My best fishing line of 2008

• There are many outstanding lines out there these days, indeed you have got to go far to find a really bad one I reckon. If I use mono lines, it has to be Sufix (Tritanium, Zippy, Synergie etc., all outstanding), but with the amount of bass fishing I do, more often than not it is going to be braid that I end up fishing with.

• If I had to put my money on the table and come up with the best all round "regular" braid, then I still reckon Power Pro is it. This braid will work for our bassing just fine, indeed I have used Power Pro all over the world and it keeps on nailing fish. I see that Shimano have recently bought Power Pro, so I will be interested to see what happens here, but whatever does, you can use it with complete confidence.

• But, and this is a big but - earlier this year I began using the top of the range, high-tech Varivas braids from Japan, and I can't help but say that these are another step up. A "regular" braid like Power Pro is fantastic, but these premium Varivas braids are in a class of their own. There are various reasons as to why I use them so much now for my bass fishing, but in reality I just like using them, plain and simple. They just feel right.

• Braids don't come cheap as well all know, but they do last for ages if you underfill your spool and avoid loads of the dreaded wind knots. The absolute top of the range bass braid from Varivas is on the spool you can see in the photo above - a dull kind of grey colour. When I first felt this braid, I could not believe it, indeed I have never felt a line like it. A true 8 stand braid (as opposed to 4 strand), it is something else - the exact name is Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE, and you can get it right here. I said it wasn't cheap, but it is unlike any braid you have ever used. I use the 20lb for bass fishing, and I also have a reel filled with the 15lb for mullet fishing - honestly, this braid is so thin you can hardly see it !! In fact my mate Del rang me from the Isles of Scilly later yesterday afternoon to give me the update on his mullet fishing - three fish up to 6lbs, and guess what line he is using for it (and raving about) ? Yes, this exact braid in 15lb breaking strain.

• But it is the very slightly thicker and more "regular" feeling Varivas Avani Sea Bass Braid that you can see on the reel above that I have been using most of the time. Cheaper than the Max Power PE stuff, you can get it here. I really like the 23lb breaking strain in the green colour, with a short length of Varivas fluorocarbon leader to my lure. This braid is outstanding to fish with, and one fill up lasted me most of last year without any problem at all. You can horse fish on it. In my mind this braid is a kind of "ultra premium" regular braid (sounds like unleaded), while the Max Power PE is plain and simple "the best".

• My personal favourite for the moment has to be the slightly cheaper Varivas Avani Sea Bass Braid in 23lb breaking strain - I know the Max Power PE is a better line overall, but it is just so thin that sometimes it freaks me out. It is up to me now to get my head around using a line as thin and different feeling as this, because I know it works better for my fishing. But in all honesty, you can use both with complete confidence for all your bass fishing - they are that good.

Caught a few bass last night

• We had six bass over the high water yesterday evening, and although none were of any great size and the light was pants, it was fantastic fun. Freelining live sandeels into a swirling current and then getting hit hard is such a "pure" form of fishing. My first drop back and I had to put the rod down to do something on the boat - I was sure I saw a tiny hit almost straight away, but of course thought "no way, not so fast, surely ?", and then a few seconds later the rod tip slammed down and stayed down. Not a big fish, but a blast in the racing current. The bass were in great condition, and things at this location bode well for the rest of the year.............

• I tried a few lures, but there were a lot of leaves coming down and plenty of weed about, and all I ended up doing was snagging this up. Yesterday was designed for live sandeel fishing, but I would like to try some soft plastics right over the slack water period when it would be possible to search out the area a bit better.

• There are various items of fishing tackle that my eyes have really been opened to this year, and one of them has to be Varivas braid - it is off the scale it is so good. The Varivas Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE braid is unlike anything else I have ever used (you can get it here), indeed it is so limp and easily usable that it hardly even feels like a braid if that makes any sense. Freelining live sandeels with this stuff is just so effective - I tied it to a swivel with a decent knot, and then tied a few feet of 22lb Varivas fluorocarbon on for the trace, to a 3/0 Varivas Big Mouth Extra hook (see here). Seems to be a pattern developing here - Varivas do some awesome fishing tackle. No, I am not sponsored by them, but I choose to use the best stuff I can find. High-end Japanese braid is where it's at for me.

