I would love to say we nailed the bass......

• ......but we didn't !! Andy and I managed to get out over the high water and back yesterday afternoon, and I reckon the conditions looked spot on. OK, so a bigger tide would have been nicer for where we were fishing (Andy's mark, somewhere new to me), but the water clarity and general sea conditions were ideal. Just enough "life" to the water, loads of very inviting looking ground for the bass to hunt over, but sadly the fish forgot to turn up !! We both blanked in quite spectacular style. I sincerely hope you lot had a bank holiday weekend filled with a few more fish.

• Back to the drawing board on this one. What a stunning looking mark to fish though, I fancy this place to throw up some nice bass this year. That is if I haven't gone and emigrated over to Ireland. Enjoy the close season lads !! Will be thinking of you.......

• Not even a hit or a follow, and we tried different lures, different retrieves, you name it, but not a sniff. I would like to be out fishing a lot more than I am currently, but it is just not possible at the moment. I am going to be in the Isles of Scilly this coming weekend, principally to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, but if the weather behaves then of course I will get out and do a bit of fishing and photography with Del. Can't wait to get back over there. Still one of the most special places on earth, and it's only just off our coastline.

• How do you choose a lure from this lot ? They all look so nice !! Andy has got it as bad as the next man, and we laughed about the fact that it is very tough to make a phone call to somebody like Mick at his tackle shop here and not come away with a bruised bank account. I am trying to hard to exercise some decent self-control at the moment and resist buying the Tenryu Super Mix 240, a fishing rod that I really, really want. The Red Dragon Express that I have is still the ultimate (hard lure) plugging rod I reckon (ok, the Rod Bar 270 comes a very close second), but I could do with a little more "feel" for using soft plastics. Give me a while and I reckon I could talk myself into one......

• I spent a few hours on Saturday up at Nick Hart's Open Day, and it was fantastic. Lots of people there, loads of anglers fly fishing on the lakes, and some monster trout being caught, including one of over 17lbs that morning. Plus another over 14lbs. Those are some fish. It is great to see so many people out and about doing something connected with fishing, especially in the current climate. Roll on the summer.

• Still, who really gives a damn about blanking for bass when you can click here and watch the new video to the immense "Guardians of Asgard" song off Amon Amarth's latest album - the monstrously mighty Twilight of the Thunder God (see my original review here). As I have said before, who says music doesn't influence you ? And then you could weep tears of metal emotion to the video of arguably my favourite ever Amon Amarth song, "Cry of the Blackbirds", see here for the video. I should have been a Viking - time to grow the hair again, get on a horse (gonna need a strong one to carry me), grab my sword and dream of what could have been. Back to work........!!

Some more fishing in black and white

• I have been messing around again with converting some of my photos over to black and white, and here are a few of the latest results. It does seem that the steelhead fishing over in BC (Canada) really lends itself to black and white, due mainly to the incredibly moody conditions, staggering backdrops, and long double-handed fly rods. It was monsooning it down in the photo you can see above, but the swirling mist and clouds with a vast mountain surround really made the place light up through the viewfinder. I believe that the black and white conversion has emphasised the moodiness of the photo - comments most welcome.

• Just a brief glimpse of sun was enough to light up the snow-covered peaks behind the angler (Pete McLeod of Aardvark McLeod) as he really goes into the power stroke of another smooth Spey cast. I have gone for a very deliberate contrasty conversion to highlight the fisherman, the cast, and the mountains behind.

• Still one of the most impressive places on this earth that I have ever had the good fortune to photograph, British Columbia is on a scale that I don't think I ever really got my head around during my brief visit. The type of area that stuns you into a kind of submission the first time you go, it really is that special, and one of those places that I so badly want to go back to and see it again. Steelhead fishing is a cult thing, and I completely understand why so many anglers give themselves over to it. Still the only place I have ever photographed that arguably looked a whole lot better the worse the weather was. And we got the lot when we were over there !!

• One of our own UK rainbow trout, and a shot that I always reckoned would look good in black and white - from the moment I framed it up in fact. I just like the way the highlights on the body of the trout allow me to really bring the shadows down and still make for a photo with a degree of simple impact.

• You can see a load more of my black and white photos right here, with some new ones loaded up. I am having a new website built at the moment, so there will be more news on that as and when it is done. The stuff I have seen so far looks very cool indeed....

Shore fishing for bass in France ?

• Although the photo you can see above was shot in Jersey, in truth it could just as easily be over in France - a huge amount of French bass fishermen are fishing from fast, open boats with spinning rods and reels, doing the exact same thing you can see here. Tide, features, more tide, more features, bass love them all. Note the red Tenryu rod - these things are turning up everywhere, and this has to say something about how good they are. Starting to save up now for my Tenryu Super Mix 240..........

• Therefore a lot of the development we see with "their" fishing is related to catching bass off a boat. Of course there is a lot of crossover between this more modern style light tackle bass fishing, but you also need to bear in mind that a rod and lure that has been developed for fishing say twenty to forty metres down in a fast tide is most likely going to be of little use to us for our shore fishing.

• But I did spend a fair bit of time talking to various people at the Nantes show about the shore fishing opportunities in France. My spoken French is not nearly as strong as it once was, but I can get by. I love fishing from boats, and I hope to do plenty more of it in the future, but at heart I am most contented when I have to get out and walk serious miles. And I think I have come across some awesome shore fishing potential over in France for smashing proper numbers of bass and also wrasse on lures - I presume pollack as well, and those three species keep me more than happy.

