Beautiful lake, beautiful weather.  BlackJack is one of my favorite lakes and although I feel that I know it fairly well, I just couldn't find the bass on this trip.  I arrived at 7:30 on June 1 to what appeared to be optimal conditions for a topwater bite but that didn't happen.  In fact, it took 2.5 hours before I got my first bite and another 2 hours to reach 5 bites with 4 bass landed (1 - 2.5#).  All came on a white chatterbait with green minnow trailer thrown from deep water toward the weedline near the dam.  Interestingly, every fish hit immediately as the lure landed or my retrieve started.  Maybe I just had to hit them on the head.  After another long dead spell, I landed 2 more out of 4 blowups on a small black frog.  All these came from a weed mat in the middle of the day.  I had circled the lake several times trying my normal spots, then trying new (random) spots, then walking the bank all the while trying different lures.  It just wasn't happening today and I left around 2:30 landing 6 bass.

The lake is full, the submerged vegetation is starting to form some loose mats just under the surface in some areas, and there is a phytoplankton bloom underway (good nutrient for the food cycle). Turtles, snakes, and grasshoppers were all abundant. The owner stopped by for a chat to make sure that the crew felling and cutting up a number of dead oaks around the lake weren't bothering me (they weren't).  Somehow, I don't think I can blame my poor performance on the sound of chainsaws.

I'll just have to come back and try again.