At least I christened my new rod....

• I had to make a decision this morning - stay here and work, or head out fishing for a few hours. Not a tough one. Flat calm conditions, hardly a breath of wind, overcast, and good water clarity - any breeze there was seemed to be variable at best. Seemed pretty good for a bash with the bass lures and my new Tenyru plugging rod.

• It all felt pretty good when I saw a nice shoal of sandeels moving into a gully just after low water, and I also saw a decent fish jump right out of the water - a sea trout I am presuming, as it was not a bass. I also saw a fish or two down deep which I am sure were pollack. It is amazing how much more you see with polarised sunglasses, even when it is overcast like it was this morning. In my opinion, Maui Jim make the best ones in the world - worth every single penny. They are as vital as a good rod and reel.

• Anyway, about two hours up I finally got hit by a fish, but pretty quickly I could tell it was not a bass, and also that it was hardly about to test the new rod to the max. But at least it was a fish, albeit a small pollack - see the photo above. It went back fine. I carried on for a bit, but saw not a sniff of a bass.

• But my Tenyru rod has at last been christened !! The more I use this rod, the more I am realising just how good it is for our bass fishing - I seriously can not believe how effortlessly it chucks lures out there, indeed I am actually backing off the power in my casting because the rod works more efficiently like that. I stand by everything I said about the rod the other day, check here for that review. The accuracy with which you can deliver lures, and the lack of effort it requires to work them properly makes fishing with it a complete joy. The less tiring it is to work lures properly, the longer you will work them more efficiently. If you are after what I believe is the ultimate bass plugging rod, check here on where to get one (or two or three !!). This one rod has forever changed my opinion on what makes a good plugging rod - and note the word plugging, not spinning. They are two completely different things.

• The lure that caught the pollack was none other than the ever faithful Maria Chase BW in holographic silver. I love watching this thing "swimming" in the water and I feel very confident every time I fish with it. Get these lures here. Now for some bass please.......

• Another top extreme music tip here - get the new Deicide album, Til Death do us Part. For years these guys have been at the forefront of death metal, with various ups and downs along the way, but this new album is a savage classic. I saw these guys live when they toured their first ever album and they ripped big time back then. Good to hear that they have kept the insanity going for all these years !! What an awesome CD to write a fishing feature to.......