Most successive blanks?

[Angly]

I'm just wondering If I'm approaching some kind of world record here, and thought I'd enquire as to how many blanks other anglers had accrued in one period?

 

Since the end of October last year, I've only managed to venture out 11 times, and yup, you've guessed it, I've blanked on every one. I could make lots of excuses (weather conditions, river conditions, over fishing, Eastern Europeans, swim spoilt by yesterday's anglers, etc.), but I'm quite happy to concede that I've still got an awful lot to learn and no doubt in at least 50% of those cases there were fish to be had and I failed to entice them.

 

Much to my partner's suprise, bewilderment and amusement, I'm not actually too bothered by my poor record, because each blanking session (Smither's, stop the sniggering!) has taught me something, even if that something is only as basic as don't use that exact method on that swim in those exact conditions at that time of year.

 

So, what's your record?

 

Edit: I should just add that my blanks have been at differing venues to differing methods targeting different species.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Angly

[Elton]

Have you tried tying a hook on?

[Dick Dastardly]

Geoff your no where near it yet!

 

When I used to carp fish a lot it ws not uncommon for me to fish for months on end bivvied up! Longest I ever went without a carp was 6 weeks and a few days on one very difficult water! Thats fishing 24/7 with only the occaisional few hour reel in to go get supplies etc.

 

As a proffesional guide the longest I ever went without my customers catching was 7 days.This was while the cats were spawning and was the worse 7 days of my fishing career!

[JV44]

Geoff your no where near it yet!

 

When I used to carp fish a lot it ws not uncommon for me to fish for months on end bivvied up! Longest I ever went without a carp was 6 weeks and a few days on one very difficult water! Thats fishing 24/7 with only the occaisional few hour reel in to go get supplies etc.

 

As a proffesional guide the longest I ever went without my customers catching was 7 days.This was while the cats were spawning and was the worse 7 days of my fishing career!

 

Budgie the first time i went out there with a mate we had the same probs due to spawning cats ,i had 3 finiky for Cats anyway takes and didnt land one my mate didnt missed 3 as well they were just not having it and picking up the eels by the tail looking at the pad marks,I saved the blank on the last day with a Catfish of the size that even a guide of your standing and experience probubly won`t have ever seen ,all 8lb of it my mate who was not having agreat time due to the conditions couldnt wait to show everyone the photos back home.

I will see if i can dig out the photos of it for you to have a laugh at ,Pesonally i think it was a great angling feat i mean any idiot can go and catch a monster there but small Cats no they are a rare breed .

Angly back in the 80s myself and a mate spent a whole winters worth of weekends on a massive local pit that was throwing up some big Pike at the time and they would be coming out either side of the swims we fished to the same baits and methods and yet we had 2 doubles alll; winter to show for our efforts ,A fact made worse by every one else seeming to be able to catch at will that winter was a grueller fish wise Steve

Edited March 5, 2009 by JV44

[Neil G]

Geoff your no where near it yet!

 

When I used to carp fish a lot it ws not uncommon for me to fish for months on end bivvied up! Longest I ever went without a carp was 6 weeks and a few days on one very difficult water! Thats fishing 24/7 with only the occaisional few hour reel in to go get supplies etc.

 

As a proffesional guide the longest I ever went without my customers catching was 7 days.This was while the cats were spawning and was the worse 7 days of my fishing career!

 

Now that is blanking...I would have thrown the towel in!

 

I've blanked a good 4/5 times in a row this year on stretches which I know well and have had plenty of fish out from which makes it even m ore frustrating.

 

The evidence of tackle packets of eastern european origin and litter (luncheon meat & sweetcorn tins) does shed some light on the situation. Well, it's my excuse anyway

[Anderoo]

If it's total successive blanks, not that many as I lose interest fairly quickly and want to move on to something else. I always have a couple of 'banker' venues up my sleeve for the hard times, so I can always go and trot some maggots or quivertip some bread and be almost guaranteed a fish or two. I also tend to fish to the conditions, so I'm not often trying to catch a certain species in bad conditions. My default setting is chub!

