Brand new look Trout Fisherman - out soon

• It fascinates me to see such a well known and well established fishing magazine like Trout Fisherman being completely overhauled and then relaunched. On March 26th you will be able to see the results of the new look Trout Fisherman magazine when it hits the shops, and here is a sneak preview. I know I work for them, but I have to say that I am hugely impressed by what has been going on, as you can see here. Magazines have to overhauled from time to time, and it takes a lot of hard work and vision to ring these changes. Sea Angler had the same thing a little while ago (see here), and the magazine looks better and better to me every month.

• What makes me even happier is that the powers that be have chosen one of my photos to go on the cover of the relaunch issue. Nice one !! OK, so I might be a bit biased towards their choice, but I really like what has been done with the photo of Nick Hart you can see on the forthcoming cover above. What a strong way to launch this brand new fly casting series we have been shooting recently - with words from Nick of course.

• The whole style of the magazine looks that bit "cleaner" to me, and personally I believe that is a good thing. So much information has to be crammed into these kinds of publications, and the trick is to make sure this info is put across in a way that can appeal to fishermen of very different skill levels. Plus you want a big dollop of inspiration in there. I reckon they have done this here, and the proof will be on the shelves at the end of this month.

• Those Irish bass keep on coming. Keven Brain emailed me from Kerry to tell me of more bass up to 8lbs over the weekend, all returned. I would hazard a guess that he has the spots all to himself as well.

• And from south east Ireland, I hear that my mates Graham, Pat and Cian had a ball over the weekend, with numerous bass coming to lures and baits - the biggest going a cracking 10lbs (on a soft plastic lure), to the efforts of Mr. Hill himself. Check out the full report on Graham's blog here. That is some fishing, and again it proves two points to me - there is no better shore fishing for bass that I know of than over in Ireland, and that they can have awesome fishing all year round for them if the conditions play ball. I can't wait to start "discovering" a bit of the French bass fishing, but it is going to have to go a long way to match the fishing I know of in Ireland. Outstanding stuff indeed. The urge to emigrate has never been stronger !!

• How about the rugby on Sunday ? A day to warm the heart. The first half of England v France had me jumping up and down in delight, and I can't help but feel that those forty odd minutes had been coming for a while now. We just had to let go and play rugby if that makes any sense. It had to happen sometime, and perhaps it was just good timing that it happened against the French at Twickenham, and in perfect spring weather as well. The second half could never live up to the first, but what a fantastic game. I reckon England were almost so shocked at what they had achieved in the first half that they went back into their shells somewhat. Still, we won properly, and the big test now is to see how we perform against Scotland on Saturday. If we play well and win properly, I reckon we are allowed to hope again. Perhaps even dream again. But we shall see............

• While my website is undergoing a rebuild, I have come across a great way of putting up really good looking web-based galleries of my photos, and I have put a few up recently. Check out a load of black and white photos here for starters. For more, check out the links on the right hand side page of this blog, under the "My Photos - various galleries" heading. There is plenty of bass stuff up there if that floats your boat.

Lots of west coast Irish bass

Photo courtesy of Kevin Brain

K.B. Fishing Ireland

• What perfect timing !! There I was writing yesterday about the value I attach to fishing with decent guides, and then shore fishing guide Kevin Brain emails me from Waterville on the west coast of Ireland to tell me it's almost not fair the numbers of bass he has been catching. Nice one. Above you can see Kevin with a cracking 9.5lb bass he took recently, and this morning I found photos in my inbox of some nice ones he has yesterday to around 7lbs. I told you, the guy can catch bass - Kevin is a great shore fishing guide, and you can book him right here.

• Above is a photo I took of Kevin on one of his favourite bass marks a few years ago - the moody tones of black and white really work well I reckon for this very classical type of "standing in the surf and touch ledgering" kind of bass fishing. There can be little argument that one of the spiritual homes of bass fishing is the rugged west coast of Ireland. A place like Kerry is very accessible to anglers who are prepared to make a bit of an effort and want a real adventure.

