Off to the Florida Keys

• Above is a photo of Nick Hart playing a nice brown trout on Colliford reservoir up on the wild and windswept Bodmin Moor in Cornwall - what the photo does not properly show is just how torrential that rain really is. Anybody who was driving past must have thought we were complete nutters. Nick for fishing and me for photographing from under a blue and white golfing umbrella - try it sometime, it is not easy adjusting a camera around the handle of an umbrella stuffed down the front of a Greys GRXi wading jacket, but the material we came away with made the extra effort all worthwhile. That wading jacket is one of my favourite ever bits of fishing clothing. Decent waterproofs are vital for this kind of work - check out the Hardy EWS stuff that Nick was wearing here. Below is one of the stunning brown trout that Nick landed while we were shooting the feature for Trout Fisherman magazine. Check out a bunch of my photos in the current edition on pages 42, 43, 44, 45 and 46.

• I have now seen my east coast Canada feature in the current Fieldsports magazine and I am over the moon with how they have made the piece look. As well as the cover (check here), have a look at pages 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 119 for the full article. Those blue skies are as good as I remember them being. You need to go and do this sight fishing for Atlantic salmon, so talk to Aardvark McLeod about a trip out to the east coast of Canada.

• Anyway, I had better finish packing for my trip out to the US - I fly tomorrow morning with Virgin Atlantic over to Miami and then catch a lift down to Rodney's place in Marathon. Rodney runs a hell of a good guiding operation out there, at seriously reasonable prices, so check out what he does and book a trip for yourself. The Keys are an amazing place and I hear the tarpon are in full feeding mode. Stay that way for my few days please.

• I will do my best to keep this blog updated through the week that I am in the Keys, hopefully with shots and stories of suitably serious fish. Last year I got mostly torn to pieces by big tarpon, so this year it's payback time. Rodney is a master at finding these awesome fish and I can't wait to get back out there.

• I hope any tackle tarts among you found the review of my new bass plugging rod from Tenyru to be of help - granted, not to the bank balance, but most definitely in the ability to fish more effectively with lures that this outrageous rod gives you. Roll on the red devil. I am rather hoping that when I get back from the Keys the bass have moved in properly and are wanting to play serious ball with my ever expanding lure collection. I think I once said that I did not consider myself to be a tackle junkie........

At least I saw a bass....

• I got back to Plymouth late on Tuesday night after a couple of days up in Alnwick with Hardy & Greys, and before I went to bed I checked the local forecast - perfect for another go at some bass on the lures, so on Wednesday morning I gave Mark Bryce a shout and we went out for a short session on the first of the push. The actual conditions could not have been better - decent tide, gentle westerly breeze, a bit of chop, and fantastic water clarity. Just look at the photo above to see how good it looked for bass yesterday.

• While it still might be a little early to expect much success, about two hours after low tide I had a bass come at my lure and then turn away. I saw the fish plain as day, very close in, but the bass was that small he might actually have had a bit of a problem trying to nail my lure - again, the Maria Chase BW in holographic silver. I was able to watch my different lures work all the way in yesterday, and you can't believe how good they look in the water. Check here to get some of the Maria Chase lures - whatever you do, have one or two in your lure box at all times.

• So, I got skunked again, but at least I saw a bass, albeit a little on the minnow size !! Mark got all excited when he saw a bigger fish track his lure at one point, but it turned out to be a nice mullet. I am going to keep trying as things are looking up - hopefully the weather will behave next week for a few attempts, because after that I am off to the Florida Keys to get hurt by some tarpon for a few days. Work of course. And when I am back it is time to head out plugging whenever time allows.

• I had a really good couple of days with Hardy & Greys, doing a bunch of stuff on the game fishing side - there are a whole raft of very exciting looking new products to be launched this year, so keep your eyes open for them. A lot of the game fishing clothing such as breathable waders, wading boots, wading jackets and other clothing is exactly what I like to use for my mobile fishing, such as chasing bass and mullet.

• I am out with Nick Hart next week to photograph some wild Cornish brown trout if conditions let us, and this is awesome fly fishing. There are few prettier fish in the world than a prime condition brown trout - roll on Montana in June, can't wait. Check out a load of fly fishing photographs here.

• Check out the full report from Pete McLeod's recent bonefishing trip out to Los Roques by clicking here. One of the world's great destinations for bonefish, you can book a trip through Aardvark McLeod, check here for their website. If fly fishing for bonefish is your thing, get out there as soon as you can. You can also see a photo of me hard at work out in Canada last year by looking here. Check here for photos from Canada and here for photos from Los Roques.

• And onto spinning rods that work well for bass fishing. Below, Mark is using what I believe to be one of the best value for money plugging rods in the UK at the moment. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of good spinning rods out there right now, check here for a load, but the rod that Mark is casting happens to work particularly well for bass fishing. It is the Shimano Technium DF BX Spinning rod, and the exact model is code STECDFBX30H - about 10' long, a nice, fast action for working all kinds of lures, and a hell of a lot of rod for not very much money at all. I know you can get them here.