 

However, if it's blanks fishing for a certain species, that's a different matter! I spent a whole summer fishing for catfish a few years ago, at a relatively easy water, and finally caught one right at the end of the summer, a puny little thing of 3lb 8oz (my PB!). I've had horrendously long spells blanking for carp before, although not quite in Budgie's league Although I expect Budgie was fishing for something rather special, I was just fishing for any carp...

 

Last year I suffered a long string of blanks fishing for perch. That was very frustrating because I didn't know if they just weren't feeding when I was there, or they'd been moved or killed in the 2007 floods.

 

As for zander - until last season it was years since I'd even seen one!

 

I've had a lot of blanks fishing for barbel in the Thames here and the tributaries, before I realised just how rare they are. I've given up on that one...

 

Good old tench in the summer and chub in the winter, you can't go wrong!

[poledark]

When I was a young man...a long time ago , it was quite normal for a carp angler to blank. I remember a couple of seasons with only a couple of fish to show. But things were different then, and the waters I fished had very few carp in them (one 10acre lake had only 6 carp)

 

Coming to more recent times, about 4 years ago, I went 6 months, fishing 4/5 days a week, on a prolific carp water, without a touch. It went from "never blanking, several fish a day" to Zero/zilch/eff all.....................

 

Den, see my signature

[Angly]

Sheesh, I can't even achieve a blanking record!

 

I'm planning on a sesh next week to a spot I know has produced for someone else, using their published technique as a guide...the problem of course if that every other Tom, Dick & Harriet has probably read the same old article, been there, done that, and killed the swim. However, local free swims with a feature aren't exactly two a penny, and I've not tried this stretch before, so it has to be done.

 

I think my main problem, barring the weather we've had, and being unable to time my fishing to take the best advantage of it, is my trying to fish over-fished free waters (down here), and my unfamiliarity with the KLAA waters in Norfolk when I'm there. I could of course just pay for a day at the excellent (in my opinion) Bury Hill Fisheries, but I refuse to pay for fishing when so much gorgeous water is available for free.

Edited March 5, 2009 by Angly

[Fenman]

Geoff,

I've been fishing KLAA waters all winter - probably 40 trips - and all I've had is a few perch, so it's not only you! On Tuesday it was so frustrating, not a tickle while this grebe was catching all day. It's become a standing joke down at the pub where the locals are only allowed to ask if I've been fishing and NOT whether I've caught anything.

But, I can assure you of one thing:

 

I've enjoyed every minute.

[wayne baker]

These days with me mainly fishing rivers. I do my best to make the best of a bad situation, On a bad day if i am struggling to catch what i am after i will resort to targeting anything, even scaleing down to catch a few gudgeon if need be. Id rather go home with something under my belt than nothing.

 

Going back to the days when i had the carp bug it wasnt unuaul for me to go weeks without any action. Especially when fishing hard waters with few but big fish. But i was knowing that any minute one of them could pick up your bait that kept you going. In those days i was totally obsessed with my fishing and when i think back i must of been mad.

 

Even with my pike fishing these days i tend not to follow the crowds i much prefer to look for my own waters that havent been fished much. This season i have been fishing a 17 acre lake which hasnt had a lot of attention pike wise. between october and now i have fished it about about twenty times and i have only had six fish, And four of them came on the same day when it all came together for me location wise.

 

We all go through dry spells with our fishing, Sometimes you really cant do nothing about it, You can be doing everything right but you still struggle. If they aint having it. They aint having it. To me thats the beauty of being an all round specimen hunter, You can always move on to another species, Through the season. I see carp anglers these days sitting it out all winter on waters where there isnt even anything that big. Blanking for the sake of it. To me its just a waste of the winter, But each to their own i suppose