June is one of the best months for zander. Where to look for these predators at the beginning of the season – in the shallows or in deep water?
The zander season is now beginning. Just like every year – the beginnings will not be easy. In theory, June is the best month of the season, however, before we start fishing successfully, we must first locate the fish positions.
It all depends on the weather conditions, specifically from this, what the weather has been like in the last few weeks. If all of May was cool, We look for zander in shallow places, because these predators spawned later. This was the case last year, for example. At the beginning of June, my friend and I caught a lot of zander near the reeds. We had bites at two meters deep. We weren't expecting zander - we wanted to catch pike.
Hatching care
Perhaps zanders stayed with the reeds for so long due to the care of spawning nests with complex roe. I consider, that the fish attacked our large lures not out of hunger, but only out of the desire to drive away the intruder, which could somehow endanger their brooding. So all caught fish went back to the water. According to the regulations, the zander season has already started, however having doubts, whether the fish we catch are not guarding their offspring yet, we preferred, for your own psychological comfort, give them back freedom… If all of May was warm, the parental care of zanders over their offspring ends much faster and the fish successively leave the spawning grounds. After some time, the zanders no longer stand at a depth of one and a half, three meters, but much deeper. This was the case, for example, two years ago, when at the beginning of June I had the most strikes at a depth of about eight meters. Locating a good zander fishery at great depth is not easy, because these predators often scatter across the lake. When fishing in open water, I always try to penetrate all the deepest places first. The bait (dead fish or ripper) I drive as slowly as possible. By opting for a sinking wobbler, I make long breaks in reeling the line (the wobbler hits the bottom lightly), and then with a gentle movement I pull the lure on the rod tip.
In zander fisheries, where a thermocline is formed, that is, a transition layer in the thermal layer of water, I always pay attention, at what depth does it begin. For longer periods of sunny weather, the border of the transition layer is moving ever deeper, because it "displaces” it is constantly growing ("Thickening”) subsurface layer of heated water. At the beginning of the season, zander often stand in warm water just above the thermocline.
Windward zanders
When looking for zander, we should focus mainly on places with well-oxygenated water. Usually these are the windward shores of water reservoirs.
Shores, in the direction of which the wind often blows, as a rule, they also have a harder bottom, which suits zander very much. In our latitude, with so frequent western winds, in many reservoirs, the best zander fisheries are almost always on the eastern shores.
Near the windward shores, the water is almost always slightly cloudy due to the breaking of the waves. This is very beneficial from an angling point of view – the dimmer the water, in these shallower places there are good zander fishing grounds.
I always determine the optimal depth of fishing experimentally. I lower the white twister into the water and if, at a depth of one meter, the lure is no longer visible, I'm fishing two meters below the surface. If after lowering to one and a half meters, the twister is still visible, I lead it later at a depth of about four meters.
We should use the days of waiting for the zander season to start to prepare the equipment, check, whether something needs to be repaired or replaced. The most important thing is to carefully examine all the hooks on artificial baits and the hooks of hooks in systems for catching dead fish.. We replace the hooks that are no longer fit for use with new ones; blunt, but still good, we sharpen.
Preserving with fragrance
A slight corrosion of the anchor does not interfere with anything. Most often, only the surface of the metal is rusty. Smear the corroded place with an oily fragrance and, if necessary, sharpen it. The enhanced effectiveness of the artificial bait after the application of the fragrance is believed or not. The oily agent inhibits further corrosion. It is equally important to check the guides carefully, especially chrome.
To do this, just pull the nylon stocking through the eyelet. If it gets slightly hooked, it is necessary to replace the grommet. Otherwise it can happen, that we will lose the first zander this season during the haul.