Friday 13 November 2015

BH 1: Time For Zed


A very early start, a 30 minute walk to the train and a 45 minute walk the other side - totally worth it - I arrived at Bury Hill as the gates opened. It was zander time and both rods were baited and cast by 7.10am.


At 2.20pm, a full seven hours later I had my first run! The float shot away - a proper run - and it wasn't long before I banked my first zed of the season. Not a monster at about 2lb but as zander are new to me I was still delighted.

As I held it in the water to recover my ledger rod was away - fish on - for about 10 seconds before the line went slack, I think it felt a bit pike-like. But at least they were on the feed...


Two hours later... As it was getting dark my float was away again - another proper run - and another zed landed, about 2¼lb, size doesn't matter at the moment I just want to bank a few zander.

The wind was howling and I was chilled to the bone but thought I'd stick it out for the first hour of darkness but they didn't want to play. Still I was more than happy to have banked two rare (for me) fish, I packed up the float rod, all the gear and even the rod rests - picked up the ledger rod and it was away!


A better fish and as I watched it with the head-torch it put up quite a scrap with it's spiky fin and glow-in-the-dark eyes. I estimated about 5lb, if I had weighed it I would have definitely missed my train and another hour in the cold didn't appeal - close but don't think it would have beat my PB. A quick snap and after making sure she swan away well I hacked off down the hill to my train. Great result.

And the moral of this story: If you're chasing zeds don't get up at 5am - have a lie in. Have a nice breakfast, possibly even a nice lunch. Because they aren't going to play until they're ready to play. Oh yeah, and if you're heading to Bury Hill dress warm - it's colder than a snowman's smile up there!

Predator Challenge: 100lb 4oz

4 comments:

  1. Well at least you caught mate. Good luck for today!

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    1. Great result in the end. Warmer clothing next time though! Got up this morning, looked at the rain and went back to bed :)

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  2. Exactly 4 months left and 200lb of predators left to catch. 50lb per month. 12lb 8oz per week...

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    1. Note to self: 17 weeks left (including this week) until the end of the season - which makes it 12lb per week - doesn't sound like much but the floods are coming. Need to get out as much as possible and get ahead of myself...

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