How To Catch Zander with Soft Plastic Lures

I'd fished for over 20 years before even considering catching my first zander. It just never appealed to me, but over the last few years as my focus has been mainly on lure fishing it's become an increasingly good idea.

Last year I did some research, spoke to some people on my local canal and came up with a plan, a simple jigging session with small light shad along one of the most popular stretches.

The first zander was small but after catching that one fish I knew I needed to improve my technique and knowledge on these predators if I really wanted to catch more and bigger zander.

Since then zander fishing with lures has taken a lot of my focus, putting in time to trialling various setups over different rods, reels, line, leaders and lures. The last couple of months have had me dialling in my approaches, watching old videos and really learning what was actually working - and I've put it together in this video.

It's not a definitive "this is the best way to catch zander" video, but it does highlight the easiest way I've learned to catch them on the waters I fish. It's a reasonably cheap option, catches good fish and is so easy to use.

0:00 - Intro
0:21 - Where to fish
1:39 - The Setup (gear,
2:11 - How to catch zander (retrieve pattern)



My Current light kit:
Rod: Tsurinoya Dragon
Reel: Tsurinoya Dark Wolf Ultra
Leader: Drennan Soft Strand microfilament wire 0.2mm
Line: Cheap 0.1mm AliExpress/Temu braid

Ribbed Shad lure options:
Keitech Swing Impact (fat)
CrazyFish Vibe Worm
Gunki Tipsy
Ali Express / Temu / China store have a good range of options too


More zander fishing:
   • What can I catch on my last river session ...