• When I asked one of the French guys whether they caught any wrasse off the shore on soft plastics, he laughed !! They catch stacks of them (100 in two days last year), and some monsters as well - wrasse to over 8lbs from the shore, on lures. Bring it on. Plus when conditions are right, big numbers of bass on hard and soft plastic lures. One angler was describing a particular technique to me where he was working a very small, 25g vertical jig rigged with assist hooks to fish a particular area of the shoreline in a very precise way, and in three consecutive casts he landed three bass over 9lbs. Insanity prevails. The exact places they are fishing are of course not heavily publicised, especially with the pressure the French fish receive from so many mad-keen anglers, but it seems that you can have some decent shore sport if you look around. We shall see......

• As soon as time allows, I am going to try and head over to the west coast of France and begin to try and unravel more of what these guys are doing over there - and I really want to do a mixture of shore and boat fishing. It's perfect for me as I can just jump on the Plymouth-Roscoff ferry that departs about ten minutes from my front door. Seems to me that the open-minded, adventurous bass angler can find world class fishing in a lot of different places. Sure, it takes time, effort and money, but if you want to find the best fishing, it certainly ain't going to come to you. There is a part of me forever lost to the deserted coastlines of Ireland.

• I shot a feature yesterday with Nick Hart, for Trout Fisherman magazine. We never saw the sun all day, but we had a fantastic time with some stunning rainbow trout in great surroundings. There was not a breath of wind and this allowed me to shoot the kind of photo that you can see above - Nick casting a perfect line with that awesome looking tree perfectly reflected on the flat calm surface of the lake. A modern digital camera tends to want to try and slightly over-expose a scene like this, and as a result a lot of the contrast and "punch" can be lost. In a situation like this I have deliberately dialled in a bit of minus exposure compensation to try and retain the overall look.

• The trout that Nick caught were in fantastic condition, and this monster was the last one of the day. I lined this up as a cover-style photo, and in my head I could see the layout of the page already, but you never quite know what is going to actually end up on the front cover. We shall see what happens, but perhaps it is too far removed from "man plus fish" to make on to the front page. I really like how the guys at Trout Fisherman are making the magazine look, and I know how much hard work goes into it.

Winter rainbow trout

• Nick Hart and I did a feature yesterday at the pristine Blakewell trout fishery close to Barnstaple in North Devon - it is a fantastically well maintained place to go and fish, and even with all the rain we had on Monday, Nick still managed to nail a couple of stunning looking rainbow trout for my cameras. We even got big blue skies for the first couple of hours as well. Check the photo above for proof !! These skies look awesome in the winter.

• Conditions were fantastically tough for the actual fishing, so I take my hat off to Nick for getting a decent fish so quickly, almost to order in fact. The water had gone really murky with all that rain, yet I'm still there hoping that a fish was going to get caught quickly so that I could make full use of those blue skies - and come to order it did. Nice one Nick.

• I just saw a good friend of mine who happens to run a charter boat out of my home port of Plymouth - you could not hope to fish with a nicer or better skipper than Malcolm Jones, and it always gives me a real boost when I know the guy running the boat is also a mad keen angler. Malcolm has just got his boat Sea Angler II back in the water after its yearly dry-dock visit, and he nipped over to the mouth of the River Tamar for a quick session over the weekend. Five thornback ray to around 12lbs were caught, all on prawn baits, and Malc said he had one on before he had even managed to set up his second rod. Class fishing. If you want an awesome day at sea, book Malcolm up as soon as you can.

That makes it four......

• I have just found out that a photo of mine is on the front of the forthcoming Hardy UK and Europe 2009 catalogue, as you can see above. That just about makes my day, for I have no say in any of their catalogue covers - I just submit my photos when asked, and then wait to see what happens. Getting my photos on the cover of something like the Hardy catalogue gives me a real kick, and once again I am really pleased with the shot they have used.

• The photograph is of their commercial director Martin Kelly doing rather nicely with a double-handed fly rod (I think he was using a Hardy ??!!) out in Norway last year. It's the kind of thing you shoot with a front cover in mind, but Martin never knew I was taking the photo. The trick with this particular photo was to dial in some minus exposure compensation to make sure not to blow the highlights out when they are set against the relative dark of the water and tree branches. That light blue Hardy shirt looks great, but when it is around any kind of bright light, a camera tends to want to blow it out. Cameras are great, but it is vital to know exactly when not to trust them and instead rely on what you know.

• It is this kind of "eyes in the back of your head, be prepared to shoot wherever and whenever" attitude that you need to get anywhere close to succeeding in working in fishing. Am I anywhere close to getting to where I want to get in fishing ? Not yet, but I'm working hard to get there......

• With this latest cover shot, that makes four for me - four of the Hardy & Greys 2009 catalogue covers have my photographs on them. That is what you could refer to as a result in my book. Above is the Greys 2009 Game cover with a photo of a decent steelhead taken in the wilds of British Columbia. I am somewhat pleased !!

• Above is the Hardy 2009 Game catalogue that is out in the US. I shot this photo in Montana last summer, and I so badly want to go back and photograph a load more US trout fishing. In fact there are an increasing number of fishing related things that I want to do out in America. Check out a load of photos I shot in Montana right here.

• And above is the new Greys 2009 Sea catalogue. There are stacks of my photos inside as well. The light in the photo really reminds me of a typical winter's day of sunshine and showers, but in fact I took this photo up in north Cornwall in July. You can't beat an English summer !!

• You have to check out this insane saltwater fly fishing, see the video right here - these are the outstanding South African based FlyCastaway guides that I have worked with on numerous occasions, and without a doubt they are some of the most talented fly fishermen on this earth. This video is all about fly fishing for the world's largest tarpon off the coast of Angola. I remember sitting on the beach there some years ago, watching the tarpon and threadfin rolling around, knowing that we were not kitted out to fish for them, and vowing one day to get back there. These guys catch monsters on the fly, plain and simple, and you can fish with them by talking to Aardvark McLeod right here. Stuff like this does not come cheap, but the FlyCastaway consistently put their clients over some of the best fly fishing on this planet.

