Monster Irish bass

• A huge well done to my mate Graham Hill over in south east Ireland - he landed a bass of just over 14lbs on Sunday morning on a lure. That is some fish !! This without doubt proves a couple of things that I have been banging on about for some time now - that Ireland offers some of the finest shore fishing for bass that there is, and that Graham is one of the most accomplished anglers that I have had the pleasure to fish with and work around. I know how hard he works at his fishing and how much thought he pits into it, and the rewards keep on coming. I am over the moon for the man.

• We spoke on Saturday evening and he told me of his plans to head out early the next morning because the tides and conditions were just about perfect, so I was half expecting some kind of message the next morning. Graham has six bass on lures, with the best going over the 14lb mark (you can see a photo and further details here). I have never even seen a bass that big, but the guys over there believe there are far bigger fish around, and I know that Graham has had a couple even larger himself. Whilst it was a great text message to read, in all honesty the news did not surprise me that much - he's an awesome angler and he is fishing an awesome bit of coastline. I am over there later next week and I can't wait. I am hoping to get the chance to photograph a bit of cod and bass fishing, plus whatever the weather and conditions throw at us.

• The successful lure for this monster bass was I believe the very same white/silver Tide Minnow Surf that I was talking about the other day, see here. Sometimes you just get a feeling about certain lures, and I guess that Graham felt the same way !! You can get these bass slayers right here. All the Duo Tide Minnow lures seem to cast and fish fantastically well.

• Below is Graham with a roughly 9lb bass that he nailed back in July when I was over photographing with him and a bunch of Jersey bass freaks. See the photos from that trip right here. We had an epic few days and I know the guys came away somewhat blown away by the quality of the fishing. Honestly, thoughts of moving over there for good are occupying my thoughts a lot these days.

• But not as much as Iggle Piggle's tune !! Still having problems removing this one from my head - I did not have the heart to break my youngest daughter's Iggle Piggle teddy when they were out on Friday morning, but I did have a glint in my eye when I went downstairs to make a cup of coffee and saw it staring maliciously at me. "I could rip you to pieces in a frenzied rage" were my initial thoughts, but then I managed to reign myself in and think about my girls. I am a mature father of two now, and I am not about to rip an innocent teddy to shreds - perhaps just a little smack in the chops though ? Iggle Piggle is the Devil in disguise.

• And as for the England v Australia match on Saturday afternoon, the less said the better I reckon. I accept that I will be receiving numerous abusive emails from my South African friends this week, ahead of next Saturday's game, but I can take that ok. What I can't take is the fact that the Aussie scrum pushed us off the ball. We are a young side though and I trust Martin Johnson to get them on the right road given a bit of time.....