• I thought it would be a bit of fun to show this sequence of photos below that ended up in one of my favourite photographs that I have nailed so far this year. Below you can see Graham Hill running down the rocks to lend Pat Gallagher a hand landing a bass he has hooked on a plug. This all happened a few weeks ago over in south east Ireland, on the first morning when the fishing was simply epic (see here for the original post). All looks calm and relatively serene, but I am lined up with the camera because out of shot and the sea is looking seriously lively - I really fancy the chances of some very dramatic "classic bass fishing" shots.......................

• OK, so Graham's run down to help Pat out with his fish, but look above and you can see him suddenly having to turn to brace himself against the wave that has just smashed against the rock on which they are standing. Pat is just starting to hunch down, but he has got a bass on the end of his line and is not about to give it up !! I have changed over from shooting a landscape format to portrait (upright) because I can see what is coming out of the corner of one eye, and I want to try and frame the full impact of the wave.

• Now both guys have had no choice but to turn against the wave and adopt a fully braced position so that nothing bad happens. Pat now has to simply hope that his bass is well enough hooked to get through this. They know what they are doing.

• The final photo in the sequence turned out better than I could have ever hoped for. Obviously you can not plan this kind of shot, for it very much depends on the conditions unfolding, where the anglers choose to stand, and of course, if you the photographer have your eye seriously on the ball and are watching every single thing that is going on. I really feel I have nailed one stand out photo that says virtually every single thing that I want to say about bass fishing in one shot - drama, excitement, risk, reward, movement, passion, insanity, escapism, you name it, this is what it's all about.

• Note that both guys are wearing what we all reckon to be one of the very best waterproof "wading" jackets out there, the Greys GRXi model. Check it out here. Although this wading jacket was of course designed for the fly fishing market, it is just about perfect for mobile bass fishing, especially when you have a load of cold sea water breaking over your head. It surely goes without saying that breathable chest waders are a must.

• Bear in mind that the three portrait photos are taken out of a sequence of perhaps twelve, all shot at nearly ten frames per second on one of my Canon 1D MK111 cameras. It all happened that fast, and because I had seen what was coming, I was lined up and ready to shoot - correct f-stop and shutter speed and corresponding ISO, to make sure I stopped the water stone dead and did not blow the highlights in the white of the crashing wave against the black rocks behind. Motor drive on, focus on Graham, and make sure to hold it there.

• An increasing amount of people email me and ask how to get into things like photographing fishing, but there is very little advice I can give, for in the end we all find our own ways into this business, and I am totally self-taught at all this. But there is one thing that is absolutely vital - you have to know when not to fish. If you want to fish all the time, don't try to work in fishing. It is never what it seems.......

Perfect conditions, but only one bass landed

• Check out how good it looked on yesterday evening's low water - about as perfect as I could hope for in fact. A small swell, a bit of chop, good clarity and fairly overcast skies. I had a feeling it would be like this from the weather forecast. Plenty of "life" to the water. These are the kinds of conditions you can dream about for chucking lures at bass, and I really thought we might clean up........

• Early on, a bass that might have touched 4lb chased my lure in almost right to my feet, to the point where I ran out of water on the retrieve. I never saw the fish again, but I knew they had to be around. The sea just looked too good. The lure ? The Maria Chase BW. There were also a few small pollack smashing at the lures, but Mark, James and I had only bass in our sights. Just seeing these fish chase your lures is enough to give me heart palpitations. One day soon it's going to be a monster bass chasing my lure in and grabbing it right at my feet...........nothing like dreaming !!

• It is Mark in the photo above, fishing a stunning looking gully with his holographic silver Maria Chase BW (you need this lure in your box for bass fishing, see here). Just before I shot this photograph, Mark saw a nice bass around 5lbs charge and turn on his lure, and although he felt the fish, it did not hook up. What a shame. If you want to fish ground like this for bass, do yourself a serious favour and look for a decent pair of breathable chest waders and proper wading boots. I know I bang on about them, but they will revolutionise your fishing. Check here for some good waders and boots. To me they are as vital as a decent rod and reel.