• Going back to a point I made yesterday - I get plenty of emails asking when and where to go for some decent bass fishing, but lots of anglers still think that it's a late spring/summer/autumn thing only. Most people do not realise that the wild west coast of Ireland often fishes best when the conditions come right during winter - they can have awesome fishing nearly all year out there, but when the tourists have long gone is often when the bassing really fires. Just look at the top photo for proof !!

• I am extremely honoured to have a few of my photos featured on one of the web's most highly regarded fly fishing sites - Midcurrent is an awesome resource for anybody with any interest in fly fishing (or fishing full stop), and it makes me really proud to see my work up there with some truly outstanding photographers. See here for the photo page. Scroll down the page and you will see little old me, the token Brit !! If you have any interest in how good fishing can look, take a little time to check these photographers out - there are plenty of links to their respective websites. Fishing done well is truly inspirational.

• If you want to see some (non-fishing) outstanding nature and wildlife photos, then check this link here, and scroll through the winning images. The world is a stunning place when it is photographed well. This kind of photography blows me away.

• Bearing in mind that I am setting up my first bass fishing trip over to France for later on this year, it is with great trepidation that I await Sunday's Six Nations clash between our two great countries. I love France and I hugely respect the French, but I can't take losing to them in the rugby. Form says we should be beaten, but me being the eternal optimist, here's hoping that England turns France over and wins a glorious match. Imagine, a proper England win !! And then at least I can hold my head up high when I cruise on down to Brittany and wax lyrical about the "good old days" of English rugby - 2003 still brings tears to my eyes..........

Fishing on islands

• I have always had a thing for fishing on islands - I am not sure why this is the case, but I guess the idea of being slightly cut off and even further away from what we might call "civilisation" appeals to me. I will never forget spending a day over on Dursey island on the west coast of Ireland for a TV show we made a while back. I don't remember any particularly big fish, but I do always remember the sense of adventure at getting that ropey cable car over there and then walking until we found somewhere that looked worth fishing. If you want to fish this part of the world, I would seriously recommend reading this photo essay here on my website, and then contacting the people whose details I have put in there.

• How about the insane cod and coalfish fishing we filmed off the coast of Norway on the tiny island of Rost ? See what I mean ? A long way from lots of people and the fishing was off the scale it was so good. Check out a load of photos here if you don't believe me.

• The photo you can see above was shot early one morning last year on the Minquiers, a huge reef system that lies a few miles off the coast of Jersey. I have been in love with the different Channel Islands for years now, and there are plenty of smaller islands around them that can be accessed and fished if you know what you are doing or go with experienced people (if you have seen me trying to navigate a boat, you will know why I choose the latter option !!). I have dreamed of going to the Minquiers for ages, and it was a huge thrill to spend a night out there. Check out how good that water looks for bass fishing - it was tough when we were out there, but anybody with half a brain is going to get excited about tide, reefs, islands, rips and eddies when it comes to bass fishing.

• Above is Jersey bass-freak Trevor Sangan fishing a popper off the back of the little island we stayed on at the Minquiers. What a perfect morning. There is also the famous Ecrehous reef system that lies off Jersey, plus numerous others. The bass guys over there have got access to such a vast area of fishable waters. I know that they guys here are always happy to help out with local advice, and they stock the rods, reels and lures that smash the bass big time.

• It just so happens that this exploratory French bass fishing/photography trip of mine that I am in the process of planning will most likely be based around an island or two. Perhaps the fact that islands get me going to much is partly down to the fact that you have to cross water to get to them, and that crossing of water always gives me that slightly increased sense of adventure. I don't care if it involves a boat, a ferry, a plane, a kayak or even a bit of a swim (preferably not), that crossing from the mainland over to an island always increases the heart rate. Fishing is an exciting thing to do in my book.

• I can't talk about islands without mentioning one of the most stunning places on earth - the Isles of Scilly. OK, so they don't have bass fishing, but they have insane shore fishing for species like mullet (monsters), pollack, huss, wrasse, conger etc. Accessing the different islands out there is like entering a new world every day. It's been too long......

