Is it just me ?

• Is it just me, or are more bass anglers struggling at the moment around the south Devon and Cornwall coastlines ? Granted, north east winds are hardly the finest direction for inspiring confidence when chasing bass, but still, I'm finding it pretty tough at the moment....

• To be fair to myself, I should have turned around and gone home the moment I saw the conditions on Saturday morning - maybe that overload of extreme metal last Thursday night has done something to my head, but I was sure that there would be a bit more colour and life to the sea. But no. About as flat and crystal clear as possible !! I gave it a few hours, but I saw nothing even move for my lures. Mildly frustrating to say the least...................

• Especially when my mate Graham Hill rings me from Ireland on Sunday to tell me that he had taken three bass on lures that morning, with the biggest nudging 8lbs !!!! "Well done", I said nice and calmly, or something like that anyway. Seriously, I am wrestling with this urge to up sticks and move over to south east Ireland. I am in love with the country that much. It does not fish all the time, but nowhere does, but when it's on, it's insane. See here for starters. I get to fish and photograph all around the world as part of my job, but I would put Irish bassing right up there when it is firing.

• Anyway, above is some proof that there are a few bass around south Devon - Bob Musk is playing what was a small fish, but a bass nonetheless, taken on live sandeel from a local estuary.

• I am sure plenty of you can guess what estuary this photograph was taken in. It is a stunning place with a distinct lack of people and some very nice bass from time to time. Even with grey skies the place looks impressive, especially as the leaves turn over to their autumn colours.

• I am out tomorrow photographing some fly fishing with Nick Hart, so that should be a blast. We are off to a winter stillwater to shoot a feature for Trout Fisherman magazine, and then we are out on Thursday as well. Some people look down a bit at these kinds of fisheries, but I never understand why. OK, so they are not big, wild waters, but they are often very individual places that keep plenty of fly guys fishing right through the winter for some quality fish. My job is to make them look as good as possible, whatever the weather.