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Blanking

A

Adrian Mitchell

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi all.Not posted for a while basically because nothing to report.Had a few goes for the Tench.Blanked!.Went to the dark side and had one session carping.Blanked!!.
Just returned from a holiday on the west coast of Scotland.Somehow a spinning rod and reel + lures found its way into my boot despite it being a none fishing holiday.Blanked!!!.May have to visit a carp puddle to gain confidence before the proper fishing season starts.
 
Keep at it, you never know what's next. I've been thinking outside of the box a bit this close season and have been going after different species and have had four PBs last few weeks. I was fishing for eels yesterday, very much a steep learning curve but hit two of the four runs and a new PB. Great fun to be had before the barbel goggles go back on in a few weeks.
 
Living off Barbel memories mostly of late. But excited by promising trotting down a stick float more often this season. I really have gone off sitting and waiting for a wrap round all session that will be just confined to dusk into dark.
Tempted to have a go at carp at a local old lake nearby. Very weedy now but ideal for dropping a single bait in and stalking a fish or two. But about to spawn.
Still like a kid at Christmas though, no matter what is thrown at us we will be there when called upon 😄
 
Adrian Mitchell said:
Hi all.Not posted for a while basically because nothing to report.Had a few goes for the Tench.Blanked!.Went to the dark side and had one session carping.Blanked!!.
Just returned from a holiday on the west coast of Scotland.Somehow a spinning rod and reel + lures found its way into my boot despite it being a none fishing holiday.Blanked!!!.May have to visit a carp puddle to gain confidence before the proper fishing season starts.
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Hi Adrian, I am now on the very northern tip of Skye, and have been here for almost two weeks.
Your experience with lures is nothing new !
The first day and first cast into a very fishy looking rock mark produced a Pollack, about two pounds, he was unhooked and returned unharmed. Things went severely downhill after that .
I tried several other known Pollack hotspots over the next ten days and blanked after thrashing the water to a fine mist. I also tried bottom fished baits on my rock gear , about 6 sessions . Not a sniff , baits coming back untouched , not even the crabs were interested. Crabs, what crabs?

Eventually a few days ago after yomping 3-1/2 miles and scrambling down a 116 meter cliff and across a gorse desert, I found a good rock mark about 30 feet above a deep dropoff, perfect for vertical jigging , I attached a home made 4 oz jig and bingo , Pollack first drop, and second, and third.. , in fact I had enough fish to make up for the other blanks . Three kept for the freezer and the others returned .



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So fear not , things will look up for you I am sure .

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Not Barbel, but a good second choice on an otherwise poor trip fish wise.

David
 
Love the phrase"blanking is character building".I was touring different spots but had a week on Mull.To be honest was only playing at it,fishing for just the odd hour or two so no time to go exploring really.Also tried bait fishing,like yourself I couldn't even catch a crab but it just shows perseverance pays off.Well done David.
 
I recently had a week in Turkey. Hotel had acceess to a jetty into the sea. Despite being really ill, i hunted down a tackle shop and bought the cheapest telescopic rod and reel and a few ' floats' and hooklinks- truly horrible. Took bread and calamari from the dining room. and had a go every day. Don't know how but managed to catch 1 bream type thing about 6oz - that was it for a week.
Didn't really think I would catch anything - you needed pole floats and bread punch tactics and I was using 50lb mono and a 30lb hookling with about 10 x size 2 hooks strung together that rusted after day 1.
Still went every day for an hour or so, still enjoyed it.
We're junkies - see water - have to fish.
Best bit was giving the awful set-up to an old Turkish guy who was handlining.
 
Had a blank on the Humber two weeks ago, that's five since beginning of last October for salt water fishing , although barbel fishing last season was a bit hit and miss i was glad that i took a feeder rod and had a bit of fun catching all sorts. I will leave the non blanker's to the highly edited . you tube mob .
 