• And on a different note, I watched a programme last night about the English 2003 Rugby World Cup campaign - mainly to remind myself of how great we once were, and to try and rid myself of all this heartache at being an English rugby supporter at the moment. The emotion of those days came flooding back and I think my wife caught me wiping the odd tear from the corner of my eyes - "got a bit of dust in there". She thinks I'm mad, but those were the days were they not ? We were world beaters once, with a team full of awesome rugby players who could do what it took under the severest of pressure. Can we ever be like that again ?

A perfect day - very nearly ruined.....

• Yesterday was just about the best day I could have had without going fishing - my girls and I went over to north Cornwall to see some friends, and with the stunning weather, we all had a picnic down on the Camel estuary and basically had a blast building sandcastles, collecting shells and walking out on the sand at low tide. Out of the wind and it was really warm, and my sheepdog Jess was happy to chase sea gulls until we had to head home to Plymouth. What an awesome way to spend a Sunday.

• But the rugby on Saturday afternoon came close to completely ruining my weekend - I know the mature me should rise with ease above such an outright disappointment, but to do this took real strength of will. To say that England were awful (once again) is something I hate having to admit, but surely the time has come now to start dropping players who can not stop giving away daft penalties. I would hate to be Danny Care when Martin Johnson gives him hell - and the idiot deserves it, what an insane way to get yellow-carded. "Professional fouls" I can understand when you have no choice but to try and prevent a score, but the penalties we kept on giving away were mad. The only reason the game was so close was because Ronan O'Gara momentarily forgot how to kick at goal. How much longer can I keep on watching the England rugby team do so badly ?

• I heard from a friend over in Ireland that they had a couple of bass at the weekend, including a fish nudging the 5lb mark. These fish came on crab baits, proving once again that if you go to the right areas, bass are a real possibility all year round. I fully expect reports of good lure caught bass fairly soon from over there. They also had a huge flounder and some small sea trout.

• I generally have a fisheye lens in my camera bag, but it rarely gets used. It's the kind of lens to bring out only on the odd occasion, like the shot you can see above - sometimes a shot simply "jumps" at you, and I took this one a few years ago with my friend Graham Hill. Yet again he was smashing decent fish on lures, and with the generally pretty poor light we had that particular day, I was keen on trying something else photography wise to try and emphasise the majestic lines of these fish. The head of a bass always makes a strong impression on me, and getting in really tight with a fisheye allows me to make something of that feature. Personally I really like the shot, but I do have reservations about using fisheye lenses too much......

Today is the day

• I am hoping this afternoon that against all odds, the English rugby team are going to awaken from their slumber and come out with only one thing on their mind - beating Ireland. No hang-ups, no excuses, so stupid penalties, no yellow cards, just a load of guts and glory. Granted, we played a bit of rugby against the Welsh, but we still lost. And how about France beating Wales last night ?

• The life of an eternal optimist - English rugby supporters have had to be pretty tough to stick with the team since the emotional highs of November 2003, so perhaps this afternoon will be the time when we rise from the ashes and announce ourselves back on the world stage ? We shall see............

Off to France tomorrow

• I have the dubious pleasure of having to drive all the way to Stansted airport tomorrow morning to fly down to this big fishing show in Nantes on the west coast of France. The show is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and if internet connections allow then I will do all I can to keep this blog updated with my findings at the event - especially on the bass fishing front. I have a feeling it will be a fascinating few days. All I have to do is to remain calm and not completely empty my wallet on lots of shiny new lures, rods, reels, and bits of soft plastic. From a phonecall with a friend of mine over in Cornwall last night, it seems that we who have lure fishing problems number many. He knows who he is, and he has got it really bad. I bet he blames me when his family question the arrival of yet another parcel at the front door !!

• Great timing as well because the Six Nations rugby is having a weekend off, so I won't miss a game. I feel a little better now about the future of English rugby, but perhaps that's just me willing them ever onwards and forever hoping eternally !! Think positive.

• For a bit of nostalgia, above is a photo of mine that was from the first time I ever met and fished/photographed with Graham Hill over in south east Ireland. He has become a very good friend and I look forward to many more days over in paradise - this picture made the front cover of Sea Angler magazine, where they cropped it to work on the page. See here for the cover.

