Caught a few bass last night

• We had six bass over the high water yesterday evening, and although none were of any great size and the light was pants, it was fantastic fun. Freelining live sandeels into a swirling current and then getting hit hard is such a "pure" form of fishing. My first drop back and I had to put the rod down to do something on the boat - I was sure I saw a tiny hit almost straight away, but of course thought "no way, not so fast, surely ?", and then a few seconds later the rod tip slammed down and stayed down. Not a big fish, but a blast in the racing current. The bass were in great condition, and things at this location bode well for the rest of the year.............

• I tried a few lures, but there were a lot of leaves coming down and plenty of weed about, and all I ended up doing was snagging this up. Yesterday was designed for live sandeel fishing, but I would like to try some soft plastics right over the slack water period when it would be possible to search out the area a bit better.

• There are various items of fishing tackle that my eyes have really been opened to this year, and one of them has to be Varivas braid - it is off the scale it is so good. The Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE braid is unlike anything else I have ever used (you can get it here), indeed it is so limp and easily usable that it hardly even feels like a braid if that makes any sense. Freelining live sandeels with this stuff is just so effective - I tied it to a swivel with a decent knot, and then tied a few feet of 22lb Varivas fluorocarbon on for the trace, to a 3/0 Varivas Big Mouth Extra hook (see here). Seems to be a pattern developing here - Varivas do some awesome fishing tackle. No, I am not sponsored by them, but I choose to use the best stuff I can find. High-end Japanese braid is where it's at for me.

• I thought it would be a bit of fun to show this sequence of photos below that ended up in one of my favourite photographs that I have nailed so far this year. Below you can see Graham Hill running down the rocks to lend Pat Gallagher a hand landing a bass he has hooked on a plug. This all happened a few weeks ago over in south east Ireland, on the first morning when the fishing was simply epic (see here for the original post). All looks calm and relatively serene, but I am lined up with the camera because out of shot and the sea is looking seriously lively - I really fancy the chances of some very dramatic "classic bass fishing" shots.......................

• OK, so Graham's run down to help Pat out with his fish, but look above and you can see him suddenly having to turn to brace himself against the wave that has just smashed against the rock on which they are standing. Pat is just starting to hunch down, but he has got a bass on the end of his line and is not about to give it up !! I have changed over from shooting a landscape format to portrait (upright) because I can see what is coming out of the corner of one eye, and I want to try and frame the full impact of the wave.

• Now both guys have had no choice but to turn against the wave and adopt a fully braced position so that nothing bad happens. Pat now has to simply hope that his bass is well enough hooked to get through this. They know what they are doing.

• The final photo in the sequence turned out better than I could have ever hoped for. Obviously you can not plan this kind of shot, for it very much depends on the conditions unfolding, where the anglers choose to stand, and of course, if you the photographer have your eye seriously on the ball and are watching every single thing that is going on. I really feel I have nailed one stand out photo that says virtually every single thing that I want to say about bass fishing in one shot - drama, excitement, risk, reward, movement, passion, insanity, escapism, you name it, this is what it's all about.

• Note that both guys are wearing what we all reckon to be one of the very best waterproof "wading" jackets out there, the Greys GRXi model. Check it out here. Although this wading jacket was of course designed for the fly fishing market, it is just about perfect for mobile bass fishing, especially when you have a load of cold sea water breaking over your head. It surely goes without saying that breathable chest waders are a must.

• Bear in mind that the three portrait photos are taken out of a sequence of perhaps twelve, all shot at nearly ten frames per second on one of my Canon 1D MK111 cameras. It all happened that fast, and because I had seen what was coming, I was lined up and ready to shoot - correct f-stop and shutter speed and corresponding ISO, to make sure I stopped the water stone dead and did not blow the highlights in the white of the crashing wave against the black rocks behind. Motor drive on, focus on Graham, and make sure to hold it there.

• An increasing amount of people email me and ask how to get into things like photographing fishing, but there is very little advice I can give, for in the end we all find our own ways into this business, and I am totally self-taught at all this. But there is one thing that is absolutely vital - you have to know when not to fish. If you want to fish all the time, don't try to work in fishing. It is never what it seems.......