• Nick Hart and I are out tomorrow to shoot some new casting stuff for Trout Fisherman magazine, so we will see what the weather brings and take it from there. I really like doing this kind of stuff with Nick, he is so easy to work with, and the fact that he can cast like a dream kind of helps. He is without doubt one of the busiest and best-respected fly fishing guides and instructors around, so make sure to get in early and book him up. I guarantee that your fly fishing will come in leaps and bounds - I guess I need to take my own advice and book Nick up myself, as anybody who has seen my cast a fly rod can attest to !!

First front cover of 2009

• I am not completely sure when the current issue of Trout Fisherman hit the shops, but since it's a new year, I'll claim the above as my first front cover of 2009 - the photo is of Nick Hart at Blakewell trout fishery, and I have got to hand to the powers that be at the magazine. I really like the way they have used this particular photo.

• Check out the feature inside, on pages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 - the photo that runs across pages 6 and 7 is one that I remember shooting specifically for this kind of use, and all credit to their designer for picking up on this. It's hardly an award winning photograph that will be gracing London galleries, but in my job you have to keep thinking all the time to make fishing look different and exciting. Sometimes the weather and light allows you to really go a little creatively crazy, and sometimes you are more restricted. Whatever happens, you have to nail the job, and I thrive on the challenge this presents.

• I am flying up to Newcastle early tomorrow morning, to spend the day up at Hardy Greys in Alnwick, and then I fly back down to Plymouth on Tuesday morning. On this blog next week I will talk a bit about my rods and reels of 2008 - I am not really into the ins and outs of fishing tackle (believe it or not !!), but last year it really hit home to me that here in the UK we have a long way to go on the tackle front when it comes to making effective, modern bass fishing gear. It is not a criticism at all, simply a fact. Modern, high-tech bass fishing is rapidly growing in interest in the UK, and the anglers that are really interested in it are increasingly looking to Japanese, French and US designed and built products.

• We design and/or make some great fishing tackle in the UK, of course we do, but at times we could do well to realise that here in the UK we don't know everything about fishing, and it's a big old world out there with lots of different fish, fished for in lots of different ways. Plenty of guys I know are hungry for information from all over the world, and arguably the PC and the internet have become one of the most powerful tools there are for the learning and trading of knowledge.

• And of course there are plenty of anglers who have no interest in anything that is not in their backyard - whatever floats your boat I suppose, but isn't it such fun to learn about how other anglers do their thing elsewhere on this fascinating planet ? So much of it has applications for our own fishing that we do, both home and abroad. Never has so much knowledge and information been so accessible, and this kind of thing really drives me on and on. Learning is what fishing is all about to me, and I reckon I learnt more in 2008 than I have for a long time. For a lot of this I owe huge thanks to many people, and you know who you are without me having to name you. Thanks to you all. Here's to learning even more in 2009.......

Track this stunning fishing book down

• I received a truly wonderful book in the post yesterday, all the way from Tasmania, and it is seriously worth getting hold of if beautiful fly fishing books are your kind of thing. This publication is one hell of an achievement and I commend the guys involved - especially the photographer Brad Harris who works for an Australian fly fishing magazine that I do a bit of freelance work for, the stunning FlyLife.

• Brad is a proper photographer, and this exceptional book is a glorious look at the world class fly fishing for trout right through a season down in Tasmania - it looks like one fantastic place, and Brad has done real justice to a subject with which he obviously is head over in heels in love with. This is what I so like about fishing, the fact that there are so many of us out there who are genuinely in love with "our" sport. Is there anything better ? (apart from extreme metal of course !!)

• I am not sure about getting hold of this book over here in the UK yet, but I know you can order a copy right here. It is really worth doing so - order one for yourself, and then order another one to give away as a present. This book is that good. There is a website devoted to the book, click here to have a look.

• There are few better things to photograph in the world of fishing than wild fly fishing for trout, and it looks like Tasmania is another place to put on my list of "have to go there". Check here for a small selection of my own fly fishing photos. Brad Harris is one of the guys whose work I really admire, and it is also worth tracking down the magazine FlyLife that he works for.

• And my thanks to the guys who have posted comments on my previous post about me playing around with black and white photography - more than kind and I really appreciate all the comments. It is only a bit of a sideline interest to what I do day to day at the moment, but I am enjoying exploring what makes a decent black and white photo, and also what does not. Throughout my career so far I have always been looking for a colour photo when I am out shooting, but perhaps I need to see with different eyes ?

Great day fly fishing yesterday

• Just look at those big blue winter skies that greeted Nick Hart and I yesterday as we began shooting a feature for Trout Fisherman magazine up at Exe Valley fishery - wow !! Time to whack on the polarising filter and get weird and wonderful with my 16-35mm lens. Above is a shot of Nick setting up for the fishing with a Hardy Demon rod and reel - the Demon reels are always good to photograph, and I know that Nick really likes using them for a lot of his fishing. Being able to so easily change lines is a real bonus in fly fishing.

• And then we got all kinds of weather, from big blue skies and relatively calm conditions through to torrential rain and driving winds. About the only thing missing for us yesterday was a bit of snow. Challenging for the both of us, but ultimately very rewarding to shoot and fish in such varied and interesting light.

• You can see the rain coming in the photo above, but when you get big black clouds lit up by the sun, it often makes a very cool photo. Nick is bringing another rainbow trout to the net for the obligatory photo call. A few minutes later and I was taking pictures from underneath a big golf umbrella.....

• If you are up that way, make sure to check out not only Exe Valley fishery, but the extremely well stocked and far too tempting Hart Fly Shop that is slap bang next to the lakes. I succumbed and bought myself a fleece in there yesterday. They also have a very good online store here.

• Talking of Trout Fisherman magazine, have a look in the current issue at pages 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 for a winter stillwater feature that Nick and I did - there are also some mighty big blue winter skies in there as well. I know it is tougher for the fishing, but from my point of view I'll take them as much as we are given them.