• If like me you are chomping at the bit to get through winter over here and back into the proper light tackle bass fishing season, help yourself through these lean times with an eyeful of how bass fishing can look. Check here and here for a load of photos of great days in the past - and here's to hoping for plenty more this year.......

• I have just had a phonecall from my friend Rodney of Fish the Dream over in the Florida Keys to say that they have had a last minute cancellation. They now have the first two weeks of April free, and I know Rodney will do a deal on the fishing - this is prime tarpon time for starters, so if you can make it, get hold of Rodney right here. He is awesome on the tarpon and you will see a load of big fish hooked up - whether you can land these outrageously powerful fish is another matter entirely !! I should be heading out there in May to fish with Rodney. I can't think of a more cost effective way to fish the magical waters of the legendary Florida Keys than with Rodney.

• Some news on another monster metal release to bring a delightful ray of darkness into your life. Vreid was born from the ashes of the mighty Windir (RIP), and the new CD "Milorg" is a huge album. Riff after riff of shredding Norwegian style metal, all in the best possible taste. You can here some tracks here. This one is really growing on me, and I will make sure to blast this through my skull on the plane down to France tomorrow.

Going to the Nantes fishing show

• Like a kid in a candy store - I am in a high state of excitement about heading over to France later this week for the huge "Salon Europeen des Peches en Mer" show (see here). This will be the first time I have ever gone to this major sea fishing show, and with the emphasis being on bass fishing you can now understand my "mild" excitement at going. On the serious side, an event like this is work for me, and on a less serious note, hell, it's a chance to feed my (lure) addiction even more !! Soft plastic heaven here we come.....

• I am flying from Stansted to Nantes on Thursday and will be spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the show and then coming back home at the end of the weekend. My role there is to quite simply learn as much as possible about the rapidly expanding bass fishing market - I have various reasons for heading down there. If you have followed this blog for a while now, you will know how much I value what the switched-on French bass anglers are doing, and how much we are learning and still have to learn from them.

• Take the bass you can see above - this is one of the largest bass I have ever seen caught, and it was nailed on a peeler crab bait over in south east Ireland a couple of years ago. I love my bait fishing for most things that swim, but the more I learn about the increasingly modern ways of fishing with lures, the more I am convinced that bass like this one can be more regularly taken on hard and soft lures. Go to the right places at the right time, use the right tactics and mix it all up with a big dollop of luck and you might just see a magnificent fish like this on the end of your line.

• Allow these rabid mongrels into your life - you have to check out the new album from the British stalwarts Napalm Death, called "Time Waits for No Slave" - it is what I would term the second monster metal release of the year so far, right after this one here. A lot of people think that Napalm Death are just a load of noise, but you need to listen to them to hear just how downright groovy they are - yes, you heard it, groovy !! Heavy as hell, faster than a bolt of lightening frying your brain, but always willing to slow it down a tad and abuse your senses in the most proper of ways. Check out some tracks from the new album right here. If this does not get any self-respecting metal fan jumping up and down like a cat on a hot tin roof then you need to see somebody about it. Monday is getting better and better.

• And onto the Six Nations rugby - a glimmer of hope is how I would term the England performance on Saturday. OK, so the Welsh beat us (grudging respect to you lot over the border), but we actually stood up and showed some proper guts. We played some decent rugby and we began to look like a team who can think for themselves a bit under proper pressure. If we had not given away so many stupid penalties and lost two players to the sin bin we might have actually been able to win the game (ok, maybe I am dreaming). It always hurts to get beaten by the Welsh, but they were by far the better side and even then they have had much better days. They are growing into an awesome team (it hurts to have to type that) Is this the first sign of an English revival though ? Should I start getting excited again about England rugby ? Time will tell, but at least we saw a glimmer........

It's getting very hard.......

• .....to keep watching England play rugby. James and I got back into Heathrow on time on Saturday morning, and I made it back to Plymouth in plenty of time to watch England take on Italy in the opening match of the Six Nations. My wife and two daughters had made me a birthday cake, so I did the decent thing and Sky +ed the second half of the rugby......