Front cover and some Irish bass thoughts

• Above is a current cover photo of mine on the front of the US magazine Destination Fish - this strange looking fish is a bumphead parrotfish that was caught by South African fly angler Rob Lewis out on Providence atoll in the ultra-remote Seychelles. I believe that I might have been the first fishing photographer to document these creatures being successfully targeted and captured on the fly, on the flats, and I have got a bunch of awesome photos. I really like their choice of my photograph for the cover (well I would, wouldn't I ??!!), and I imagine that it certainly "jumps" at you from the newstands. There is only one guiding company on this earth that I trust to put you onto this kind of world class saltwater fly fishing, and that is FlyCastaway. Fishing like this does not come cheap, but if you can do it, talk to Pete or Charlotte at Aardvark McLeod. Check out a bunch of my Seychelles photos here, here and here.

• I have naturally been thinking a lot about my recent trip over to Ireland - was there anything more we could have done to nail a few more bass when the weather went really still, clear and settled ? Usually I would have fancied our chances big time on the baits, but the weeks leading up to my most recent trip had seen insane amounts of rain, and a lot of the bait marks were far too coloured up to produce the goods. I have just heard that in fact they are starting to fish well again as the freshwater starts to clear away. Sod's law !!

• I know that Andy is just about coming to terms with his first Irish experience, and I hope to get him back over there next year. On our penultimate morning he got hit on his lure, and then immediately saw a huge bass jump behind it. This fish came at his lure a couple more times, but would not take - Andy nearly fell off his rock, and put the size at "well into double figures", and bear in mind that this guy has personally witnessed fish to 13lbs plus being landed over in Cornwall, so he knows his bass. Much like Graham back in July, Andy proceeded to talk fluent Swahili for about an hour after he saw that huge bass......

• I manged to get a bass over the 6lb mark on this penultimate morning, but as Pat grabbed the lip of the fish, it turned and shed the hooks. It hit me right next to a rock and really put on the gas, but these red Tenryu rods have serious power in reserve for when you need to play them hard. So we did not get the photos, but at least the fish went back just fine, that is always the most important thing to me. I de-barb all my treble hooks on my bass lures as I believe it is far better for the fish, and unhooking is just so much easier and more efficient. The less time spent trying to remove hooks, the better the fish recovers. I do not believe that I have lost any fish due to doing this - the bass that got away would have got away with or without barbs, and I would hope that the majority of bass anglers crush the barbs on their trebles.

• That morning also saw a rather excited Pat doing his best not to fall off another rock with excitement - with all this nearly falling off the rocks, you probably think they are all overdoing the Guinness, but in fact Pat saw a bass he reckons was nudging 14lbs swim right beneath him in the crystal clear water. The fact that the fish was not interested in his lure was mildly frustrating to say the least.

• Whichever way you look at it, this recent Irish trip was still a huge success - we saw plenty of decent fish, and for the most part the light was excellent and I managed to get a load of photos that I am really happy with. The photograph with Pat and Graham being hit by a big wave is in fact one of my favourite I have shot this year (see this post here). I could see that Pat had a fish on, and I knew that Graham would get right in there to help his mate land it. Moving as fast as I could over some seriously treacherous ground, I dialled in -1 stop of exposure compensation to my Canon 1D MK111 camera/70-200 f4 L lens combination as I walked/crawled/scrambled over the seaweed covered rocks, to prevent blowing the exposure with all that white water against a dark rocky background, and the result was an awesome sequence of shots that in my mind show the kind of bass fishing on the edge that a whole load of us enjoy. Being in the right place at the right time comes from a lot of practise and a certain amount of luck, but mostly it comes from knowing when not to fish. Believe me, I want to fish all of the time, but this is my job, and I need to get the kind of photos that are going to sell for me time and time again. Nailing a photo like that is as much of a thrill to me as catching a decent fish - yes, I am in love with my job, and I am proud to say so. I am also lucky enough to work around some fantastic people, and I am forever in their debt.

• I am flying out to South Africa on Thursday evening, so I had better get on with clearing some work and then getting ready for this trip. It has been far too long since I was in Africa, and I can't wait to see those vast skies and smell those unmistakable smells of the most awesome continent on earth............

Outstanding new magazine

• There is a fantastic new fishing, shooting and hunting magazine that has just hit the news stands in the US, and it is really worth tracking down if you are into the outdoors life. Called "The Travelling Sportsman", it deals with the best fishing and hunting destinations on this earth, and I am really pleased to have the lead feature in there. Check out pages 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 for my words and photos from one of the remotest Bahama island - Great Inagua. Those eagle-eyed among you might also spot some other photos of mine in the magazine as well........