• I have recently added a way that you can subscribe to this blog via email updates - if this is helpful to you, fill out the "Email Subscriptions" box on the right hand side of this page, and my ramblings will be delivered right to your Inbox. Is this a good thing ? I will let you decide.....

Stunning winter weather

• The weekend was about the most beautiful weather imaginable for December, and I have rarely seen the north coast of Cornwall looking so good (we certainly got no days like this in the summer !!). Friday was a howling west/northwest wind that was snorting into the Camel estuary, giving awesome conditions for the numerous windsurfers and wake-boarders who were out around the famous Doom Bar. And then on Saturday and Sunday there was hardly a breath of wind, with big blue skies and no clouds - the swell died right off and my two girls had a blast playing on the virtually deserted beaches, plus Jess could chase sea gulls for hours. A perfect weekend, especially with a round of golf at Trevose. I also reckon I found a couple of potentially interesting places to try for bass.......

• I heard from Graham over in Ireland, and he nailed five bass yesterday up to about 5lbs - great fishing, and all the fish came on these MegaBass XLayer soft plastic lures, on very neap tides. Modern hi-tech lures like these do not exactly come cheap, but they are proving to be lethally effective for the bass. You can get hold of them right here. It seems like the bassing over these has not slowed down at all.

• Monday morning could not pass without a decent dose of proper black metal to get you through. Check out a great black metal band from Germany called Paragon Belial - listen to some tracks here. I love coming across some of the more obscure metal bands out there, and the actual CD can be hard to track down. I got mine here. This is a website worth noting down if metal is your thing. I love the album artwork below. Classic extreme metal.

• Another great thing for a winter Monday morning is the news that there is a new video out out from the band who has in my mind released the metal album of the year (see here). Check out the video to the song "The Watcher" here, off Enslaved's very recent masterpiece "Vertebrae". Awesome video, and what a truly outstanding metal album - I am loving it that much that I am actually trying to limit the amount I listen to it for fear of overplaying it. Vertebrae seriously is that good. This one gets inside your skull and will not let go.

• I am out photographing with Nick Hart tomorrow, for a Trout Fisherman feature. The weather forecast continues to look good, so hopefully we might get those big blue skies for the shoot. There is something very cool indeed about being out and about when the winter weather is showing us just how fantastic this country can look.

Front cover in Germany

• I have been working on a freelance basis for the big German fishing magazine Blinker for some time now, and above is my first front cover with them - it is of Nick Hart holding a well-conditioned rainbow trout. I reckon the photo works well on the cover and I am always over the moon to get a cover. Blinker has a huge circulation throughout parts of Europe and it is always full of really good looking articles - I wish I could understand them as I reckon I could learn a lot, but my German is seriously non-existent !!

• This shore fishing for bass with soft plastics has got me really intrigued, and I have already been looking around for different lures and jig heads. Just how easy is it to spend too much money on our fishing ? I reckon Graham, Patrick and Cian are going to land some truly monster bass right through the winter if they get the right conditions over in Ireland, and I would bet that the majority are going to come on the plastics. Not that hard lures are suddenly not lethally effective (of course they can be), more that a couple of locations they are fishing demand some different tactics. I truly believe that they have the potential for awesome bass fishing right through the year, taking into account the Irish close season of course.

• Sometime next week I will do my best to get a couple of photo galleries up here from my September and November Irish bass trips - I came away with plenty of photos that I need to illustrate my articles etc. Fishing can be such a visually stunning thing to do, and most times I consider what I do to be the best job in the world - ok, so not every day is going to go great, but just having the chance to work around the best sport in the world is a privilege, and my focus is on making it look better and better all the time.

• Have a good weekend all, I am off over to north Cornwall with my family to spend a weekend walking, golfing (yes !!) and messing around on the beach - whatever the weather, we don't care, my two girls have got full waterproofs and they love being out and about. Jess can chase seagulls for hours on end. I might also get the chance to check out a couple of potential bass marks I have been thinking about, under the pretext of "let's walk this way, it looks nice" sort of thing. You always need that fishing head on.....

Tough job, but we nailed it....

• Yesterday was a tough job overall, but Nick Hart and I got it done, and we made it look as good as the light and the conditions allowed. We were photographing another feature for Trout Fisherman magazine, at Temple trout fishery on Bodmin moor over in Cornwall. Very close to the awesome Colliford lake in fact. The light was for the most part very grey and low, and for some reason the fishing was really tough. Nick though can catch fish when it matters, and yesterday he did really well.

• Above you can see Nick releasing a nice rainbow trout from the top lake. I suppose some days the fish just like playing tough !! Bodmin moor is a wild place, but when the skies are low and there is simply no depth or contrast to the view it can be tough to make what you are shooting really "jump out". But then that is what I am paid to do, and I thrive on a challenge. My attempt at a bit of a different "gear shot - fly, rod, reel" is below. Yes, Nick is deliberately out of focus in case you were wondering.

• It felt almost too mild yesterday, hardly like a UK November day in fact, and that is coming from me, an angler who very much likes the heat and sunshine. I see that they are forecasting some wind and rain coming in for the weekend, and I reckon we need it to put some "life" back into the sea and get fish moving around again. Two weeks of east and north east winds does not do us any favours down south on the fishing front, especially at this time of year.

• You can see the red buzzer in the fish's mouth - Nick ended up fishing this fly virtually static beneath an indicator. Yes, some fly fishermen might well choke in their glasses of medicinal gin at the very mention of the word "indicator", but who cares ? Use what works and catch fish. Nick is a very forward thinking fly fisherman who simply refuses to ignore new methods and techniques that might give him more of an edge, and I respect him hugely for that. If you did not know, Nick Hart also runs an awesome online fishing shop selling gear that he actually uses and recommends himself. Nothing beats personal recommendations, so check the Hart Flyshop out right here. You know it makes sense. Check out Nick's blog here as well.

