Back from holiday

• It's always good getting home after a bit of time away, especially when the time you have had away has been fantastic. My wife and I love Spain, it is an incredible country and there is so much to see and do. We went north of Barcelona and just stayed in really pretty looking places that had great walking along the stunning coastline. A lot of the Costa Brava is totally ruined through catering to mass tourism, but if you speak Spanish (my wife does) and are prepared to get off the beaten track then you will find that parts of the coastline are simply breathtaking. It always strikes me as daft that so few people are prepared to explore and get away from the crowds.

• Talking of walking, I reckon over the years that I have walked most of the south Devon coastline for my fishing. Many non-anglers believe that fishing is a "sport" where you do nothing but sit there for hours on end, but mobile rock fishing is nothing of the sort, indeed it can be great exercise. Above are the guys I went plaice fishing with just before I left for Spain. Fishing far from the beaten track is what it is all about in my view. My sheepdog Jess loves these kinds of fishing trips.

• Although we were on holiday and I had not taken any fishing gear, a few of the places my wife and I stayed looked very interesting for bass fishing. I found some lovely shallow, rocky and weedy ground that I reckon would fish well on the lures, so when we go back I am going to sneak a travel-style plugging rod in my bag and get up really early for a bit of fishing. My wife need never know !! A rod like the 20-50g Greys Missionary 6 Spin would work a treat - six piece rods like this are the way forward for travelling.

• I note from the Aardvark McLeod blog that Pete McLeod is working hard out in Los Roques off the coast of Venezuela !! Awesome bonefish by the way, and well done for managing to do a bit of fishing amongst all that hard work I am sure that you have to do out there. I was out in Los Roques last year to photograph the awesome bonefishing and it is a perfectly magical place. Check here for a load of photos I shot. Talk to Aardvark McLeod about a trip out there - those famous pancake flats are incredible.

• And seriously well done to James Warbrick-Smith - he called me yesterday to tell me all about his trip out to the Bahamas that he has just got back from. James nailed his first ever permit on the fly, and that is a seriously hard thing to do, so huge congratulations to the man. I know how much it means to James. He is an awesome fly fisherman and we have done some very cool trips together in the past - here is to a load more. Check here for a load of photos I shot on the same remote island a few years ago with Nick Hart and James. Most people simply do not realise how wild it is possible to get in the Bahamas, but the huge island of Inagua is far from the beaten track - I would imagine that you are getting the point here. I love fishing and photographing where there is a distinct lack of people. What can beat wild open spaces ?

• Check out the new In Flames album, called "A Sense of Purpose" - listen to some tracks here. Their output has been a bit up and down over the last few years, but this release is growing on me. I like it when melodic death metal is done well, and In Flames tend to be pretty good at it.