• James hooked and landed a small bass that you can see above, and all this happened before low water. Naturally I thought the flood tide and impending darkness would bring the bass on the feed big time, but for some reason all it did was switch them off !! None of us saw a proper hint of another fish, save for some small pollack. Weird......

• Note the green braid on James' spinning reel - he has gone and succumbed to the awesome Varivas Avani Sea Bass braid in 23lb breaking strain. It is vital to really underfill your spinning reel, almost to the point where you think you might lose a bit of distance because of it. But this is the right level to fish braid at so that you don't get those infernal wind knots. Sometime soon I will post a photograph of my line level on the spool of my spinning reel to show what I mean.

• It's a later low water this evening and a slightly bigger tide - conditions look good again. Guess what I'm doing later on this afternoon ?

First bass of the year - small but beautiful

• I managed to get few hours in plugging yesterday afternoon before I needed to be back to babysit my two daughters for the evening, and it turned out to be a blast. Just me, my sheepdog Jess and a deserted coastline, with the strong NE wind off our backs and what seemed like fairly good conditions. I knew something was looking up when the first rock I waded to had a nice, perhaps 4-5lb bass rooting around just behind it - but the fish saw me and promptly legged it !! You simply can not put a value on decent polarised sunglasses, and I wear what I believe are the best on the market today, Maui Jim. It was flat calm and the water was verging on being almost too clear (weeks of east winds), but when a proper sized pollack turned on my Maria Chase BW (check the lure here) right at the edge of the rocks and showed me that big, predator eye, I reckoned my luck might be in. I then had numerous follows from plenty of other, smaller pollack, plus a small bass, before moving to another set of rocks close by and landing three small pollack. Together they might have struggled to reach 1.5lbs, but at least there was plenty of life around.

• About two hours after low water I went and snagged my Maria Chase up properly and lost it, so I re-tied a short 30lb Varivas fluorocarbon leader on and picked out another great shallow-diving minnow, the Lucky Craft Flash Minnow. I really like this lure, but it dives a little deeper than the Maria and I had to retrieve for the most part with my rod held high to get it closer to the surface. I also reckon it works better with a slower retrieve than I use for the Maria. But it worked......

• The bass you see above is my first this year on a lure, and although it might be "slightly" on the small side (!!), I could not be happier to see one - seriously overjoyed in fact. A typical smash into the lure typifies these magnificent fish. It went back fine after a few photos taken with the aid of this great little tool, the Berkley TEC Pistol Trigger Grip. I picked it up in the US a few weeks ago, principally to enable me to at least get a few photos of fish I might happen to catch when I am fishing on my own. It is designed for gripping a fish like a bass for unhooking - no harm comes to the fish and no more will you end up with spike and cut marks all over your hands. It sits in a little holster on your belt and I would not be without it now.

• I also saw a big wrasse follow my lure right in to my feet before I caught the bass, and after I moved to another finger of rock and hooked the bass, on virtually the next cast I caught this one you can see above. Around 3.5lbs I reckon, it was great fun on this Tenryu plugging rod and it put up a typical wrasse kind of scrap. It had stunning markings and went back fine. I love these fish and I am really pleased to have nailed one on the plug where I was fishing. On a Bank Holiday weekend, I saw nobody - amazing. To have that kind of good looking water to myself was a real treat.

• That was it, I had to head back home and take on the babysitting duties so that my wife could go out on the razzle. How badly would I have loved to stay on fishing, but I could not even get any mobile phone reception to try and call and tell a little lie about my car breaking down or something like that !! Not that the thought has ever entered my head...........

• Below is the lure that did the business, the Lucky Craft Flash Minnow. It does cast a little better than the Maria and it "rolls" incredibly seductively through the water - I like having different options in my lure box. I just have to remember to slow down on the retrieve when using the Flash Minnow.

