Zander Fishing - Kyle Ward
The biggest buzz for me in my fishing is in the dark, senses heightened as others are shut off just waiting for that signature short sharp slam of a zander on the other end of the line.
Having a busy job and a very young family left me with very little bank time, I found it hard to find fish as I just didn’t have the time to search the amount of water needed to search. I started lure fishing in the dark and it quickly became addictive and very productive! There are many benefits to lure fishing at night, one being there is a very high possibility your the only one mad enough to be out lure fishing in the middle of the night so there’s no worries of other anglers covering the water you are on and the other massive benefit which rings especially true on pressured waters is the fish simply are not used to having to deal with anglers at night, so in turn don’t have as much guard up as they would say in the day, very similar to carp fishing especially days only venues the fish learn to feed at night rather than in the day as this is the safer option, so by fishing at night you can capitalise on fishing for them when they are feeding hard.
A few common questions I always get is “well how do you know where to cast?” “how do you know when the retrieve is at the end?” “What about line lay?” “Don’t you snag more?”
The simple answer to all of these is it’s just like fishing in the daytime only dark. My biggest bit of advice is if you are new to lure fishing in the dark fish the area in the daytime or have a reccy and walk along places your thinking about fishing. Yes it is daunting at first and confidence is at an all time low but I promise when you get that first bang! On the end of the line it’ll all be worth it. A couple of things to note when planning to fish an area at night
Banks - This is one of if not THE most important point, take note of banks are they steep? How high is the water up the bank? Are there any low walkable areas? It’s very important especially if fishing alone to make sure the banks are safe, The last thing you want is to go slipping in to the water especially in the depths of winter on your own in the dark at night because there’s a very real chance you won’t be climbing back out! Take note of the distance between the near side and far side, how much the reed beds protrude out into the water and any overhanging trees or more importantly overhead power lines!
Area - This very much depends on where you live and what the “night life” is like, again if fishing alone the last thing you need is meeting any undesirables in the dark with all your gear there for the taking. Another thing I look at is form, has the area your wanting to cover had previous fish form? Walking the area in daylight is there many baitfish? Is there any anglers silver fishing as the introduction of bait will bring the silvers in and the big girls won’t be far behind. I would tend to avoid areas that are heavily banked with trees as even the best angler in the world can avoid a couple but loads and it’s probably going to end up in lost gear and tears before bedtime.
Private banks/jetties - Although you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to catch a pb it’s not such a good idea to be on private areas at night, in fairness if I saw someone at the bottom of my garden on my private jettie I wouldn’t be too smart about it especially if they don’t know that you are just fishing 
Stretches - Last but by no means least! One main thing I do is split the water into “stretches” or runs, where I live in the fens most of my fishing is done on drains, they are very boring to look at they all pretty much look the same but it’s under the water that counts the most. Split your area into smaller sections, this way you can comb section by section effectively without having the urge to move 200 yards up the bank because it’s “crap” here, you could well be one cast away from a deep gulley containing the mother of all zeds 
take notes either on your phone or note pad, one app I use is called catch, I log all my catches and drop a pin 
, after a while you get a good idea where you have done better in certain conditions/ time of year and you quite quickly build up a picture of the area. Even if I don’t catch from a area but I find an interesting feature deep gulley - big weed beds or even a big plateau or shelf it all gets noted and a pin dropped on it for future reference. No information is wasted as you never know when you will need it!
Rig Talk
Moving onto rigs, I have two favourites or two that do the job I need them to do effectively.
