Off to the Florida Keys

• Above is a photo of Nick Hart playing a nice brown trout on Colliford reservoir up on the wild and windswept Bodmin Moor in Cornwall - what the photo does not properly show is just how torrential that rain really is. Anybody who was driving past must have thought we were complete nutters. Nick for fishing and me for photographing from under a blue and white golfing umbrella - try it sometime, it is not easy adjusting a camera around the handle of an umbrella stuffed down the front of a Greys GRXi wading jacket, but the material we came away with made the extra effort all worthwhile. That wading jacket is one of my favourite ever bits of fishing clothing. Decent waterproofs are vital for this kind of work - check out the Hardy EWS stuff that Nick was wearing here. Below is one of the stunning brown trout that Nick landed while we were shooting the feature for Trout Fisherman magazine. Check out a bunch of my photos in the current edition on pages 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46.

• I have now seen my east coast Canada feature in the current Fieldsports magazine and I am over the moon with how they have made the piece look. As well as the cover (check here), have a look at pages 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 119 for the full article. Those blue skies are as good as I remember them being. You need to go and do this sight fishing for Atlantic salmon, so talk to Aardvark McLeod about a trip out to the east coast of Canada.

• Anyway, I had better finish packing for my trip out to the US - I fly tomorrow morning with Virgin Atlantic over to Miami and then catch a lift down to Rodney's place in Marathon. Rodney runs a hell of a good guiding operation out there, at seriously reasonable prices, so check out what he does and book a trip for yourself. The Keys are an amazing place and I hear the tarpon are in full feeding mode. Stay that way for my few days please.

• I will do my best to keep this blog updated through the week that I am in the Keys, hopefully with shots and stories of suitably serious fish. Last year I got mostly torn to pieces by big tarpon, so this year it's payback time. Rodney is a master at finding these awesome fish and I can't wait to get back out there.

• I hope any tackle tarts among you found the review of my new bass plugging rod from Tenyru to be of help - granted, not to the bank balance, but most definitely in the ability to fish more effectively with lures that this outrageous rod gives you. Roll on the red devil. I am rather hoping that when I get back from the Keys the bass have moved in properly and are wanting to play serious ball with my ever expanding lure collection. I think I once said that I did not consider myself to be a tackle junkie........