In this blog, we highlight some aspects of pikeperch fishing during this period, especially fishing with shads. Other techniques will be covered later in various blogs.
June, a month when everything goes in all directions. And that exactly sums up what happens underwater: the fish, including the zander, move in all directions, the deeper typical winter spots where they were so compact are now abandoned, and most fish species have already spawned, depending, of course, on whether it has been a warm or cold spring.
Location
A commonly used term in real estate: Everything revolves around location! In fishing, it’s basically no different! This is just a tricky point in June, but there are certainly guidelines that can be very useful.
We base this on river fishing on the IJssel and the connected lakes. This is, of course, also perfectly applicable to other rivers such as the Waal, Rhine, and Lek. As mentioned earlier, it depends on whether the spring was cold or warm. With a colder spring and thus lower water temperature, the zander spawn takes place later, causing the zander to stay longer on and around their nests to protect their eggs and offspring from predation. These nests are usually located on clean sand and gravel bottoms in the adjacent lakes. These zander are anything but actively feeding but attack almost anything that comes near them. It is therefore often worthwhile during this period to cast in those shallow zones; you can sometimes still encounter nice stragglers!
If we are dealing with an average or somewhat warmer spring, the spawn takes place earlier, and in most cases, the zander will already be widely spread by the end of May, which can make locating them quite difficult.
Everywhere
Assuming an average spring, we can say that most zander are already more spread out, except for some late spawners still hanging around the nests in shallow water. These nests are often located in adjacent lakes, knowing that the zander will migrate from here back to the river itself, so zones/rock groyne series near these connected lakes are a very good starting point.
During this period, we can expect zander in all kinds of spots and water layers. Difficult? Yes, sometimes quite so, but also very fun because we can target them with various techniques during this period, think of shads, twitchbaits, crankbaits. More on that later; in this blog, we’ll stick to softbait fishing. Try to fish as versatile as possible during this period, start for example on the shallower stretches, and if there’s no action, then cast on the deeper spots. Thoroughly fish both the main current and the groyne pockets! And definitely fish the twilight hours into the dark, often the better specimens become active in the shallow water then!
Equipment
For average shad fishing from the groynes on the rivers, you’re best off with a somewhat longer rod, think 9ft or 270cm. With a longer rod, you can easily make longer casts and, when standing on the groyne, fish a bit further because you can keep the line better out of the riprap. Also, fish right up to the shore because bites often come just in front of your feet. The ideal casting weight for the zander rod is between 10 and 30 grams. The rod should be sensitive in the tip but also have enough backbone to set the hook well in the hard mouth of the zander. Here are some very good usable options; as you can see, there’s a suitable rod for every budget:
Now the reel, an important tool! The reel takes quite a beating in river fishing and must therefore be sturdy. Also, you hold it in your hands all day, so weight is an important consideration. In terms of size, you’re best off with a 3000 or 4000 model, depending on your personal preference. Shimano has various models within everyone’s budget that are very suitable for this type of fishing. The drag of Shimano is excellent, which is very important with the hard strikes right in front of your feet.
Lines
Today, there is a wide variety of lines available; naturally, we fish with braided lines. These lines have many advantages over nylon. For example, they have no stretch, which benefits the strike/hook setting, every bump on the bottom is felt so we always know what kind of bottom structure we are fishing over. Another big advantage of these braided lines is that they have much higher tensile strength at a thinner diameter, allowing us to fish much thinner, which means the current has less effect on the line and we have more direct contact with our bait. A line that our pro staffer Mick Rijnhout likes to fish with is the Shimano Kairiki 8; this line is very smooth, casts very well, and is very strong.
We equip the braided main line with a leader of about 80 cm of fluorocarbon with a thickness of 0.40 mm. This last piece comes into frequent contact with the bottom, and river bottoms are usually littered with sharp stones and mussels. Fluorocarbon is much more abrasion-resistant than the braided main line, so we ultimately lose less artificial bait, and it also offers a bit more security if a pike is hooked. We preferably attach this short leader directly to the main line for direct contact with your lure; a swivel is an unnecessary link here, but I do equip the leader with a sturdy snap so I can quickly and easily change lures.
Lures
Because we can expect zander literally everywhere during this period, it’s wise to bring several types of softbaits and jighead weights. Bring some shads between 7 and 15 cm and jigheads between 10 and 21 grams; with these, you can generally fish well in the main current but also cast along the shallow rocky edges, as they sometimes lie surprisingly close to the shore, especially in the evening hours when it starts to get dusk/dark.
In terms of colors, it’s best to choose very bright colors such as fluorescent yellow, fluorescent orange, chartreuse, and white. Also, bring some natural colors such as brown, black, olive green, and silver. These will work well in most situations. Zander can be quite fickle characters, and colors can definitely make the difference, especially during the day! In zander fishing at night, color is, in my opinion, not very decisive; then the profile and water displacement of a shad are more important.
Speaking of profile, make sure to bring some classic shads with more body and a paddle tail, also bring some slimmer shads with a smaller paddle tail for a more nervous action, and definitely don’t overlook the so-called V-tail shads; it doesn’t always have to move a lot, it’s different every day, and it’s up to you to figure out what the “mood of the day” is of the glass eyes!
Good luck, and maybe see you at the water’s edge or stop by our Experience Center in Apeldoorn if you want to know more about this exciting fishery!
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