Texas - Texas in my option is the “god” rig, very versatile you can fish almost every soft plastic known to man effectively on it and most importantly it can be fished weedless, “whys that important?” So you’ve done your rekky found an area and you want to fish but haven’t had the chance to wet a line in the day time? You don’t really know what the bottom is like or what it contains, a safe option here would be the weedless Texas and as you explore and have a better understanding of the underwater obstacles you can adjust accordingly. I fish the Texas unpegged, I want maximum fall on the lure especially for the zeds as this “hang” time is when you will get hit, the only exception would be mega snaggy areas the last thing you want is your lure falling one side of a underwater branch with the Texas weight the other side. Other than that it’s unpegged. Weight depends on weather conditions as having contact with the lure is important, zander bites can range from a short sharp tug to literally picking the lure up off the spot and sitting with it in their mouths very subtle. Try to match the weight to the lure ,conditions dependent, you want a slow fall/flutter back to the bottom with floating lures you can almost critically balance them to just touch bottom with a really slow descent. Like I have mentioned previous almost all soft lures can be fished on the Texas from creatures to shads and everything in between. I tend to use bigger lures so hook sizes range from 2/0 down to a 2. Back to back grinner knot my braid to the Flurocarbon leader, the Texas weight is then slid onto the leader followed by my hook choice then a simple palomar knot finishes it off, jobs a good’un
Dropshot - Dropshot quickly became my go to method after a session in where 4 zander fell to the method within as many minutes. Dropshot is one of in my option most underused and underrated tactics. You can set/change the depths within seconds covering different water columns for maximum efficiency. Again most soft plastics tailor to being fished on dropshot my personal favourite is a fluke type, very erratic action pushing a lot of water which is what you want, you want as much disturbance from that lure as possible in the dark. I fish with an exposed hook as hook up rates are far superior to weedless presentation but if you are wanting to fish the dropshot weedless then there are hook options tailored for this tactic. As mentioned an exposed hook has improved my hook up rate with the hard mouthed zander compared to the Texas but this has come at a cost of loosing a lot more tackle to Reed beds and snags, kind of a catch 22 situation, I will continue to fish exposed hooks as the risk of loosing gear compared to loosing a pb zander are miles apart in my opinion. Weight again is very weather/water dependant the only thing I will say is if fishing with bigger/heavier lures a heavier weight will help with lure movement and weight contact, fishing a light dropshot weight with a big lure you tend to end up moving the weight more than the lure itself. Retrieve style I retrieve almost like fishing the Texas/cheb slight lifts of the rod let it fall whilst slowly reeling that slack you’ve just created in, a couple of quicker/sharper lifts in between, as with all fishing change it up including the speed of retrieve, there’s no one size fits all with this it’s very much experimental until you hit the jackpot. For setup purposes it’s braid down to a micro clip, my dropshot rigs are made up of 11lb Fluorocarbon, a size 2 dropshot hook tied with a palomar knot this will be dependant on what size lure used, leaving a foot or so of tag end to adjust my depths, a figure of eight loop knot is then tied at the top of the rig and hooked into the micro clip for ease of changing rigs … happy days!
Personal 'Edges' separate yourself from the rest
Scents - Scents come in many forms some liquid some paste/gel. Does it always work? Who knows I’ve used both types and caught whilst using it, I certainly think any attractor scent added to a lure is a good thing and can only work in your favour.
Rattles - Rattles certainly work! And I would encourage you to add these to your soft plastics especially at night, I use the LureBoi 16mm glass rattles they are a breeze to push into soft plastics, by adding noise you are utilising one of the predators main senses they use for hunting in low light/dark conditions they will feel the vibration of the rattles coupled with the movement of your lure pushing water aiding them to find it.
Lure choice/colours - It may or may not surprise you my favourite lure colour to use at night is black/junebug the darker the better, this is because of the silhouette it creates in the dark water, similar to murky water conditions in the day, even at night there is light protruding into the water we may not see it but they certainly can if you have a dark lure bumping through the water at night they will definitely be able to see it against the surface. Zander have very light sensitive eyes and can see in the dark unbelievably well, White is also another favourite although most of my fishing recently has been with the dark colours.
One thing to note when choosing a lure for zander is the softness of the plastic, they are a pain for hook holds at the best of times the last thing you want is to be out all night finally get the bite but your lure doesn’t fold/move allowing a decent hook hold and loosing the fish, you want a really soft lure one that would fold of a fly farted on it… yes that soft! The soft lure will also ensure maximum movement and make it easier pushing them Rattles in. One last thing to note is simply don’t give up! Zander are shoal fish so very rarely are they alone, if you have one get straight back out there and stick that lure back onto the dance floor, they also move a lot! So don’t get caught up fishing the same areas use your learnt knowledge of new areas and don’t be scared to try new place. I’ve had nights where I have walked 3-4 miles without a sniff and suddenly got amongst some fish and picked off a shoal, I could have easily given up and gone home for a nice warm shower and a beer on the sofa but there’s no zander at home, I’ve been out in the middle of the night with the wind howling and rain smashing my knuckles to bits but then had fish and it’s all forgotten. Forgetting all the lures the “edges” , the rigs , the go to areas I’ve learnt, my biggest key to successfully catching zander regularly is I don’t give up, I’d rather be out all night and go to work on an empty tank than blank! Yes the addiction is real and no I don’t want help lol
Be lucky 