Paul Richardson said:
I recently had a week in Turkey. Hotel had acceess to a jetty into the sea. Despite being really ill, i hunted down a tackle shop and bought the cheapest telescopic rod and reel and a few ' floats' and hooklinks- truly horrible. Took bread and calamari from the dining room. and had a go every day. Don't know how but managed to catch 1 bream type thing about 6oz - that was it for a week.
Didn't really think I would catch anything - you needed pole floats and bread punch tactics and I was using 50lb mono and a 30lb hookling with about 10 x size 2 hooks strung together that rusted after day 1.
Still went every day for an hour or so, still enjoyed it.
We're junkies - see water - have to fish.
Best bit was giving the awful set-up to an old Turkish guy who was handlining.
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Hi Paul, I know exactly what you mean re handing onward tackle to others. Quite a few years ago we went to Gambia, I took my travel gear with me and fished most days.I did catch a lot of fish but that is not what this is about. On day 3 ,I was fishing alone about 2 miles away from the last tourist beach, quite a solitary spot really , with only a couple of the local residents houses on an unmade road nearby when I was approached by a local lad of about 17 yrs or so, he spoke good English and asked what bait I was using , when he saw the Calimari I had procured from the hotel restaurant he shook his head and started to scout around on the beach , suddenly he started to dig a hole with his hands and after a few minutes and a few feet deep he proudly produced a large crab that he “ dressed” and handed me some of it for bait.

It worked a treat and I caught several Butterfish using the crab.

I remember the lads name was Fenali Sangam, strange how some things stick in your mind. Anyway Fenali volunteered to accompany me on the next fishing trips as he knew several spots that offered different opportunities , he brought along his own gear which was a bit basic and well used but worked ok.

On our last trip I had sorted my gear and when we finished, I gave him several hundred yards of line, a lot of hooks, swivels, and other end gear ,Lures etc. He was over the moon with it all .

Now the funny bit …. the next day Fenali came to the hotel to bid my wife and I farewell, he looked very smart in his shorts, flip flops and freshly laundered short sleeved shirt, but he was most of all proud of his long dreadlocks which he had had his sister decorate with about a beakerfull of brightly coloured beads that I had given him amongst the other fishing gear.

I often wonder what became of Fenali, he was a nice lad who asked for nothing but offered all kinds of help .

David
 
David Craine said:
Hi Paul, I know exactly what you mean re handing onward tackle to others. Quite a few years ago we went to Gambia, I took my travel gear with me and fished most days.I did catch a lot of fish but that is not what this is about. On day 3 ,I was fishing alone about 2 miles away from the last tourist beach, quite a solitary spot really , with only a couple of the local residents houses on an unmade road nearby when I was approached by a local lad of about 17 yrs or so, he spoke good English and asked what bait I was using , when he saw the Calimari I had procured from the hotel restaurant he shook his head and started to scout around on the beach , suddenly he started to dig a hole with his hands and after a few minutes and a few feet deep he proudly produced a large crab that he “ dressed” and handed me some of it for bait.

It worked a treat and I caught several Butterfish using the crab.

I remember the lads name was Fenali Sangam, strange how some things stick in your mind. Anyway Fenali volunteered to accompany me on the next fishing trips as he knew several spots that offered different opportunities , he brought along his own gear which was a bit basic and well used but worked ok.

On our last trip I had sorted my gear and when we finished, I gave him several hundred yards of line, a lot of hooks, swivels, and other end gear ,Lures etc. He was over the moon with it all .

Now the funny bit …. the next day Fenali came to the hotel to bid my wife and I farewell, he looked very smart in his shorts, flip flops and freshly laundered short sleeved shirt, but he was most of all proud of his long dreadlocks which he had had his sister decorate with about a beakerfull of brightly coloured beads that I had given him amongst the other fishing gear.

I often wonder what became of Fenali, he was a nice lad who asked for nothing but offered all kinds of help .

David
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That's a brilliant story. You may well have changed that lad's life David.
There were quite a few elderly people fishing on the jetty and they were fishing for the table. The gear I gave him was awful by our standards but worked perfectly well. A bit lighter line, smaller hooks etc and it would work but If it just meant he had an extra line in the water and helped him out then job well done.
 
I'm on a blank trajectory at the moment - 8 nights on my syndicate already (matching the total time spent last season with a 5x fish return) and I've caught zip . . .character building my *ss - especially when I'm doing nothing wrong - just can't get on fish!
 
