Zander (pike-perch) is a fantastic sport fish well known in almost whole Europe. it grows over 20kg (44 pounds), but typical catches are much smaller of course. most common are zanders between 1 and 6kg (2 - 13 pounds). Zander is a close cousin of American walleye.


Zander lives in lakes, dam reservoirs, rivers and in Baltic sea also. The best are deep spots with sand, rocks or gravel at the bottom. Of course zanders sometimes, when feeding come near to the shoreline and feed on fry in very shallow places. This situation occurs mainly at night. After sunrise it is better to find zanders near to sunken tree rots, big rocks, etc..





Zander fishing is VERY popular in Poland. That is why you need to find some special lures or techniques to achieve success. I have got 3 main types of lures, that I use regular 

1)POLISH JIG - "KOGUT" is a fantastic lure - invented in south of Poland at about 20 years ago. For a long time it was a good protected secret. Now everyone knows about "kogut" but not everyone knows how to make it and how to use it. I make this jigs by myself. Sometimes even my friends want me to do a few "Koguty" for them. I will write soon a tutorial "How to make your own polish jig - kogut". I'm using "Kogut" 70% of time when fishing for zander.



2) Most popular group are softlures with relatively heavy jig heads. If the depth of your spot is 3m (10ft), you should use 14 - 28g (1/2 - 1oz) jig head. The key is to raise your lure very fast from the bottom and let it fall down again. 90% bites comes when jig is falling down, so it is necessary to have great contact with your lure.



My favourite jigs are:

  • Relax kopyto, california, clonay
  • Lunker city shaker
  • Dragon lunatic














3) Last, but not least group are slender crankbaits and slashbaits. They are fantastic lures, when zanders come to shallow spots to feed on fry. Most people use them only in rivers, but I do this in lakes and dam reservoirs too. In this group  I use mainly:




  • Salmo sting 6cm, 9cm floating, suspending and sinking
  • Rapala husky jerk, original
  • Kamatsu jointed minnow
  • Salmo minnow shallow runner and super deep runner



All this lures are effective, when you find zanders and use your lure correct. Zander fishing is quite difficult and it is necessary to learn all the time, but catching a BIG zander is the best reward.


16 comments:

  1. Hi Jarek,
    That is very good information, I never knew that Zander even grew that big, Makes them more appealing, Your Koguts look easy enough to make, I wonder if they would be so sucsesful in the UK, Or maybe the Pike might like a tast,
    Great Blogging,
    ,,,Paddy,,,

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  2. Great info Jarek! Zander or walleye, it seems they like the same things. One popular lure here, similar to your Kogut, is a bucktail jig. It's fished exactly the same way.

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  3. Very interesting blog Jarek. Enjoyed it very much!

    Phillip

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  4. Great blog Jarek, very interesting indeed. Your lure collection is awesome and those danube salmon look scary as hell!

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  5. All very interesting information, Jarek. Thanks for sharing your tackle selection with us. I have very limited experience with "Walleye" so can use all the help I can get.

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  6. Jarek,
    In North America, the Walleye is one of the best fish to eat. Do fisherman in Poland eat Zander?
    (Great post!!!)

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  7. Hi Raz! Zander is my favourite fish to cach and to eat. Lot of fisherman release zander with "Catch&Release" rule in mind. Lot of them also eat zander sometimes and sometimes release them. I personaly eat smaller one often (2 - 6lb) Bigger ones deserve for freedom:) Zander is beautiful fish and we want them more in our fisheries!

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  8. I like the pictures of the Koguts. They are almost like our Bucktail jigs we make here. How does the color Chartreuse work over there (combination of yellow and green) it works very well here.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. Hi Steven!
    I know this color good. When I buy cook capes using english color names :)

    This color works good and I use it sometimes, but for me the best are:
    - brown
    - white
    - grizzly

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  11. that is a GREAT selection!! Great blog! You got a new follower

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  12. Nice to see that you posted about it in a very detailed manner. It's true that using special lures will raise a fisher's chance of catching any fish he likes. But shouldn't skill be also considered in this matter?

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  13. Hi David!
    Yes of course! If ou want to catch a fish, you need to find it, next step is to choose a suitable lure, but most important thing next to LOATION is PRESENTATION. It is also easier to present the best suitable lure for this concrete occasion. On my blog I'm describing mostly spots and lures, bacause you can't learn lure presentation at home. It is necsary to practice a lot! And when I practice more I figure out ho much I have to learn.... :)
    Best regards!
    Jarek

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    ReplyDelete
  15. They look very similar to our walleye, very nice fish. Love the tackle collection!

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  16. Zander and walleye are almost the same species :)

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