• The more I am using this stunning Tenryu Red Dragon Express plugging rod, the more I can see just how advanced a fishing rod it is for this kind of bassing. You can see my initial review of it here, and my views have not changed at all. It is the single best plugging rod I have ever picked up, and I feel totally confident of getting the upper hand on any bass that might come my way (setting myself up for a fall I know !!). But I do know that I am working my lures effectively from the moment they hit the water.

• And as for this Varivias braid I am using - wow !! Yes, it costs more than most others, but it is sublime to fish with. The bright green Avani Sea Bass Braid in 23lb is awesome to use, and I love the colour, but the Avani Sea Bass Max Power PE in 20lb is a class apart. I just wish they did it in a really hi-vis colour like yellow or orange (hint, hint). I have yet to find another braid that feels like this - you will not believe how thin and easy casting it is. I used a different Varivas 8-strand braid out in the Florida Keys the other day and it did great, so I guess I am sold on the merits of this stuff. I know you can get both the Varivas braids I am raving about here. If you are seriously into your lure fishing, you will no doubt be prepared to pay to get the best.

Are the bass here ?

• I went out late yesterday afternoon to have my first proper go of the year for bass - just me, my sheepdog Jess and a deserted coastline. There really is nothing like travelling light and being able to move around the rocks, gullies, beaches and rips where the bass like to hang out. The general feeling around here is that the plugging season is close to getting going. The tide was on the neap side, but about two hours back I got hit hard about ten yards out. The bass did not connect properly with my lure, but in that split second my heart jumped into my mouth and it gave me real hope. But after that one hit I had nothing else. Still, I loved every single second of it - nobody around, a light onshore breeze, good clarity to the water, and a stack of awesome looking ground over which to play with my expanding lure collection !! Not that I like bass lures or anything......

• Above is a photograph of the sun setting just as I was getting ready to walk back to my car. South Devon is a great part of the world to live around and on evenings like this I can't really believe that I get to call this part of the world my home.

• I tried various lures out, including some incredible looking soft plastics that look so good in the water no self-respecting bass is going to refuse them. I will keep testing them out and then I will reveal what they are, where to get them and how to fish them. If you fish very shallow, weedy marks for bass, then these lures are very quickly going to find a place in your box. I am honestly amazed at how a bit of soft plastic can look so good in the water. Hell, I was tempted to dive in myself and grab it.

• But the lure that I got hit on yesterday was the ever faithful Maria Chase BW in the holographic silver colour. You need to work these things fast, and make sure to regularly jerk the rod tip to make them slash and dart from side to side. You can get your Maria Chase lures from here. I did give the good looking new colour Maria Chase BW a go yesterday, but I snagged it up and lost it straight away. I knew I should not have cast it where I did. One down.....

• I am currently testing out various different products to use for my bass fishing, including rods, reels, lures and lines. As I sink further and further into the world of modern bass fishing, I want my tackle to keep up with the task - the more research I do into all this, the more I know I have to learn. The secret is knowing where to look, and often that is outside of the UK. There are plenty of good bass fishing products on the market, but there are a few very special bits and pieces indeed. The rod I was using yesterday is simply stunning, there is no other word to describe it, but give me a bit more time and I will tell all.

• But one product you seriously need to check out is one of the most incredible braids that I have ever used, as you can see loaded up on my reel below. For some years now I have been using what I believe are the best UK-style shore fishing hooks on the market, the Varivas Big Mouth and Big Mouth Extras. Check here to get hold of them. Not only do they just look right to my eyes, but they work seriously well.

• Varivas also make a whole range of other high-tech fishing products, including lines and braids, and the one that I have fallen for in a big way is the green braid you can see below. Called Varivas Avani Sea Bass Premium SE braid, I am using the 23lb variety that comes in 150m spools. The only place I know that does this braid in the UK is here, and whilst it is not exactly cheap, what price the best ? One spool could last you for ages though. I like the colour, I love the way it feels, it lays perfectly on my reel, and it casts and fishes incredibly well. I also have another Varivas braid to try here, but for the moment this Avani Sea Bass Premium SE is going to get serious punishment from me. Take it from me, it is awesome stuff.