I did 9 sessions on a stretch of the Loddon at the beginning of last season for 2 small chub. This river closed season I’ve allegedly been gravel pit tenching, 7 sessions so far for one liner and two tufties. I also did two sessions at Linear, one on Manor, one on Oxlease, both blanks. Fortunately for my sanity I’ve also got access to an old estate lake where the tench are way more obliging. Doubtless I’ll be adding another couple of pit blanks to my collection before I can finally switch to blanking on rivers again. I do sometimes wonder why I do it, but it really does add to the excitement when a fish does finally turn up.
 
I never ever blank ? I sometimes simply run out of time
in2015 I fished in Morocco up in the mid Atlas mountains in the huge 300 ft deep lake Bin al Ouidane and every day one of the locals came up and had a sort drinks tin with mono wrapped around it and a hook a little plastic bag with some worms and all day long he would get a clay ball squeezed on the line and launch it into the water jigging it back
he could not speak any english but we communicated and as our food was inclusive and delivered by boat every day all the tinned stuff sardines and bread etc we kept and gave to him before he went home his reaction was nearly the same every time he would burst into tears the tackle we had was mostly supplied
but we had bought our own terminal tackle reels and alarms

so when I left I gave him a goody bag told him not to look in the sack till we were gone
in it was all my bait ,packets of hooks and spools of line etc head torch and spare batteries and hidden in the bottom was all my Moroccan currency about 70 quids worth I figured I could use my card if I needed anything at the airport
I would have loved to see the look on his face but I just could not stand seeing him crying

it really brings it home to you when you travel thru some parts of Morocco these people that live in the mountains if they catch a fish they eat that day
 
Hi all.Been busy catching up on all my D.I.Y jobs to get in front for the 16th so I can fish with a clear conscience hence not had a chance to post!.Fished last Weds in a carp puddle to try and gain some confidence that I can catch fish.
Landed 16 carp up to 14lbs, a good days fishing but unsatisfying somehow.Even packed up early.
It just proves angling is more than about catching fish.I think i"ll wait for the rivers to open before going again and gain lots of brownie points from the Mrs.
 
Still got a couple of jobs to do at home Adrian before the 16th, but allowed to walk the bank in anticipation. I've had a couple of still water visits, but not really interested.
 
Mike Thompson said:
Still got a couple of jobs to do at home Adrian before the 16th, but allowed to walk the bank in anticipation. I've had a couple of still water visits, but not really interested.
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Same here - fed some chub & barbel on the Swale and very encouraging. Love watching them react, do this every close season as I always learn something.
Had one attempt on a local ressie.Could not buy a bite on the feeder which is THE method. Had a lovely day, fished well for no results and was going to pack up, thoughts of cold beer and BBQ pulling me in, when a roach topped in front of me. Pushed mesen to make up a waggler but did it.
Within minutes quality roach 6-8oz every cast about 1.5 rod lengths out.Brilliant sport.
Then a pike swirled. Now up until this year I was sceptical that there were any pike in this water. Did a few winter sessions , 3 rods and all that and a couple of dropped runs but could have been trout or crays.
Put one of the smaller roach on a pikefloat, and flicked out. ' Whack' it buried. At the same time the waggler went and would you believe it 2 pike on at the same time!!!
The line parted on the waggler rod and down it went as I connected with a very spirited pike on the other rod.. Landed her, a scraper double, beautifully marked and perfectly hooked. First one ever from that water. Could not believe it. Off she went strongly.
As I tidied up my forceps, mat etc, out of the corner of my eye I saw some gossamer thin line wafting in the breeze. Being conscientious I pulled on it , and pulled and would you believe back came my Drennan waggler rig plus another quality roach on the hook -the one that had been snapped.
Weird as the line snapped above the float and the roach was unmarked. Can't have been the same fish as the floats were a good 25 yards apart?
From blanking to a mad 5 minutes that I'll never forget. Why we love this sport.😍

For the record I don't target pike this time of year, but will catch them if the opportunity arises so nearly always have snap tackle, float, forceps etc with me. Post spawning they will wolf baits down so never ledger/deadbait and thump float bites instantly.
 
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