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Project Noah Nature School
Stizostedion lucioperca
The biggest Zander I have ever caught weighing 9lb 11oz. A truly amazing fish, they have skin like a shark with directional spiked scales and two dorsal fins that look as if they have come from different fish! Their teeth are razor sharp. Despite it's mean looks, Zander are actually very fragile fish, and if you catch one it's extremely important to minimise it's time out of water, then hold it underwater by the thinnest part of it's tail and move it backwards and forwards to push water through it's gills, and never ever release the fish until it is strong enough to swim out of your grasp, or you will find that fish belly-up within the hour.
Underwater!
This fish was caught on a SINGLE (not treble!) barbless hook.
Spotted on Nov 2, 2010
Submitted on Apr 29, 2011
1 Comment
That's a great catch. In North America we have a similar fish called a walleye (Sander vitreus, formerly Stizostedion vitreum). I often catch walleyes while wilderness canoeing in Canada or northern Minnesota. They make a welcome change from the usual camping food, but we usually keep only a couple of the smaller ones and release the larger fish. Nice fish, must have been very exciting!