Off to Jersey tomorrow

• Tomorrow morning I am flying on Air SouthWest from Plymouth direct to Jersey, to spend a few days photographing some of the bass fishing over there. I simply can not wait to get back over there, it has been far too long since I was last in the Channel Islands. I have been lucky enough to spend varying amounts of time on all of them (Jersey, Guernsey, Herm, Sark and Alderney) and every island has its own different feeling.

• Jersey is an incredible place - on a big spring low tide, the area that makes up the bailiwick of Jersey essentially doubles in size. That is how huge the rise and fall is out there, and of course this massive range uncovers a scary amount of ground to go fishing over. However you come into Jersey, whether by plane or ferry, you are always struck by just how damn "sexy" the water looks for fishing. I know I will get this feeling tomorrow as come in to land, and I can't wait. Any angler out there loves seeing good looking water.

• The photo above is of a boat doing some bass fishing around the Ecrehous, a reef system that lies roughly midway between Jersey and France. The Ecrehous and Minquiers reefs are legendary bass fishing areas for intrepid boat owners, and I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed a few hours out at the Ecrehous some years ago when I was asked to come and help out on one of Rick Stein's programmes. The place got to me then, and if the weather calms down (it is meant to), apparently we will be spending some proper time out there on this trip. Am I excited ? What do you think ? I am that excited I can't sleep properly at the moment. There is something about small, remote islands that really gives me a kick, and we might have the chance to spend the night over there as well. It is going to be a blast. Cue the Deliverance music.........!!

• I am fishing and photographing with the Jersey lads that I was over in Ireland with the other day, so it will be very cool to see them again. They are all bass freaks, and it is Mick who does these awesome Tenryu bass plugging rods and so many of the best bass lures. See here for his tackle shop website.

• I will keep this blog updated as much as I can over there, hopefully with a bunch of photos of some nice bass and huge blue skies. Am I dreaming, or are we due some proper weather sometime soon ?

• Have a look in the new issue of Trout Fisherman at some fly fishing photos of mine from an awesome Dartmoor lake that Nick Hart and I photographed last year. It felt to me like we were fishing a wild Scottish loch. Check out pages 6,7,8 and 9. We shot some seriously cool material on that day, but sometimes the designers have other plans and don't use the stuff that you really hope they will. Oh well.

• I want to wish my mate Dave Box from Veals Mail Order a very speedy recovery. A van swerved out in front of him and knocked him off his motorbike the other day, and after a serious operation he is recuperating at home. Get better soon.

• Anyway, I bet you thought I had gone quiet on the extreme metal front ? No chance. One of my favourite death metal bands is previewing a new song off their upcoming album that I believe is out next month. This is insanely catchy, rousing, savage death metal that makes me want to rush around my office and bang my head up and down like the child I really am. Check here for the new track called "Twilight of the Thunder God", and after that, listen to one of their best ever songs at the same place, called "Cry of the Blackbirds". If this stuff doesn't get you almost crying with emotion then you have no soul !! Just the first few chords of the new track and I am nodding up and down here at the computer. Yes, the new album is on order already. There is no way but metal. Growing up is too boring to contemplate.

• I believe that my mate Cato and his band Enslaved over in Norway filmed a video recently for a track off their upcoming new album, so keep your eyes on their website here for a preview, or at their MySpace page here. This CD I reckon will be one of the great metal releases of the year. Bring it on.

Big shore caught conger eel landed

• I got a text message from one of Plymouth's best shore anglers this morning, telling me that he had finally gone and done it - last night Rob Yorke landed a 43lb conger eel from the River Tamar, and I know how much this fish means to him. Well done Rob, you deserve this fish, I know how hard you have been chasing a 40lb plus eel. They are a hard fish to come by at that size off the shore.

• Conger eels are one of the most powerful fish we can catch off the shore in the UK, and the 40lb mark is a true milestone to get past. Immensely powerful fish that require serious dedication, personally I have never got past 40lb off the shore, and I have spent far too many hours of my life trying. I know how hard it is to land a fish of this size, having lost one over 50lbs on the gaff when I was at university, so my respect for what Rob has done is huge - the monster I lost some years ago gave me nightmares for months afterwards. I also lost a huge eel when we were filming I think it was for my first TV series, but that is another story..............

• Below is Rob Yorke with a nice mullet he caught from the tiny Channel Island of Sark a couple of years ago when we were across there in winter. You will have to go a long way to find a nicer guy or more accomplished angler than Rob, so I could not be more pleased for him - it is one thing to set yourself goals in fishing, but to achieve them is another thing entirely. He has had more good fish off the shore than a lot of us put together, and I know how hard he works at it.

• I have been asked a lot over the years about the people in fishing that I really admire, and I always answer the same - I have no time for "fishing celebrities or experts", or people like that (the word "expert" is one that I have a particular dislike for in fact). But I do have the utmost respect for fishermen who really know their fishing - the fish, the water, the tides, the feeding patterns and times, weather influences, reading the water, etc. The kinds of things that take years of dedication to accumulate - watercraft, one of the most important and often overlooked things in fishing. These are the kind of anglers that I strive to learn from.

Canon 1D MK11, 24-70 f2.8L lens (at 45mm), ISO 320, f4.5, 1/200

• The River Tamar is big fish country - hard to fish unless you know the tides and conditions, and tough because you are going to blank more often than you catch when chasing good fish. But nowhere in the UK has thrown up more big eels over the years, including Martin Larkin's current shore record of just over 68lbs. We all know there are far bigger fish down there, but getting them out is another matter entirely - fish that can swim as fast backwards as they can forwards are somewhat expert at exploiting weaknesses in your gear, and also at getting back into some kind of sanctuary. I hate to think of the number of times these things have smashed me to pieces, with a certain degree of disdain as well !!

• The most famous big fish marks in the Tamar are Devil's Point and Mutton Cove - both spots chuck up big conger eels, plus lots of decent thornback rays and some nice cod in winter, plus anything and everything at times. You have to fish these places to realise just how deep and tidal the water is.

• Rob said he fished for only two hours last night, with Mark Bryce, and the successful bait was mullet, a known big eel bait. He said he hit the fish and literally held it as hard as he could, to stop it diving back down and breaking him up. It must have been some sight to see that thing coming up in the headlights. Mark helped Rob get the eel out of the water. Well done guys - that is a serious fish.

• While those two were out fishing, I was watching one of the most exciting Wimbledon finals I can remember - while I really wanted Federer to get the six titles in a row, I have to say that Nadal deserved his victory. What a match, I could hardly watch for the whole fifth set it was so tense. It must have been amazing to actually have been there and watched it live. It has to have been some of the best men's tennis ever played - you would not find me facing one of those serves, I would be going down fast with a convenient calf injury to get out of the way of those howitzers.

• Is that more rain I can see out of my window ? Surely not...............thoughts of emigrating are becoming all the more frequent.