On arriving in the Fens, I was met by calm winds, sunshine and much clearer water than I had hoped for. This would make the fishing difficult. I decided to fish light, so I picked out an 8cm cannibal shad on a 2.5g jig head, to detect the faintest bites and began to work my swims. It wasn’t long before I had a few takes none of which I could hook so I swapped over to the drop shot and instantly had some small Zander.

Locating fish proved a slow task on the drop shot, so I switched back to the cannibal shad and made a move. I found myself a likely area that was sheltered and calm. I dropped the jig weight down to 1g in the hope I’d get more aggressive bites. I made a cast into my chosen area and started my retrieve. By lifting the lure of the bottom and letting it drop super slow I managed to make the lure an aggressive lift with a soft drop.

The braid twitched mid drop and I set the hook, connecting with a decent Zander that took line on the XLNT3 3-18g. The fish thrashed at the surface as I prepared my net and went on several short runs before it was subdued. The evening sun was setting as I admired the Zander in the sunset before setting her free. Although I only fished for a few hours It will stay a very memorable day.

During the last, this beautiful zander took the 8cm Cannibal Shad on the slow drop