After returning home from the perch trip I looked at the weather forecast for the coming week. It looked liked the mild conditions would stay until Thursday evening when the temperatures were predicted to plummet.

I thought this might be the last mild spell before Christmas so decided on a last gasp trip to Bury Hill Fisheries before the dropping temperatures had a detrimental effect on the fishing. 

Arriving Wednesday evening I settled for the shallow water areas where we had done so well in previous sessions.  This turned out to be a mistake as I had just the one bite resulting in a small zed weighing around 5lbs.  Setting up at the other end of the lake in the deeper water the following day proved the correct decision as after only 30 minutes I was netting a small zander weighing around 3lbs.  The day was bright and a bonus pike made an appearance weighing 13lb 7oz which fooled me into thinking I had hooked a big zander.  Apart from this action I had to wait until dusk before landing a zander weighing 6lb 15oz.

The evening was spent in the good company of Duncan Charman when out of the blue my sprat offering was picked up and the bobbin was pulled slowly towards the top of the rod.  Playing the fish I thought I was attached to a modest sized sample but upon netting the fish we both knew it was what I had be hoping for, a double figure zander.  Weighing 10lb 12oz I was chuffed and after some great photography from Duncan the temperatures had plummeted and our kit was covered in frost.  We left it a little while longer before heading for home. 

A short but fruitful zander campaign over the last month has unfortunately come to an end.  Landing three double figure fish has been beyond my expectations having never targeted this species before.  I am looking forward to some more mild weather before having another crack at this species.