• The Travelling Sportsman's website can be found here. I am fascinated in all kinds of fishing from all around the world, and this magazine is exactly the kind of publication that I reckon the fishing and hunting world seriously needs. All credit to the people involved. The editor Doug is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. Why can't we have a publication like this in the UK ?

• If you ever get hold of the Norwegian fishing magazine "Alt om Fiske", check out a big feature of mine in issue number 3, 2008 - all about the outstanding trip to Rost we had last summer chasing monster coalfish on the fly (check here for the photos). OK, so I don't speak or read Norwegian, but the magazine is well worth tracking down. Look on pages 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 for my words and photos. I sound good in Norwegian !!

• There is a very cool DPS photo in there (pages 24 and 25) of the stunning looking Hardy Zane rod and reel that Nick Hart was using to smash the coalfish with. It's the kind of photo that you know looks really good the moment you frame it up, but then you are relying on a forward thinking designer to pick the shot out and use it. I am really pleased with how they have used this particular photo. It was taken with my Canon 16-35mm f2.8L wide angle lens, plus a polarising filter. And yes, the horizon is deliberately wonky !!

• Since we're talking about fishing magazines here, have a look at the current edition of Sea Angler for a mullet feature of mine that I shot earlier this year. Look at pages 66, 67, 68 and 69. If you get the right conditions down here, mullet can be caught virtually all year round and the guy I shot the feature with is without doubt the best mullet angler I have ever come across - Martin Larkin. He is also heavily into his carp fishing, and he landed a 42lb common carp the other day. That is some fish, and it was in stunning condition.

• And on the subject of mullet, my friends in south east Ireland keep emailing me to tell me about the vast shoals of monster mullet that they keep seeing. Granted, they might be tearing their hair out with the bass close season still upon them, but these mullet have got me going big time. For a while now it has struck me that Ireland is a serious mullet mecca just waiting to be discovered. Oh for more time................

• Not long now until I head out to Montana with Nick - we fly out next Sunday from Heathrow into Denver, then we connect up to Bozeman. I can not wait to finally get the chance to take photographs out there, and I know that Nick is "mildly" excited about fishing those famous rivers and streams. Trips to where we are going can be booked through Aardvark McLeod. If internet connections allow me to, I will keep this blog regularly updated when we are out there, hopefully with some outrageously pretty fly fishing photos. I'd better start thinking about what camera gear to pack.

• I told you the other day about the new Opeth album that is out, called "Watershed" - I have been listening to it virtually all the time since I got it, and take it from me, this is a monster release. Some albums take proper time to grow on you and reveal themselves, and this is one of those - I am completely blown away by how good this CD is. There is an insane amount of talent in this band and I can't wait to see them live when they next come to the UK.

Great spinning/fixed spool reel

• There are so many different reels to use for mullet fishing, and I would guess that most anglers are using fairly small models for the light mainlines that we use. Whilst I reckon that Shimano make the best spinning (fixed spool) reels there are, this little Okuma VS30 (photo above) that I have been using for my mullet fishing for a fair while now is a delight to fish with. It came with a couple of spools, but I use mainly 10-20lb braid on mine for mulleting and it works a treat.

• A friend of mine over in Florida also swears by the larger Okuma VS models for a lot of his heavy fishing, for species such as tarpon, and having used one over there, they do work very well. It is amazing what you can do with spinning reels these days.

• I am actually looking around for some spinning reels at the moment, for various parts of my fishing, and while I know that these Okuma reels will do all that is asked of them, I have to admit that my heart really wants to invest in a few of the most awesome reels in the world - the simply mind-blowing Shimano Stella. If money was no object, I would get the 4000, 5000, 6000 and 8000 size models right now................dream on !! These reels are machines and are a serious pleasure to use. But perhaps I had better get real and start looking through the Shimano catalogue at some slightly cheaper reels.

• Check out the stunning new Greys 2008 Game catalogue - there are plenty of my photographs in there, including a very cool shot of one of their reels inside the front cover that I shot last year on the Exe, with Nick Hart. Thanks Nick for the use of your hand !!

• Below is a photo from mullet fishing the other day - at times we could see fish surfacing not ten yards out from here. I lay down on the ground here and literally rested the camera on the pebbles, using my Canon 16-35mm f2.8L lens to try and accentuate that moody sky, with the sunlight off to the left illuminating the foreshore and Larks fishing away.