Fantastic fly fishing

• I spent yesterday up at Blakewell trout fishery, near to Barnstaple in north Devon, photographing with Nick Hart for Trout Fisherman magazine. It is a stunning place - really well-kept and full of great conditioned rainbow trout. As per usual, Nick did his part seriously well and nailed a few nice fish for my cameras. The light was up and down (mainly overcast), but we got a good looking feature out of it. Above you can see my attempt to make the landing of a fish look somewhat different - has it worked ? I reckon so, but we shall see what appears in the feature.....

• When the skies are grey, it somewhat cuts down your creative options, but I hate being dictated to by the weather and I am always on the lookout for some different angles to spice the day up a bit. I asked Nick to push this rainbow trout above right into my 16-35mm lens, and then I focused on the fish's eye and used a large aperture (f4) to blow the rest of the photo deliberately out of focus. Note that I am standing above him to make this shot jump out a bit. The other fishermen on the bank must have wondered what on earth we were up to !!

• Blakewell is a great place to fish and photograph, and I really like the way that the whole set-up is so well maintained and cared for. Above you can see Nick Hart pushing out a long line across the top part of the lake. There were some real bruisers moving around and chasing Nick's flies, but the monsters were resolutely refusing to be caught. Nick got some nice fish though, plenty enough to make a really strong article for Trout Fisherman.

• Below is Nick landing another hard scrapping rainbow trout - at this time of the year the fish are fighting fit, and yesterday the conditions were for fishing. Nick and I are out again tomorrow to photograph another stillwater feature. Gotta keep at it....

• I have just got hold of another great extreme metal release that you need to add to your collection if this is your kind of thing (check out the cover below). The UK band Cradle of Filth have always made good albums, but some have been better than others - I still rate their classic "Cruelty and the Beast" as one of their very best, but this new one called "Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder" is awesome, and it is really growing on me. Gloriously over the top as usual (come on, it's Cradle of Filth we are talking about, what would you expect ?), and with masses of proper metal riffs that get in your head big time. Listen to a few tracks here. Rest assured that this CD will be blasting out at proper volume early tomorrow morning as I drive to this trout fishery that Nick and I are going to be working at.

• And on the subject of metal, I posed the question the other day (see here) - is the new Enslaved album "Vertebrae" the greatest metal release of the year so far ? Well I can answer my own question with a very firm YES. This is a truly outstanding album that goes way beyond the confines of the term "extreme metal". I have listened to this immense CD I don't know how many times, and every single listen it grows on me more and more. Every single person with any interest in proper music should get "Vertebrae". We are not worthy.......

Recent front cover

• Here is a recent front cover of mine, for Trout Fisherman magazine - I believe it was in the shops very recently, but I have been away a lot and did not get to see it for a while. It makes me really happy when your editor or designer picks out a photograph like this for use on the cover, for in the end a cover shot is designed to get people to pick the magazine up of the shelf and buy it. I could shoot wild brown trout for evermore.....

• The issue of front covers really interests me, for I never get a say in it, and sometimes I am blown away by them, and of course other times I am left rather "cold" - granted, I have a slight bias towards the use of my photos, but in all honesty I love to see a cover that grabs you instantly and draws you in. Sometimes I am genuinely blown away by the magazine and catalogue covers I see, but on the flip side I think some of our publications could at times take a lot more time, care and effort over picking their covers.

• Take the fantastic cover below, of a magazine that I do a bit of work for - the awesome FlyLife, based down in Australia (check here). There is a big GT feature of mine in there this issue, but it is the current cover that really grabbed me. I am not sure who shot it, but I love the photo, and I really respect the fact that the editorial team decided to put it on the cover. It's a very simple but well thought out photo (these are always the best ones) that immediately grabs me, mainly because of the excellent use of a very shallow depth of field on a wideangle lens to pull you right onto the eye of the trout. This particular magazine continues to look fantastic every single time, and I am really proud to have got the cover twice now - see here for one of them.

• I can't believe how stunning the weather has been today, for I genuinely believed that I would not be wearing shorts any more this year - rest assured that they came out today though. I could take plenty more days like this, especially when I get proper time like to spend with my family. It has been fantastic being at home again. Many anglers' thoughts are now of course turning to cod fishing, but I have not let the bass go just yet..........

Montana photo gallery online

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 70mm), ISO 400, f8, 1/200, polarising filter

• Check out an online gallery I have just created of some of the photos I took out in Montana last week - click here to have a look, or alternatively, look at the Links section on the right hand side of this page and get to it from there. I hope you like them - what a place.

• Nick Hart and I arrived back in the UK after lunch on Monday, and I got back home just in time to see my two girls before they went to bed. Going away for work is a blast, but nothing ever beats getting home and seeing my family - obviously I could not resist showing my daughters the clothes that I had got for them in Bozeman, and they insisted on wearing their new dresses down to breakfast the next morning. I never thought I would say this, but shopping for clothes for my girls is more fun than buying fishing gear or CDs - mad I know, but it's true.

• The trip to Montana was simply out of this world, indeed the place was everything that I hoped it would be and more. Where we were was without doubt one of the most stunning places that I have ever been lucky enough to see, and Nick and I are already planning a return trip to try and nail the Yellowstone river when it is firing properly. Talk to Aardvark McLeod about getting yourself out there sometime soon - it really is that special.

• It has been eyes down here since I got back, trying to process all the photos I took out in Montana in time to take up to Hardy Greys - I fly up to Newcastle tonight and then go through what I got up there tomorrow for their catalogues etc. On Thursday night I fly back down here and then go away on Friday for a few days with my family over to Cornwall. Yes, of course, the bassing gear is packed and ready to go - what on earth are early mornings and evenings for ?

