New issue of the outstanding Catch mag online now

• A new issue of the awesome online magazine "Catch" has been published today, and I implore you to take some proper time to have a decent look through the pages - loads of great photography and also some very cool video clips. It doesn't matter what kind of fishing you do - Catch magazine is a prime example of how good fishing can look when it is done well, and full credit to the guys who put this online magazine together every couple of months. Have a look at Catch right here.

• For some strange reason the guys keep on asking me to submit a few photos, and I am really please and honoured to have a couple of mine in there this time around. Check out the photo above that has been bled back to allow some text to be put there. Is my inclusion because they feel better for having at least one token Brit within the virtual pages ??!!

• The other photo of mine that is in there is of a tigerfish that was caught on the fly down in Zambia, with the outstanding guys from FlyCastaway (contact them here). Few fish look as cool as a tigerfish when it is bathed in this kind of perfect light, but then again, light is what it's all about anyway. I have rarely seen light as perfect as that you see at dawn or dusk in some parts of Africa - it all happens fast, but sometimes you just sit there with your mouth open at such colours and tones.

• I am going to go and check out Nick Hart's Open Day tomorrow, and it is taking place at Exe Valley Fishery. Check here for details. This should be a blast, a chance to talk about fishing with all kinds of people, and also to see what is new and exciting in the world of fly fishing. There is so much from fly fishing that we can and do bring over into the saltwater world, like waders, wading jackets, wading boots etc..

New issue of Catch mag now online

• There is a brand new issue of the online magazine Catch out now - see here. It does not matter what kind of fishing you do, whether it's saltwater, fly or coarse, because I presume that most fishermen like to check out awesome looking fishing. Catch magazine continues to blow me away with the quality of the work in there, and this issue they have gone mad and dropped a photo of mine in there - have a look in the Light Series for my shot.

• The first photo in that First Light section is simply outstanding, and it was shot by the famous US fly fishing photographer Val Atkinson. Check out more of his work here. OK, so some of us may never go to some of the places featured in Catch magazine, but that is not the point. This online magazine in my mind is a simple celebration of all that is good about fishing - the fact that if photographed well, fishing can look so inviting and impressive. The better we make fishing look to everybody, the better our chances are for keeping this great sport going. That is how I see things anyway.

• I am a fairly useless fly fisherman myself, but to photograph fly fishing is just plain awesome. Many of the world's most beautiful and remote areas are regularly accessed by pioneering fly fishermen, and it this spirit of adventure that I find such an appealing part of fishing. Sure, we tend to all love our "home" fishing the best (give me a bass any day of the week), but just the sniff of a chance to experience different species, cultures, techniques and people is what drives a large part of my work. I know that lots of anglers are never going to venture overseas to fish, but surely there is no harm in dreaming ?

• And my favourite place on earth ? It has to be Ireland. I fell for Africa ages ago, indeed a part of me would love to live and work in South Africa, but Ireland just feels that extra bit special to me. It did the first time I ever went. Every time I go over there I can hardly sleep for the excitement. OK, so Ireland has some outstanding bass fishing, but what most sea anglers do not realise is that there are so many miles of basically unexplored and unfished coastline over there. The more effort you put into a place like Ireland, the more you will get out. In these credit crunch times, and even with the Euro being so bad for us, you can still do Ireland very cheaply. And of course there is some fantastic fly and coarse fishing over there as well.

• I like my shore-based fishing to be as far away from the crowds as possible, and it still amazes me how few people I see shore fishing in Ireland. The guys who know their fishing tend to fish out of the way places, much like around here, but there is so much easily accessible water over there that can chuck up such good fishing. I defy anybody's jaw not to hit the floor when you are fishing areas like the Beara peninsular, the Ring of Kerry and the Clare coastline. What about heading west from Cork ? And what about the virtually deserted coast of the south east ? Ireland is simply stunning. There is so much more I want to see out there - wild islands offshore on the west coast where I hear rumours of mind-blowing pollack fishing. Acres of water stuffed full or rays and huss. Huge mullet swimming around with nobody to fish for them.......

• See what I mean about dreaming ? Fishing is about dreaming, and something like Catch magazine simply stokes the fires further. One of these days I am going to do what I have dreamt about for years now, and that is to jump in a camper van and take myself off to remote parts of Ireland I have never been to and simply roam and fish until I drop. To dream is good.

New issue of Catch magazine

• A new online fly fishing magazine was launched a couple of months ago, see here for all the details. Called "Catch" magazine, it is full of the most outrageously sexy fly fishing photography and short films, and I even managed to have a load of my stuff in the premier issue. Not bad for a little old UK fishing photographer !!

• Anyway, the next issue is out, and you owe it to yourself to have a good look through it, especially if like me you live in the UK where we are heading into (grey) winter. Blue skies, good looking fish, locations to dream of, and some very cool short films as well. Check here for issue number 2. I had the "Greatest Hits" slot in the first issue, and I am really glad to see that one of the all time great fishing photographers quite rightly has those pages this time (I was merely warming the seat up) - to anybody with any interest in good looking fly fishing, I am sure the name R. Valentine Atkinson needs no introduction at all. The man is pure class and I had the privilege of meeting him in Denver a couple of years ago. Yes, you guessed it, we talked photography and fishing !! Check out Val's website right here, and look in the new Catch magazine from page 8 onwards for some truly breathtaking photos of the world of fishing. He is what I call a proper photographer.

• Catch magazine is full of material that will inspire you, and if the New Zealand photos from page 90 onwards do not have you staring slack-jawed in pure wonder then you have no soul. I have to get down there someday, but I have always been a bit worried that I might love it so much that I never come home........

• Anyway, with my talk of grey UK winters, I can't see a cloud in the sky today here in Plymouth - what a stunning morning. Later on I am heading off up to Chesil Beach to shoot a bunch of photos. If some cod turn up then that would be great, but we will take whatever comes along. As anybody who reads this blog will know, I have been doing mainly bass fishing this year, so perhaps tonight I might actually swing a lead (safely and without any attempt at a pendulum cast) in anger. Could be interesting......

• My mates over in south east Ireland I know are getting highly overexcited about this decent weather and the building tides - I think they rather fancy some serious time on the bass over the next few days. Best of luck guys, and I will post info here as and when I hear it. It is this time of year when a proper crocodile of a fish can turn up, whether on bait or lure. Seriously, every single day I am wrestling with a desire to sell up over here and move over to Ireland - all I have to do is to persuade my wife that we should do it, and that "no, of course not, I wouldn't go fishing all the time" ??!! She knows me too well.