July and August Are Zander Months!
July and August are the best times of the year for trolling zander. When the water is warm, the zander are active and usually prey near the surface, where they are easy to catch. The most favourable time of day for zander fishing is evening and night. Usually, the best catches are made at sunset and shortly thereafter. You can also catch zander during the day, but in the evening it is easiest. The great thing about zander fishing is that the best weather conditions for it occur on calm, sunny summer evenings, when you can enjoy being near the water even if you don't catch any fish. You can find trolling equipment in our trolling product category.
The best zander spots
During the day, zander can best be caught near lake deeps, open water rocks and shallows. On the edges of lake deeps, the lake bottom deepens rapidly from, for example, three metres to ten metres. Smaller fish usually concentrate in these places, and zander prey on them. If you are trolling zander during the day, you may want to try weighing the lures a little deeper into the middle water layer, for example with trolling weights or double lures.
In the evening and at night, you can try to catch zander in open waters near the surface. There can be up to 30 meters of water under your boat, but you can still catch zander from the surface! As it gets darker, the smaller fish rise to the surface and zander follow to eat them. The best type of weather for catching zander is a calm and warm summer evening. In windy weather, you may also want to try fishing a little deeper, for example with a double lure or weights.
When you catch your first zander, it’s a good idea to make a note of the spot, either on a chartplotter or—if you don’t already have one on your boat—you can try to memorize the place using landmarks. This is because zander often swim in schools, and there is a high probability of catching several zander from the same place.
Recommended techniques
You can easily get started with zander trolling with just a few trolling sets. You can use the same equipment you use for pike trolling, or trolling sets for beginners that contain all necessary equipment. The rods can be placed on both sides of the boat, with the tips of the rods close to the water surface in so-called 'direct pull'. In addition, you can use small planer boards, which are very effective in zander fishing. A good starter kit could look like this: place one rod with a small planer board and another rod in a direct pull on each side of the boat, that is, a total of four rods.
In zander fishing, about 20-40 metres of line is released, depending on the lure and depth. Weights and divers as well as double lures are also effective tools for zander fishing. These come in handy when it is windy and zander are swimming a little deeper. The right trolling speed for zander depends on the lures used, but 3.5-4 km/h is a pretty good speed at which to start.
Lures
Slim plugs are traditionally used as zander lures. Well-known and well-proven plugs include, for example, Bomber 15A and HK-Varma. Recommended deep water lures include the Rapala Shad Rap and weighted lures. You may want to try deep water lures or weighted lures in a double lure when you want the lures to dive deeper than the surface. Natural colours, such as black and silver or black and gold, work best for zander. However, often something a little brighter, like fluorescent yellow, might also be necessary.
TEXT:
Tuomas Hutri and Jussi Hutri
KuhanVetäsen Trolling Team
KuhanVetäsen Trolling Team is a partner of the Happy Angler online fishing store.