• Above is one of the photos that I really like - moody light over the mountains, a really pretty little spring creek, and a fly angler looking carefully into the water for some willing trout. I deliberately under-exposed this image slightly, to accentuate the sky and retain the different colours in the sky and the grass, and I think it's worked pretty well. This is the sort of photo that I would really like a magazine designer to pick up on and run it across two pages, but you never quite know what your features will come out like. That is the nature of the business. You take the photos, hand them over, and then see what the various designers end up doing with your material.

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 75mm), ISO 200, f11, 1/400

• Above is the last photo I shot out in Montana, of Nick getting out of his waders and slinging the fishing gear in the back of the car for the last time before heading home. The sun behind is rising on another perfect Montana day, and I grabbed the shot just before it became impossible to place the glare behind the car and create a silhouette. These kinds of photos are not planned, for I like to shoot as much as possible "as it happens" - I tend to think that fishing never looks any good when things are set up and staged.

• I am really looking forward to getting back out and slinging some lures for bass. The weather seems a bit up and down, but it looks ok to me for a bit of plugging - reports are a bit sketchy it seems, but I know of a few fish showing. I really can't wait now to head over to Ireland in July to fish and photograph, especially after that huge 72cms bass the other day that I heard about. To get a bass that size on a lure would be something very special indeed......

• On the metal front, it is also very cool to get back home and find a new CD or two waiting for you - take it from me on this one, you need to go and buy "Kolossus" by the Norwegian band Keep of Kalessin. You can see a video of one of the new tracks here. Their last album "Armada" was immense, but this new one is off the scale it is so good - fantastic levels of brutality mixed with insane melodies that get you right between the eyes. The drummer is off another planet he is so good. This is without doubt one of the great extreme metal releases of the year so far. What on earth do they put in the water over in Norway to keep producing such immense metal ? I put it on yesterday while my daughters were having their tea, and they loved it (and my wife hated it) - that is all the recommendation you need !!

• Both Nick and I bought the most incredible book just before we left Montana on Sunday - it is not a fishing book, but it is without doubt one of the most awesome publications I have ever seen. Called "Yellowstone to Yukon - Freedom to Roam", it is a series of breathtaking photographs and short essays on this amazing part of the world - scenery and wildlife. The photographer is called Florian Schulz, and you can see more of his incredible work here. Some more details on the book can be found here, and you can buy it here for not very much at all. This kind of publication really inspires me to keep working on trying to improve my photography all the time.

• A friend of mine up in Scotland has just emailed to tell me about a 17lb rainbow trout he caught the other day on a size 16 fly, from a float tube !! Stuart is one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet, and he is an excellent fly fisherman into the bargain - I bet the fish towed him around for a fair while. He also tells me about some really big salmon coming off the Dee very recently........

Thirteen miles of fishing heaven - the Bighorn

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 16mm), ISO 320, f8, 1/100, polarising filter

• Yesterday Nick Hart and I were lucky enough to fish and photograph on one of the world's most famous trout rivers, the Bighorn. There is no way to do this river proper justice in one single day, but we gave it a real go. There are 9000 trout per mile on the upper stretches of the Bighorn (!!), and since the waters are crystal clear, you can see hundreds of trout moving around all the time, plus whitefish and the odd big carp. This is driftboat fishing heaven, and as you can see above, there are plenty of places to get out and wade fish. This is surely some of the finest trout fishing on this earth.

• We drifted thirteen miles of trout fishing heaven yesterday - our guide Clarke Smyth must have thought we were barking mad (you can't help but get excited over this kind of stuff), but he was as good as it gets, and put Nick over a load of fish. Just being able to see so many good fish moving around in that water gets the pulse racing big time. We had to drive a bit to get there, but that is the beauty of where we are staying - there is just so much fishable water in this past of America, so whatever the conditions you are going to be able to find world class fly fishing somewhere fairly nearby. And when the Yellowstone is firing, there is insane trout fishing right beneath Yellowstone Valley Ranch. You could literally fall out of bed here and catch big trout, or do a day somewhere nearby, and fish some more after supper. This is pure trout fishing heaven.

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 200mm), ISO 400, f8, 1/320, polarising filter

• The brown trout on the Bighorn have such powerful looking jaws and are simply a thrill to be around. I was looking for a different kind of fish shot in this lovely wooden net, and this nice brown was the one that played ball. I really love photographing good looking trout fishing, and out here in Montana it is about as good as it is ever going to get. Neither Nick or I can believe how few UK fly fishermen come out here to fish - it's so easy to get here, and the set up at Yellowstone Valley Ranch is perfect. We are looking to try and come back perhaps in late October to fish and photograph the Yellowstone river when it is firing properly.

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 16mm), ISO 320, f8, 1/125, polarising filter

• Above you can see Nick hooked into a really nice trout that he hooked up when we were wade fishing on a section of the Bighorn. I can't really believe that we have been lucky enough to see what we have seen out here, and that is also bearing in mind that the average water conditions at the moment are not good. The story is that from mid-July the fishing is really going to go off big time. This is a freak year though, for usually mid-June is prime time. I am over the moon with the material I have got out here, but I also know that we have seen a mere tiny percentage of what this place can offer. Too much to do, too little time to do it in. That's life.

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 24mm), ISO 250, f9, 1/100, polarising filter

• Here you can see Nick cradling a perfect brown trout, in about the best condition possible. These fish were caught by drifting weighted nymphs along the bottom of the river, either dead drifting with the speed of the boat, or casting and swinging them when wading. When there is a decent hatch, apparently there are scary numbers of trout coming up to dry flies. We wore chest waders to do this fishing yesterday, but our guide Clarke was wet wading - and believe me, that Bighorn water was running cold !! I am not that brave.... (but even Clarke admitted that at one point his toes were totally numb). I was glad of the heavy duty nature of the Hardy EWS waders I was wearing, and they have done me proud this trip.

