Zander; 15th July 2010

At long last, my first Zander!

A stonking Perch at dawn, 1lb. 14oz., a really thickset fish....

Horribly over exposed in blazing sunshine, but you get the picture, a nice Pike...

A very scenic venue, stunning everywhere you look and not a soul in sight....

An overnight fishing session at Albysjön alone tonight and it went very well indeed. Zander was the main hope, having never caught one I decided this was a likely place to catch one. I arrived at 7pm. and set up two rods on the rod pod, with eletronic alarms to help in darkness. Bait was rather tricky, most of the fish caught being very small, managed a small bream and a few Roach and got the baits out about 7.30pm. Not long to wait, when at 8pm. a screaming take registered on the left rod and a great fight followed as a good Pike fought all the way to the bank. It weighed in at 4.36kilo, just a tad under 10lb., a great start to the session.

Was happy to catch a few Loi for bait at dusk and put out a third rod on a quivertip with a live Loi as bait on a simple paternoster. Nothing for a while, then at 11pm. the quivertip bounced back, the line went slack and I wound down and struck. Not much of a fight in all honesty, but I knew before I saw the fish this was my first Zander, finally! The fish weighed 2lb. 3oz., a small fish, but I was delighted all the same.

The rest of the night was frustrating as my few livebaits ran out, the fish too small really. Dawn came at 3am. and I managed a few fresh baits. Put a Roach out on a free roving float at eight feet depth and it was soon taken, a good scrap this time and a superb Perch the result! 1lb. 14oz, went the scales, a super fish that was really deep and thickset. This lake has a reputation for big Perch and this fish was a taste of that. Not much doing fish wise for the rest of the morning, but very enjoyable due to the incredible scenery and wildlife. Over the course of the night I saw a Moose (a bit too close for comfort), Roe Deer, a Badger, a Fox, several Beaver and a Mink!

The lake itself is worth more attention, though three fish over 10 hours is rather hard work I reckon that on the right night the fishing might be quite good...