BlogOctober 2014

Whose Zander is Grander?

Whose Zander is Grander?

By Andy Whitcomb

Oct 06, 2014

Fishing from a kayak is great fun. Even if the fish aren’t biting, you are still kayaking. This light water craft gets one close to water, yet it is stable and stealthy.

Fishing from a kayak is great fun. Even if the fish aren’t biting, you are still kayaking. This light water craft gets one close to water, yet it is stable and stealthy. Some models even come equipped with a rudder and peddle capabilities so you can keep on casting.

If you like kayaking, fish with teeth, and vowels, you should check out the 4th Hobie Fishing World Championship which takes place October 5-11. By besting qualifying events, 48 anglers from 20 countries and 4 continents earned a place to compete in this competition.

This championship will be held at a remainder of a huge peat and wetland area called “Vinkeveen Plassen,” which is a 20 minute drive from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This unique venue has a complex of trenches from the former peat cutting operation, which gives the angler some wind protection.

Anglers will be trying to catch pike (minimum tournament size 45 cm), perch (minimum, 22cm), and the Dr. Seuss sounding “zander,” which looks like a giant walleye (minimum, 42 cm). For fish lengths, I don’t think in the metric system so that’s 17.7 inches, 8.6 inches, and 16.5 inches, respectively.

All anglers will fish from identically-rigged Hobie MirageDrive® Pro Angler 12 kayaks. Using “catch-photo-release scoring,” anglers in this event will be issued a “uniform measuring device” and will photograph the length of each species caught.

I’ll be following this event to see the latest in fishing kayak rigs and maybe pick up some tips on efficient use of space. Plus, I really want to hear anglers saying the word “zander.”
Andy Whitcomb
Andy Whitcomb
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.