I’m as guilty as anyone about not posting about my blanks, but when I do it on such a massive scale, I figure I’m obligated to share.

I had been planning on heading down for the WCC tournament for a while, but needed a ride. Al shot me a text on Thursday and asked if I wanted to ride with him, so we set it up for him to pick me up on Friday afternoon. I encountered my usual list of things that put our departure back- I was repairing my toilet, and couldn’t get it to seal right, my wife wouldn’t be home until later, so I couldn’t leave the boys until she returned, and I did next to no packing. When all the pieces finally fell into place, we were able to get out of town. We decided to fish the 360 Bridge Friday Night and head over to LBL for the tourney in the morning. We fished from 9PM until 5AM, and only had one run- I swung on a weak run and the fish was not fully hooked. The night was fairly uneventful, and we made our way to LBL.

We met everyone at the I35 bridge and drew our pegs for the day. I pulled the Baseball Fields- I’ve fished it a few times with limited success, but two weeks ago when we were there, I saw two nice Buffs come out of that swim, so I wasn’t excited about it, but I wasn’t too disappointed either. All dropped me off, I started Spodding immediately and kept it up for 30 minutes, then set up. I was very happy with my setup- I had all 3 rods baited with Method and ready to go 5 minutes before the start. 7:00 rolled around and I was fishing all 3 rods by 7:02.

I continued my baiting- I threw out Range Cubes, a pound of Boilies, and some Method Balls. I felt confident my swim was in good shape, so I grabbed my Powerade, hit the chair, and started my wait. I got up around 10:00 and gave another light round of baiting, checked on Brid next door, and went back to my chair for a nap. I had a nice doze- Off and On for a while, then got back up to lay a fresh bed of bait around Noon. I also moved one of my rods over to the mouth of the Lagoon to see if I could get any action from that area, then rested some more. I continued that pattern all day- Bait, Re-Bait, Check on Brid/Net his fish/Harrass him about Catfish, then back to the chair for a few ZZZZs.

I went the whole day without a run.I was disappointed that I didn’t catch, but didn’t mind too much- Al & I were going to fish The Rocks overnight, so I figured I’d catch my fish then.We attended the awards ceremony- Keith had torn everybody up with his two big Buffs and his itty bitty Carp, Brian scored a really nice new PB, and Josef let everybody know who he was. We BSed with some of the guys for a little while, then headed over to The Rocks for the night.

After hearing all the horror stories about overnighters at The Rocks- Cars getting broken into, Crazy Cracked-Up visitors, and the family that lives there- I was leery about our safety there, but the lure of the fish that have been caught there was more appealing than the fear of getting messed with. We removed everything of value from the truck and hauled our gear down in shifts so that the truck would not be left alone. We got all set up around 9:30, and were excited about what we thought we had ahead of us. After we got our pods ready, baited out, and tidied up our camp, we started to get to sleep. Right as I was beginning to doze off, a MASSIVE fish crashed about 6 feet from shore. Al & I looked at each other and got ready to reel in some fish!

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. We ended up getting a full night’s sleep, with only a few beeps during the night. We fished from 9:30PM until 3:00PM and never got a full run. Our lines got popped a few times, and I had one steady pull, but never a real run.

I hadn’t blanked at LBL in about 3 years until two weeks ago when Roach and I went down and fished our mini ATC. When you figure all of this together, I have put in 41 straight fishless hours at LBL. This trip was 38 Blanking Hours between Lake Austin and LBL. I don’t really mind blanking (except for a tournament setting) because I’m really just out there to get some relaxing in. But when I bait up, adjust rigs, try different hookbaits, work my swim, and put in the hours… I kind of expect SOMETHING lol. Al & I racked our brains Saturday Night and all day Sunday- Trying to come up with a reason for our lack of success. We really couldn’t come up with anything. My best guess would be that the crazy heat this Summer really threw them off, and they haven’t settled into a Winter Pattern yet. Combine that with the pressure these fish have been seeing lately and the fact that they may be getting used to how we fish for them, and you’ve got a recipe for fewer captures. I really don’t know.

I didn’t catch any fish, but (unfortunately) I got really close to getting caught up on my sleep. I had fun hanging out with Al and seeing everybody on Saturday. Although I didn’t catch any fish, I looked back to see what I learned. One thing that I am going to move back to is cooking my Corn for my Method. Being ever so lazy, I had stopped cooking the Corn, and just soaked the Corn and Birdseed that I use in my Spod Mix and Method. When you cook the mix, there are oils and sugars that are released and make the bait more effective. I’ve always know that, but when I found the mix looking good after just soaking it, I took the easier route.

Here's a picture of me blanking at the Baseball Fields:


Here's a picture of me blanking at The Rocks:


Al threw a plastic worm for a little while:


One of Brid's Carp (I will not post the Catfish Pics lol):




I wish I had more Fish to share with you, but sometimes… That’s the Way Fishing Go.

Chad

sucks yall blanked. I think the fish are on the lower end of the lake. Peter Marias and Steve Bates piggy backed the WWD and did very well including mid 30

Go Fish The Rocks today- You should kill. We put so much dog gone bait in there.

Good post. Blanking is a part of fishing. Some of us (me) more than others.

nice report.

Any day on the water is a good day. Nice catch and a very good report. Thanks for sharing.

Good report, sucks about the blank. I'm on a similar LBL streak, I haven't caught anything there since I fished with you at the Peninsula in May or June.

There are times we put in as much effort as possible for very little, then there are times where we just simply go fishing and have great success! It's a way to keep everything balanced lol, you shall haul again!

Come on Chad you have to post the Kitty! It was a great rare moment that he, somewhat, posed for that pic.

That's what I told my son after blanking sunday. At least you got you a new PB recently Chad.

you mean "tremendous success"? lol

Rick & I had Tremendous Success in December, Jim & I had Tremendous Success all day long in March, but I can't seem to be able to have Tremendous Success these days with anyone.

So, You're saying that I can have Tremendous Success with you next time we go fishing?

Sounds like turkey day shootout time