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My name is Jeff Peacock and I am a predator angler. My main species are zander and pike but I also eel fish and do a bit of perch fishing, although I must admit not enough perch fishing.
I have caught many zander up to 14lb 8oz in weight and pike to 28lbs - still trying for a 'thirty' but unfortunately the waters I fish for pike only have a couple of fish of this size. I don't fish trout waters for the pike, as I believe a 'wild' pike is better than a trout-fed pike.
As for zander, I like to go up to the fen drains to catch them. I have a lot of favourite spots and have had many friends catch their first zed from a spot I put them on.
My best catch was in August 2002 when I fished a weekend session with my son, David. I had eight zander - a 12lb+, a 11lb+, two more doubles and the remaining four fish all over 7lb - and a 19lb 8oz pike. David added another 10lb 4oz zander.
I tend to use livebaits for my zed fishing, but I'll also put out deadbaits as well as I find these just as good at times. I look upon them as an easy meal for the scavenging fish.
The baits I usually use are 3 to 5 inch roach, rudd, perch or skimmers and I'll normally use a running leger rig with 5 or 6 inch anti-tangle boom on the lead, which will be 2oz or so. I like to keep things as simple as possible!
I use 3lb and 3.5lb test curve rods match with 32lb braided main line, with an 8 foot long section of fluorocarbon mono on the tip end to allow for some suppleness whilst playing a fish. The rods may seem a little heavy for zander fishing, but I like to get the line up through the water as quickly as possible on the strike.
The bite alarms are Fox Microns at the front and Fox PS drop-offs at the back - double alarm system gives good indication.
For the pike, I use the same set-up but I inject oil into the baits and pop them up, something I never use for zander, as in my experience they like a bait on the bottom and don't like oil-injected baits.
Tight Lines!
Jeff joined the group in 2003.