• How bad can a game of rugby get ? I am a fanatical England rugby supporter, but I am finding it increasingly tough to keep watching the turgid rubbish that they keep playing. OK, so we essentially thrashed a very weak Italian side, and a win is a win, but it's just such boring, depressing stuff to watch. I am not one of those people who demands that England play expansive rugby all the time, but the stuff they are churning out at the moment would test the most hardy of souls. What on earth is going on ? England's greatest ever skipper (Martin Johnson is GOD) is in charge of the team, yet even he can't seem to get the team playing with any intelligence or "think on your feet" attitude. I am dreading the Wales game next weekend, and how often do you say that ? November 2003 seems like a lifetime ago.

• One bit of good news is the release of the first great metal album of the year - the mighty Kreator keep on churning out the classics, and their latest CD is a ferocious thrash metal assault that will make any morose rugby fan smile. I keep reading about the "rebirth of thrash metal", but as far as I can tell it has never gone away - how about The Haunted, Death Angel, Slayer, Kreator etc ? The new bands I have heard are not remotely fit to even polish the shoes of classic bands like these who are still releasing monstrous albums. Listen to a few tracks of Kreator's latest release "Hordes of Chaos" right here. The sweet sounds of anger pouring forth from my speakers have put a smile back on my face, and that takes some doing after the grim rugby and the even grimmer weather that has greeted me on my return from Belize. I have taken Jess for a walk twice today, and both times I have been dressed in full waterproofs - nice !! Thoughts of fishing are not in the forefront of my mind at the moment....

• If the weather lets us, Nick Hart and I will be out tomorrow to photograph a feature for Trout Fisherman magazine. A little different from photographing out in Belize, but considering the up and down weather we had out there I'll gladly get into my waders and photograph the entire day under a big golfing umbrella if I have to. I do not like being beaten by the conditions.

The jacks have saved us

• The fact that the jacks have been obligingly hitting the flies have saved us big time - there is nothing you can do when you get the kind of weather we have been getting out here in Belize, but you might as well go and nail a few hard fighting jacks when the tarpon and permit are keeping their heads down. It has been that (comparatively) cold here today that any self-respecting flats fish has long run for deeper water.

• The weather we have been getting out here sounds like nothing when compared to all the snow and cold I keep reading about back home, but for a place like this it has been pretty extreme. Wednesday was really bright, perfect for photography, but the wind was literally hurtling down the coast and causing the flats to go all milky and cold. Tarpon, bones and permit hate this !! We tried really hard but could not find the fish, so on the way back to the lodge we stopped to smash a few jacks - they were somewhat obliging. Nothing huge, but a blast. I even picked up a fly rod and (very badly) cast a Clouser Minnow out and nailed a few fish. James and I had a competition to see who could give the least amount of line to a hooked fish, and I am proud to say that I won - not one jack took a single millimetre of line off me. Very silly, but great fun.

• The wind was pumping even harder this morning, so our guide elected to run us miles south to try and find clearer water and the fish, but by the time we got there the rain was lashing down in a huge way - not great for flats fishing !! In fact I have never felt so cold in the tropics, and although that might be hard to believe, put a howling wind and lashing rain together and it was feeling more like fishing back at home. Granted, there was no snow, but with our luck I would not have been that surprised if James and I had got a dumping of the first ever snow they have had here !! This place chucks up some seriously good fish, but we have just been dealt a bum hand with the weather. In the bar there is a photo of a 197lb tarpon taken on the fly in 2002 - that is how good it can be here, and when the weather behaves, anglers get multiple shots at tarpon, permit and bonefish. I will be coming back to nail this stuff properly on camera......

• James and I are flying back to the UK tomorrow and if all goes to plan we should be landing at Heathrow just after 9am on Saturday morning. I am really hoping that the adverse weather at home does not prevent me getting back home to see my girls and of course make the 3pm kick-off for England v Italy in the opening match of the Six Nations rugby. With Saturday being my birthday, surely a good result might be on the cards ?

