Saw my first UK salmon

• Right after I read about Nick Hart's salmon that he caught early on this week and then posted on his blog, he called me up to tell me that conditions were once again looking perfect - could I make it up there for Tuesday late afternoon/evening for another crack at them ? What do you think.......? Clear some stuff here at the desk as fast as I can for the rest of the day, chuck the photo gear in my bag and head on up there. The only way that Nick and I are going to nail some decent photos of UK salmon is if we can remain flexible, or so much as our diaries will allow.

• We were fishing/photographing a stunning stretch of the River Exe that runs close to Exe Valley Fishery where Nick and Neil Keep teach various fly fishing skills to many hundreds of clients. Conditions looked very good indeed for a salmon or two. I feel a bit daft that the only time I have photographed Atlantic salmon is over in Canada (see here for the photos), and I really wanted to rectify this here at home. The westcountry is a great part of the world for so many kinds of fishing.

• Nick successfully nailed this salmon in the early evening, on a Kylie Conehead fly and a Hardy Demon rod and reel. I was over the moon to see this fish, and although it might be a little coloured, who gives ? My first sight of a real English salmon, and I am so pleased it came from a westcountry river like the Exe. There were a few other fish moving around as well. You really should get in touch with Nick and Neil and ask about being guided for stunning fish like these.

• If time and conditions enable another quick trip like this, we'll do it again. Such special fish to see. Of course the salmon was successfully returned after a few photos. If you keep fish close to the water and remove them for as short a time as possible, no harm ever comes to them.

• In the meantime, Nick and I are both getting far too overexcited about this trip out to Montana that we leave for on the 15th of this month. I can't wait for the chance to photograph such an incredible place.

• If you want to catch monster tarpon right now, then check out this link here. My mate Rodney Goodship of Fish the Dream has had a last minute cancellation for a week's tarpon fishing later this month - it is on a half price offer right now, first come, first served, so get hold of Rodney if you can make this week. As you can see on this blog back in early May, I fished and photographed with Rodney out in their base in the Florida Keys and we had an awesome time - this guy does tarpon fishing big time, as well as everything else down there. If I wasn't going to Montana, believe me, I would be booking this up myself.........

Goliath grouper - awesome fish

• We had a good flight out to Miami and got down to the Keys yesterday evening, after stopping at the vast Bass Pro store in Islamorada of course - all anglers love monster tackle shops, whether we like to admit it or not. I was actually very restrained. The fishing has been good out here, and it was great to catch up with Rodney and Helen Goodship of Fish the Dream. Rodney runs a fantastic guiding operation out here and he is heavily booked up with returning clients. His boat is always immaculate and I really enjoy fishing with him.

• I am fishing and photographing with two thoroughly nice guys from the west country, John Aplin and Scott Rice - Scott got married only a couple of weeks ago, so well done him for going fishing so soon !! These guys have caught some really large tarpon between them, so it should be a blast.

• Anyway, the fishing today has been pretty good - but quiet on the tarpon first thing when we headed out at 5am to fish until just after first light down at Seven Mile bridge. We saw a few guys hooked into some nice tarpon, but we got skunked. But after that we headed out into the gulf and anchored a small wreck in only four metres of water, and proceeded to smash a few of these awesome goliath groupers. Above you can see the kind of grief you have to give these fish if you are going to stand any chance of pulling them away from sanctuary. They are immense, and I can't get over the fact that so many fish like this can live in such shallow water.

• We got goliaths to about 80lbs to the side of the boat, but a couple of fish were simply too powerful and managed to reach the wreck. Great fun for us, but bear in mind that these are small fish - these monster grouper can weigh many hundreds of pounds, and whilst you are allowed to fish for them, they must all be released. These magnificent fish were close to being wiped out some time ago, but the US authorities brought in very serious recovery measures to protect them and the stocks are now flourishing. How cool is that ? I only wish these kinds of measures would be taken for our own bass stocks........

• Above you can see Rodney tackling with one of the groupers as he works on getting the big 20/0 circle hook out of the scissors - yes, you read that right, a 20/0 circle hook !! Big fish, big hooks, and big baits - stand up rods and 80lb braid as well. You have to give these fish proper grief on heavy gear.

• Look at the mouth below, and feel for any poor fish coming too close to the wreck we fished - it's like looking into an abyss when you stare down their throats. Imagine one of these fish at over 500lbs. We are heading out very early tomorrow morning to catch a different tide for the tarpon and I can't wait. Drifting live crabs back between the bridge gaps is seriously exciting, especially when you get hit. They are explosive fish, and there are few better places in the world to smash large tarpon than out here in the Keys. It really gets to me every time I come out here just how many people fish down here, and just how the whole local economy is essentially based around sport fishing. Give anglers lots of good fish to catch and they will spend what it takes to do it.