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 31mm), ISO 250, f9, 1/200, polarising filter

• I couldn't not work on making something of the jaws of these browns - some people would say (rather sadly) that this is just "making the fish look bigger than it is", indeed I have heard this kind of rubbish before. But it is not - this kind of photo is me having a bit of creative fun with a fish, working on getting away from the standard "grip and grin". Why not make the fish look good and different ? Our main priority though is the safety of the fish, so they are never kept out of the water for more than a few seconds at a time, and this one went off really strongly after it's quick modelling shoot.

• Nick and I fly back to the UK today, after a seriously incredible trip. I have been blown away by my first visit to Montana, and I will be back as much as possible. This is some of the world's finest yet accessible fly fishing, and I really hope that more Brits will make the easy journey out here to experience it. There is just so much space out here, and so few people. You could have such fun family holidays in this part of Montana, indeed I will be bringing my girls out here when they are a bit older. Speak to Aardvark McLeod as soon as you can about coming to smash a few of these magnificent trout among the most outrageous scenery you could ever hope to see. What a special week it has been. I also hear that the weather back home has been rubbish !! Back to bass fishing....

Spring creek fishing

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 16mm), ISO 100, f16, 1/10, polarising filter, Gitzo Traveller tripod

• Within this vast Yellowstone valley lie several natural spring creeks that come up from the ground, run gin clear for a few miles, and then pour into the mighty Yellowstone river (which is still roaring and unfishable with a mass of snow-melt water). We drove no more than ten miles from Yellowstone Valley Ranch to fish this stunning little creek, and for me it was a dream day's photography. For most of the day we are covered with huge blue skies and framed by these wonderful mountains that line both sides of the valley. For Nick it was also perfect fly fishing - challenging and hugely rewarding. We could see literally hundreds of wild brown and rainbow trout, sometimes rising to flies, and also hugely wary of fishermen. Nick Hart is a seriously accomplished fly fisherman though, and can really think on his feet. With huge effort and thought he caught a fair few stunning trout from various stretches of the creek. What a result - behind the creek roars the Yellowstone river that is going to take a few weeks at least to become fishable, yet here lies this stunning natural chalk stream essentially. but without the stocked fish and managed banks.

Canon 1D MK111, 15-35mm f2.8L lens (at 31mm), ISO 320, f3.5, 1/800, polarising filter

• Wow !! What a stunning wild rainbow trout - look at those perfect spots and fins. Nick worked for these fish, but the reward was more than worth it. I woke up yesterday morning thinking about a shot like this, where the head and eye of the fish becomes the focal point of the photo, and a deliberately large aperture has gradually defocused the rest of the fish and the background out. The incredible light and stunning nature of the fish has enabled me to get a photo like this - the kind of thing a magazine could run across two pages and then bleed in text around it, with the heading below the fish. Now you can see why I wake up so early all the time - this head of mine doesn't like to shut down that much !! But I wouldn't change it for the world. Getting the chance to come and work in a place like Montana is so incredibly cool that I am still having trouble coming to grips with how special it is.

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 100mm), ISO 400, f10, 1/125, polarising filter

• With the Yellowstone river being blown at the moment (and yes, I am coming back when it is in proper condition), I have been looking for a kind of "look at this fishing surrounded by vastness" kind of photo, and yesterday I got the chance. It was a bit of a weak sky behind the mountains, but you can't get it perfect all the time !! I'll take the snow-capped peaks any day of the week, so I guess we have the best of both worlds here at the moment. Nick is in fly fishing heaven, and I am still drooling like a loon at the views around here. Seriously, if fly fishing for wild fish in outrageous surroundings is anywhere close to your thing, do yourself the best favour you can do and come out here now. Aardvark McLeod can sort it all out for you very easily - I hope to see you here, because I am coming back to the American west as much as I can in the future. All I need is some proper fly casting lessons from Nick and I might even have a bit of a fish next time !!

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 70mm), ISO 400, f8, 1/160

• After an early supper yesterday, we headed straight back to the spring creek to do some more - how could you not ? Paul Roberstson (the manager of the lodge here) took Nick out on a classic Montana drift boat for a proper go at the rising trout, and Nick duly smashed plenty on little buzzers. The trick to this photo was to hold the exposure, i.e. the balance between the moody sky, and the last bit of sunlight on the boat. What a perfect end to the day. I am now having another cup of coffee, looking out on the sun beginning to illuminate this wonderful valley - this is as close to paradise as I am ever going to get. We are off fishing the Lower Madison today on a drift boat and I can't wait.

Yellowstone National Park fishing

Canon 1D MK111, 70-200mm f4L IS lens (at 135mm), ISO 200, f10, 1/200

• Waking up yesterday morning well before dawn was inevitable, but it did give me the chance to watch the sun rising over the huge valley we are in here. Above is about the coolest site for a caravan that I have ever seen, just outside of Yellowstone Valley Ranch where we are staying. The snow that still tops many of the mountains around here gives a clue as to why the fishing is tough at the moment though.....

• They are having one of their latest ever springs out here - the snow-melt should have happened a while ago, but we are right in the middle of it now. The decision was taken yesterday to head right up into the world famous Yellowstone National Park to fish a few rivers in there. You can guess the levels of excitement from Nick and I as we made our way through the gates to the park and very soon encountered bison, deer and even a few elk. I had not realised just how huge bison are, but when you see one crossing the road like cattle of sheep would on Dartmoor, you get a full sense of their scale. Below are a couple of bison - I would love time to really try and nail some decent wildlife shots out here, but we have a job to do, and that concerns fishing.

