Locating Pike & Zander


The Pike is spread worldwide from the East in North America, & Canada, to the West in China at places like Gobi Desert of Mongolia. From the North in places as Alaska, Sweden, and Finland to the South in Europe of Turkey, Italy and Spain. In the United Kingdom the pike is spread throughout, but begins to thin out in the very far north of Scotland due to the small acidic Scottish lochs.


The Zander however is primarily within Europe predominantly found in places like the UK, France, Spain and eastern Europe. Another strain called the Walleye exist's in the USA although there are differences between them.


Having chosen a venue known to contain both pike and \ or zander this is simply not enough, you then need to locate them from within and here are a few tips to minimise the dreaded blank session. I have listed a few venues to try on another page so we will concentrate here simply on location.


Location of the Pike and Zander is important and learning to read the water is one of the best things you can do in preparation for the new season is to spend time walking around your chosen venues. Look for features, fish movement, it's easy to do, and you'll gain valuable insights into the habits of them. Even though many fisheries stay open throughout the close season it's surprising how empty they are, anglers miss vital times to find out fish movements at different times of the day. The lead-up period to the start of the fishing season is not 'dead' time, far from it, in fact a little time spent out and about without your tackle can prove very rewarding.


Relief Channel for Zander Stay well away from well fished area's and if possible from the open day of the season, go to your chosen venues without any tackle and find out what's coming out and where. Be quiet and watch for water swirls, bubbling and cloudy water, where it has been stirred up by feeding. Look out also for shoals of fry at this time of year, find these and you can be sure that predators such as pike and zander won't be far behind. Look for ambush points like snags or tree roots which trail into the water. Take a pair of Polaroid glasses with you as they will cut down any glare on the water, helping you see much better, keep low to the skyline and stay quiet so you don't spook the fish.


Typical Gravel Pit By far the gravel pits offer the best access for anglers to stillwaters, they are extremely common in certain parts of the country. We can thank the country's road building program for their existence. Ideally of course it's best to use a boat if you can, although unfortunately they are only allowed on a few of the waters. Gravel pits are usually full of features and these are usually as a result of the gravel extraction process. Various area's within these pits to find are Bars - ridges of gravel left over from the digging process. Plateaus - areas which the gravel extractors have decided not to excavate too much, or maybe it was just a pile of gravel that never got cleared away. Islands - these are bars and plateaus above the water level. Features - pike will be influenced by features, they are predators and as such will want to position themselves in places to provide both ambush cover, and cover for themselves to avoid being eaten themselves. Bars are used as features which food fish travel along pike will hide on the drop off of a bar, hoping to grab a fish as it passes over the bar. Weed & reed beds are favourite pike haunts to hide, and many pike that are caught in these areas are covered with leeches and lice, which indicates that these parasites have attached themselves from them. When fishing these areas you may well have to beef your tackle up in order to bully fish away when caught. Margin's - don't forget to neglect the margins under your feet, the bottom of the shelf, can be very productive.


Map of the Fen Drain System

Fenland drains and rivers can be daunting places to fish and quite often frustrating, lacking features and slack holding spots. Mobility is a prime factor here having located a suitable river or drain known to contain pike and zander, you then have to find them, big zander prefer darkness, moving water, poor light and very coloured water as these conditions are ideal. The greatest chance of catching zander is during darkness, at dusk and at dawn, so it makes sense to be prepared with sufficient tackle and a headtorch. Dark, over-cast days and even heavy rain are also very suitable conditions to fish for pike and zander, as they are very nomadic predators. Pike and Zander are highly mobile predators especially in the summer month's keeping close by to shoals of prey fish. Most predator anglers prefer to wait until 1st October before tackling both pike and zander fishing, but with a careful approach and good handling techniques these predators won't come to any harm. Use the well-tried leap-frogging technique with both live & dead-baits. You travel long distances along the bank and so it pays to keep tackle to the minimum and have a close eye on the weather, as it can and often does deteriorate rapidly, prepare for the worst. Lures can also be worth considering because they can often be the only way during the day in particular to catch them. While nothing in fishing is guaranteed unless you try all the options you will never know.


Map of some Large Reservoirs Reservoirs - a typical pike reservoir affords Trout within them in the ideal circumstances to grow large, a water which not only provides shallow weedy areas suitable for spawning but also offers plenty of cover for this predatory fish. Prime ambush areas include sharp drop offs, sunken trees or shallow water by reeds where pike frequently lie in wait for prey, using their camouflage to remain hidden. Some time between January and March, pike move into the shallows in readiness to spawn. Many remain there through to May or June, feeding on the Trout and other coarse fish using the shallows for spawning. In the summer and autumn, pike roam freely throughout a water. In particular they lurk around the Water Towers, drop-offs, sunken trees and other snags which give them cover to ambush their prey. When the water temperature falls in winter, pike move into deep water and become more lethargic, which means trolling for them as this method covers a vast amount of water in such a quick time.