Here in Montana

• After a fairly long journey, Nick and I arrived at our hotel in Bozeman about midnight local time (we are seven hours behind you in the UK out here). For me that was over 24 hours on the go with no sleep, so crashing out for a bit in a hotel bed was more than welcome. The flights were fine, we got all our bags through, and I woke up this morning to see snow-capped mountains surrounding the hotel, with huge blue skies and not a cloud in site. You might guess that I am in a seriously buzzed up state of excitement about finally getting the chance to photograph out here........

• And I know that Nick Hart is just waiting for his chance to get at the legendary wild browns and rainbows of Montana. We saw plenty of guys on the various flights with rod tubes and fly fishing holdalls. This part of the US is a trout fishing mecca and we are so looking forward to getting started - later on this afternoon we will drive out to where we are staying, at Yellowstone Valley Ranch and start doing what we came out here to do. If you are into world class trout fishing and locations, you owe it to yourself to come out and visit a place like this, so talk to Aardvark McLeod about doing so.

• Nick and I had a few hours to kill yesterday in Denver airport, so we found a place to get a decent burger and watch the last few holes of the US Open golf (ok, so I did, it's not Nick's thing) - I was willing on Lee Westward to make the play-off, but sadly he came up one stroke short. But what about the legend that is Tiger Woods ? How does he keep doing it ? He needs a vital putt to make a next day 18 hole play-off, and of course he goes and sinks it. I would guess that Tiger is mentally one of the strongest people there is. I bet he takes the title today......

• Why is it that a vital international airport like Heathrow is such a complete dive, yet somewhere like Denver is how an airport should be - clean, calm, plenty of places to eat something at regular (not rip-off like at Heathrow) prices and lots of room to move around. Airports are not my favourite places in the world to spend time in, but you have no choice if you need to travel, so the least amount of time I can spend in or around Heathrow, the better. Just look at that recent Terminal 5 fiasco. Anyway, Monday morning (afternoon to you) rant over !!

• The bass close season has just ended over in Ireland, so I am fully expecting to hear from my mates about some awesome bass catches - best of luck guys, but leave some for me please for July. You will be able to see reports of some of the catches at this excellent forum here, and check specifically here for bass fishing comings and goings.

• Anyway, I had better go grab some breakfast and get the gear together for the work we are doing out here. Just to be able to call what I am doing here my work is a dream come true, and believe me, I still have to pinch myself every single time. Just having the chance to work in and around the sport of fishing is what I always dreamed of. If internet connections are working fine all week, I should be able to post some stunning photos up here during this trip, so keep an eye on the blog for that.