Canon 1D MK111, 300mm f4L IS lens + 1.4TC (420mm), ISO320, f8, 1/640

• Now I would love to say that we smashed more trout yesterday than you can shake a stick out, but in the end we were skunked (bear in mind that this was a "play" day, in that we were unguided. Things change today !!). Make no mistake, Nick Hart worked his socks off on loads of different stretches of water, using plenty of different methods, but the local trout population were simply not playing ball at all. It is very much worth checking out Nick's blog for the technical details of what went on yesterday, but for me it was just a dream to be photographing fishing in such a place like Yellowstone National Park. We probably saw about 1% of this vast park, and still I came away totally in a complete state of awe.

• Nick and I are getting a load of photos together for Hardy & Greys Ltd., and the gear is doing great. Nick is using and wearing a bunch of brand new Hardy products for the shoot (some of which have yet to hit the market), and to put the stuff against the kinds of places we are seeing is just outrageous.

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 16mm), ISO 320, f8, 1/160, polarising filter

• Above you can see Nick tackling up on the side of the Firehole river - those deep blue skies and fluffy white clouds do it for me in a big way!! We parked up and dropped down the side of a remote valley to get in here, and both of us were surprised to say the least that a monster local brown trout did not go and impale itself on Nick's fly. Today is always another day.......

Canon 1D M111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens, ISO 250, f8, 1/80, polarising filter

• Above is the last bit of water we tried before heading out of the park and back for a late and welcome supper (the food here is far too good). This is a stretch of the Gibbon river that winds across a stunning meadow in the park, and to Nick's right were loads of bison, no doubt amused at us guys doing what we do. It was a frustrating day, for most of the waters literally breathed of fish, but sometimes fishing likes to kick you hard and remind you that it takes a bit of extra hard work to begin to come to grips with a place.

• I remain utterly blown away with this part of the world. Yellowstone Valley Ranch is one of the best and friendliest places I have ever had the privilege to stay, and the setting on the banks of the Yellowstone river is simply magical. This valley is on a vast scale - what a great place it would be for a family holiday. The great outdoors and masses to do - fishing, horse riding, white water rafting, hiking, skiing, or just taking it easy, you name it, you can do it all out here and I can't wait to come back already. Not that many hardcore fishing places make a great destination for the whole family, but here is in my mind just about perfect. If you want wide open spaces, stunning waters and a true sense of what it is all about, speak to Aardvark McLeod and get yourself out to Montana as soon as you can. Honestly, I can not rave about this place enough, and it does not cost half as much as you think it should. It's also very easy to get out here from the UK.

• A friend of mine over in SE Ireland has emailed me a photo of a 72cm long bass he had on the first day of their new bass season, 16th June - what a fish to open the account with, and of course it went back. They smashed a load of fish, so you can guess I am sure how excited I am to be heading over there in mid-July, right after photographing some Atlantic salmon fishing on the Namsen river over in Norway.

• And you might be wondering how on earth I have got the time to update this blog out here ? At the moment it is just after 5am, and I am typing this and watching the valley here light up for another perfect day in paradise. As always, I am struggling to get my body on US time - I woke up just before 4am this morning, thinking about photos, fishing and extreme metal of course. Lots of sleep is never really an option on trips like this, it's far too exciting to waste time grabbing loads of kip, and I can always catch up a bit on the flight home. Sleeping pills, headphones, iPOD, Norwegian black metal and eye shades soon knock me out. Anyway, it is fast getting light outside and in half an hour the chef will have filled the coffee pot up......

Staggeringly beautiful place

Canon 1D MK111, 16-35mm f2.8L lens (at 16mm), ISO 400, f11, 1/200, polarising filter

• I am totally blown away by how beautiful it is out here in Montana - it is all I can do to stop drooling like a loon at the view. Nick Hart and I had a very cool day wandering around a load of different fly fishing shops in and around Bozeman and Livingston, before arriving at Yellowstone Valley Ranch. The two of us could also not resist going shopping for some clothes for our respective kids - you should have seen it, Nick and I going all soppy over adorable outfits for our children.

• The photo above is of Nick and our hire car on the road out of Livingston. Just look at those snow capped peaks and vast blue skies and you will understand I am sure why I am walking around with my jaw on the floor in sheer amazement. Our world is a beautiful place. There is too much to see and to little time to do it. Once again, I am blown away that I can legitimately call this my work.

• It was really warm here today, like a really good UK summer's day. I am typing this blog just as the sun is going down on the banks of the Yellowstone river where we are staying, in this beautiful wide valley surrounded by white-capped mountains. I can now see just why this part of the world is known as Big Sky Country. Montana is the "Big Sky State" in fact. The skies go on for ever......

• How on earth am I going to be able to sleep tonight ? I am far too excited about finally getting the chance to photograph this world class fly fishing, surrounded by about the most outrageous scenery you could hope to see. Some of the rivers are blown out because of the late snow-melt, but it does not matter one bit - there are so many options out here that it is possible to find decent fly fishing in virtually any conditions. We have got some awesome plans laid down for the week ahead. Nick and I are like a couple of kids.

Canon 1D MK111, 300mm f4L IS lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/200

• I grant you that the photo above is hardly going to win any awards, but this was the first time I have ever seen a grizzly bear, so I had to get a few snaps. Nick and I passed a place outside of Bozeman that looks after a few grizzly bears that have been mistreated and can not go back into the wild. Yes, the light was far too harsh to shoot this kind of photo, but I can't go home and not be able to show my daughters that their dad has seen a grizzly bear. OK, so I hardly stalked it down like a real man out in the wilds, but seeing them up this close was awe inspiring. There is actually a very healthy population of wild bears out here in Montana, so no doubt at some point this week I will be legging it across some meadow when I hear a rustling in the bushes......stand and face it like a man ? Yeah, right.

• Anyway, I had better get my gear sorted for tomorrow. Cameras, lenses, waders, suncream, sunglasses etc., everything needs to be checked and re-checked. And what an exciting end to the US Open golf - I caught the last few holes over lunch. Words can not describe how good Tiger Woods is.