Off to Belize

• I am frantically trying to clear a load of work before packing my stuff and heading off to Belize tomorrow - I have to leave early tomorrow morning to drive up to Heathrow, fly to Miami, spend the night there, and then fly down to Belize on Sunday morning US time. With the weather outside my window right now, I have to say that the chance of some big blue skies and a bit of heat sure is going to be more than welcome..........

• The photos here are from a photo job I did yesterday with Nick Hart, for another piece in an upcoming series on casting in Trout Fisherman magazine (check out the current edition on pages 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 for our latest feature). Yesterday was a tough shoot, with fairly appalling light levels, but we worked hard and nailed a good looking set of photos - I had to shoot most of the day on anywhere up to ISO 800 to get fast enough shutter speeds, but with modern digital cameras the files are so clean that it's not much of a problem. Yesterday was the kind of day when I really would have been struggling on ISO 100 slide film...............ah, the good old days of Provia !!

• I am pretty sure that I am going to have proper internet access when we are in Belize, so I will do my best to keep this blog updated as regularly as possible, hopefully with some very cool stuff. The long range forecast for the UK seems to give it getting really cold again early next week, so I guess a quick "in and out" photographic trip to warmer climes ain't too bad. All joking aside, it's going to be great to work it really hard and look for lots of cool material - we touch back down in the UK next Saturday, and it just happens to be my birthday (nearer 40 than 30), so I reckon a wicked present would be England starting the Six Nations rugby really well. But nothing ever beats getting home and seeing my four girls again - wife, two daughters and of course Jess my sheepdog. Perhaps a big England win though......................................?

• Make sure to check out the brand new Hardy, Greys and Chub websites, just launched this week I believe.

This weather has been due......

• If you have got the weather we have at the moment then welcome to the club - mist, grey skies, drizzle and generally a complete lack of sunshine is all I can see out of my office window right now. But we can't really complain that much with the (relative) amount of sunshine we've had so far this winter, in fact it's been pretty good. If I could be sent a little bit more of the giant golden orb for a photography job with Nick Hart on Thursday, that would be great - but the forecast says otherwise at the moment.......

• I have put a few photos up from the ultra remote atolls of the Seychelles to see what you think of them in black and white - photographing those huge blue skies on pristine flats is as close to somebody like me is ever going to get to paradise, and I hope you notice that I am not complaining (too much) about our current weather. That's because on Saturday I am heading off to photograph some flats fishing out in Belize. Bring it on !!

• I am convinced my end that huge blue skies can work well in various shades of black and white, if there is enough detail from the clouds to provide a load of depth and contrast. Don't get me wrong, I love the extremes of colour that flats based photography can provide, and I am really hoping for endless blue skies out in Belize, but I will also be looking out for any black and white opportunities that I see out there. On these kinds of work trips (might as well try and work in some cool places) I have to try to nail as wide a range of material as possible.

• I am travelling out to Belize with a friend of mine called James, and he just happens to be one of the most awesome fly fishermen I have ever worked with. The guy is extremely modest and would never acknowledge this, but he has got a serious talent for smashing serious numbers of fish on the fly, indeed I believe James has landed over 100 different species of fish on the fly so far. Now that takes some doing. I have worked with enough talented fly fishermen on this earth to know how well James can fish.

• The target species in Belize are going to be (weather depending) tarpon, permit and possibly snook, but we will wait until we get there and take into account our guides' advice. James and I are travelling via the international fly fishing travel company Aardvark McLeod - I do a lot of work with these guys and they always impress me in a big way. Not all fishing overseas has to cost an arm and a leg.....

• On Saturday, James and I are flying out to Miami, overnight there, and then we head down to Belize the next morning. We have four and a half days' for fishing and photography (sleep is not an option, that's for the flights home), and then we arrive back in the UK just in time for the first match in the Six Nations. English rugby worries the hell out of me at the moment, but surely a massive revival is just about due ?

Is this the largest bass ever caught ?

• I got a phone call from my mate Graham Hill last night, and I knew something was up straight away from the excited tone of his voice. A friend of his had been out bass fishing yesterday, from the same location where Graham caught his monster from last weekend (see here for the report), and this guy has gone and caught a truly, seriously, monster bass, the kind of fish that virtually every single one of us are never going to see in our lifetime...........

