To the surprise of many, Zander are actually a member of the perch family, and some even refer to them as the pikeperch due to shared features to both fish. Larger than perch, zander boast a vampire-looking appearance with their long front teeth. Zander are an invasive species to the UK that can often be located near heavily boated canals or in deep rivers or lakes.
Zander can be tricky to catch with enhanced vision at night and typically feeding during the twilight hours, making dawn and dusk ideal times to fish for them in murky and heavily coloured waters. They have highly tuned senses that will pick up the most subtle lure in the darkest, dirtiest conditions.
Both jig fishing and lure fishing from a boat are effective methods when targeting zander. Using lighter finesse style tackle will be a good setup for lure fishing, but you will need a rod with a bit of backbone to set the hook as they have a hard mouth! Dropping lures behind the boat, waiting for them to hit bottom, then shortening the line to about a foot or two off the bottom to keep the bait moving, then waiting for a bite, often on a slow drop.
Here is some amazing insight into his approach to canal zander fishing from the 2023 Angling Times Lure Angler of the Year, Luke Jordan (@luke_the_lure):
"The rod that I use mainly is a Westin W6 Finesse T&C 7'1", paired with a Shimano Vanford 2000 loaded with 16lb Westin W6 braid in lime green.
On the day of my personal best it was raining heavily, but if you're a keen angler like me and you work all week then you have to get out no matter how bad the weather is. I started fishing around 8am and within an hour I had a nice fish of around 9lb on the bank.
The next 5 hours were very tricky, changing lure sizes, different profiles, heavier jigheads, lighter jigheads. I then put on a 16cm Shadteez in the sparkling blue colour and after casting around for 20 minutes I was hooked into what I thought was a big pike, but after a few minutes of battle a big Zander popped up and I was over the moon to see a monster weighing 17lb 12oz! Since then I’ve had another monster weighing 17lb 5oz.
My 2 favourite Zander baits are the ShadTeez in headlight or sparkling blue, but all the shads on offer will catch you Zander it’s all up to the fish and what they want on the day which is why I always carry a large selection of colours, different profiles and different size jig heads."
Top 10 Best Zander Lures in 2024
1. Keitech Easy Shiner (Casting)
The Keitech Easy Shiner is a super versatile soft shad swimbait that has built a reputation for being a lure that catches a range of UK predator species and Zander are no exception! They are available in 7 sizes ranging from 2" to 6.5" and can be fished using a number of different techniques, from jigging to dropshot. Keitech's original two tone colour injection process uses different types of salted plastics to achieve better balance and action, as well as being impregnated with Keitech's highly effective, unique squid scent, which believe scents or not, I personally believe is very important when targeting zander.
2. Nays Baits SPLT Split Tail (Vertical Jigging)
The Nays Baits SPLT Split Tail is another versatile lure that can be presented in a number of different ways, perfectly suited to pelagic and vertical fishing, but also very effective on a dropshot or Texas/Carolina setup which works really well in snaggy venues, making them an instant hit with zander anglers. Available in a variety of sizes ranging from 3.5" to 8". Extremely popular with German & Dutch anglers.
3. Westin ShadTeez Slim (Casting)
We couldn't complete the top 3 of this list without including the faithful Westin ShadTeez. Like its deeper bellied counterpart, the ShadTeez slim is highly effective when retrieved at slower speeds thanks to its subtle, yet effective wriggling action. Its slender body provides that extra bit of finesse that can help when trying to entice a bite from these often wary predators.
4. Fox Rage Zander Pro Shad (Casting)
The Fox Rage Zander Pro Shads are relatively new lures to the market, but have already built a reputation as zander slayers! The clever shape of the tail not only produces a very natural lure movement, wobbling slightly from side to side, but eliminates the risk of over stretching the tail when fishing a shad lure or in fast moving water. With a robust rubber mixture the lure's life is five times longer and produces a high frequency vibration, which is attractive for pike, perch and of course zander.
5. Strike Pro Piglet Shad (Casting)
The Strike Pro Piglet Shad is a lot more than your "average" soft plastic lure. Moulded with 2 densities of PVC, the belly area is salted which makes it sink belly down and also adds more balance and stability when retrieved. The piglet shad is equally deadly when straight retrieved as it is when jigged along the bottom - both techniques are sure to result in bites!
6. Berkley Sick Vamper (Vertical Jigging)
The Berkley Sick Vamper is a split 'V Tail' bait with a big chunky body. The supple and skinny split tail creates a beautiful waving action in the water that combines perfectly with the flashing belly action thanks to its fat body section. A small "bulb" on the tail adds movement. Whilst it can be fished perfectly well with a jig-head or on a dropshot, the Vamper really comes into its own for zander when vertical jigging or pelagic fishing.
7. Westin Ned Worm (Casting)
The Westin Ned Worm will conjure up fish on even the slowest of days, bringing success to the angler when all else fails! This long lasting, durable lure is made of a super-elastic, floating TPR material. The tapered design gives a life-like tail movement that responds to the smallest twitch of the rod tip. With a salt-infused body the Ned Worm achieves perfect buoyancy with a realistic stand-up lure action to perfectly mimicking a feeding or wounded prey fish... or even worm on the bottom.
7. Westin ShadTeez (Casting)
Puts other soft plastic lures in the shadows. With its legendary rolling belly action, the Westin ShadTeez has become a modern day classic. Big predators are left spellbound thanks to the deep body profile and oversized paddle tail that kick into action even at low speed retrievals and zander are no exception! You just have to look at Luke's catches to see how effective the ShadTeez can be in attracting bites from giant zander.
We highly recommend the 12cm version & 16cm version for targeting larger fish.
9. Drift Shoal Stick (Vertical Jigging)
Drift lures are mainly thought of as saltwater baits, but think again... The Drift Shoal Stick is equally proficient in freshwater when trying to get bites from tricky zander. The Shoal Stick's slim weight forward profile and tapered design makes for easy casting and ensures it gets amongst the fish. With the thick flesh material, on the retrieve its very natural and panicked slashing motion entices predator fish to attack.
10. Fox Rage Slick Finesse (Vertical Jigging)
Another new lure from the team at Fox Rage. The brilliant Slick Finesse was developed specifically for vertical presentation techniques, but is equally suitable for Texas & Carolina, Dropshot and casting jigs. An ideal lure to tempt a bite from a hungry zander waiting in the depths.
Click here for our full range of Zander lures.