• Graham's mate Brian caught a bass that had a length of 93cm, and that is the only measurement I know of so far, but even that length potentially puts the fish close to (or even over) the 20lb mark. What is most impressive to me is the fact that this magnificent fish was released unharmed, so the angler in question is never going to know what kinds of records he might have broken. You have my utmost respect. The fish was also shore caught remember, and was taken while lure fishing - a staggering achievement, and I am just so pleased that the guy took it upon himself to let the fish swim away again. That bit blows me away. I know I would do the same thing myself, and I am not about to damn anybody for wanting to take a potential record fish and have it officially weighed and identified for the record books, but it really is an admirable thing to do to catch a fish like that and make sure it swims away again afterwards. He knows what he has achieved.

• These are the only details I know so far, but I will put up more here as and when I hear more about it. Graham tells me that he has seen some photos of the massive fish (he was not out fishing himself), and that it was a seriously fat and good conditioned bass. Just how big was it ? Graham and Pat have both been saying to me for ages now that they believe there are record size bass swimming around the south east Irish coastline, and with all that I have seen and heard, I have never doubted them for a second. A fish this size simply proves once again how productive this stretch of coast really is - ok, not always are the conditions going to be correct for awesome fishing (nowhere on earth fishes well all the time), but if you hit it right then I know of no other place like it.

• It is worth reading about bass lengths and weights here and here. Whatever this monster bass from yesterday actually weighed, it is a hell of a thing to have done. A lure caught, shore caught bass of this size is something else, and the particular place they are catching these fish from has potential for some even better fishing, and potentially all through the year as well if they get the conditions. The mind boggles.

• As for the rugby yesterday, I am in complete shock - more thoughts to come when I have come to terms with the result. Gutted is an understatement.

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.....

A front cover

• This is my cover photo on the current edition of Trout Fisherman that is in the shops right now. Check out the feature inside on pages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, shot with Nick Hart earlier this year at Burton Springs Fishery up on the north Somerset coast. Very close in fact to a few spots I used to fish a lot for rays and cod. It's Nick that you can see on the cover - one of those fantastic big blue sky winter days when everything is perfect for photography.

• I have had a few front covers with Trout Fisherman this year - see here, here, and here. It's always a kick to get one, and I like to see what the various designers choose to use. A lot of people have no idea that photography is such a huge part of my work in fishing, and it seems to be growing and growing.

• The main thing going on today is obviously the fact that a brand new England rugby team under Martin Johnson (we are definitely not worthy) is playing the first of a series of autumn internationals. Is this the new dawn of English rugby that we have all been waiting for ? I am seriously hopeful................considering that Martin Johnson was our greatest ever skipper, I have high hopes for what he can do with the team. I get the sense that the respect for the man is so great that the players dare not turn up without their A games. We need England to be great again. Bring it on big time.

• I had a text message from a friend over in south east Ireland last night to say that he had caught a 4lb codling on his first "cod cast" of the winter, and that the signs are good. It seems to be a little known fact over here that a lot of the southern Irish coastline chucks up some great cod fishing in winter, from the beaches and the numerous estuaries. I am due to be heading over at the end of this month to photograph some of it, and if the weather plays ball, I am sure we will find time for a bit of bass fishing as well !! How could we not ?

Getting ready.......

Canon 1D MK111, 24-105mm f4L IS lens (at 24mm), ISO 100, 1 second at f16, polarising filter

• I thought it might be worthwhile publishing the technical details of the photos I put up here, as I get a few emails asking about taking photographs of fishing and all that surrounds it. I shot this sunset the other day when I was walking back from a bass fishing session. The sky looked awesome, almost like a roof on the world - a one second exposure requires the use of a tripod of course, and I am really using the tiny little Gitzo Traveller carbon fibre tripod a lot these days. For ages I have been after a really small but sturdy tripod to carry with me all the time when I am out fishing, to get shots I otherwise could not have got. I am not interested in carrying a huge great hulk of a tripod around with my fishing gear, so this little beauty does the trick. I know of nothing better on the market - yes, it costs, but it is a part of my working life. Check out the Gitzo tripods here.

• If this fine weather holds, I am due to be out of Poole tomorrow on a boat, some 25 miles offshore, chasing cod, a species which I have a lot of time for. It's a bit of a drive from Plymouth, but this is the kind of thing I love doing for work - new place for me, a different way of catching them, and some thoroughly nice guys to spend a day out at sea with. If it happens, I will post the results here on Saturday - after England take on New Zealand in the rugby at 8am on Saturday morning I believe. As they say in Outer Mongolia - bring it on !!!!!

• I am just about to book flights to go and shoot some Atlantic salmon fishing on the Namsen river over in Norway for a few days in mid-July, with some of the guys from Hardy. Now this is something I can not wait to see, and current reports are of some outstanding fishing. My friend Cato Bekkevold had a load the other day up to 32lbs from the Gaula, and they were spooled several times he tells me. One of the extreme metal world's finest drummers (for Enslaved) and a seriously good angler as well - does life get any better ? Guess what we are talking about doing together next year ? (it has something to do with salmon)

• Sunday is getting closer, for that is when Nick Hart and I are leaving for Montana over in the US - reports from where we are going were of snow showers yesterday, so I am packing everything from a thermal buff and heavy duty Hardy EWS waders and wading boots through to suncream and t-shirts. The long term forecast is for it to warm up - personally I would love to see a mix of snow and sunshine to photograph this awesome part of the world. But I'll take anything we get as I know Nick will nail the trout (no pressure).

• My heart bleeds for my friends over in Ireland, so this is to let you know that I am thinking of you as the end of the bass close season draws nearer. I know how you have been suffering. The fact that you have got great tides and a nice long range forecast for the 16th of this month does not make me at all jealous, seriously. I will be thinking of your multiple bass when I wake up in Bozeman next Monday. Graham and Patrick have I know been staring longingly at their brand new Tenryu plugging rods sitting in their fishing rooms, pleading to be used............

Front cover

• I am really pleased to have the front cover of the latest issue of Fieldsports magazine - if you are into fishing, hunting or shooting then you should check this fantastic magazine out. There is a feature in there of mine about the incredible sight fishing we did for Atlantic salmon on the east coast of Canada last autumn, on the Gaspe peninsular. Check out a load of photos from that trip here. Seeing big salmon in crystal clear waters is a memory that I can cherish forever, and if this kind of thing floats your boat, get in touch with Aardvark McLeod about a trip out there - it is very cost effective, world class Atlantic salmon fishing.

• It is always a huge kick to get your photograph on the front cover of a magazine, and I am really pleased with their choice of photo here. Sometimes these kinds of detail-style shots can really work when you can isolate the subject matter against a backdrop that is not too busy. I was shooting with a Canon 1D MKII camera and the awesome 70-200mm f4L IS lens, all protected with a rain cover because it was lamping it down all that particular day. But I don't think the shot would have worked so well if it had not been raining. Pete McLeod caught a couple of nice salmon that day if I remember rightly. As a rule I am not that keen on taking photos in heavy rain, but with a decent cover and good gear it is fine - and Canada is still the only place I have come across where some rain actually made it look incredibly moody and attractive. But then all the parts of Canada I saw were simply incredible anyway, rain or no rain.

• The fly reel in the cover photo is a Hardy Zane, which Pete raved about for the whole trip. It did him proud on some nice fish. The orange chest pack that you can see on the left of the shot is the Fishpond Shooting Star Backpack/Chest Pack.

• And onto rugby - this I believe is a joyous week for England fans. Our best ever skipper is taking over the reigns at Twickenham and I for one am hoping that he kicks serious butt and takes us back to the top of the world where we belong !! Martin Johnson is the biggest hero we have ever had in rugby and surely he can take that "follow me over the top" spirit into his new job. Just that stare alone was enough to have grown men wilt before him. South Africa are keeping the World Cup nice and polished for us until we take it back in 2011, so thanks for doing that guys, most kind. Get your photograph taken with it as soon as you can, because it's coming home.....