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Posted 09:34, 30 July 2010
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- I make no excuses about being somewhat of an "obsessional" person, in that I know what I like, and those likes tend to colour the whole of my life. Just like fishing. What started off on a trout loch in Scotland at the age of seven has become a lifelong obsession that is both work and play for me. And it's no different with photography. I can't help it, but when I look around me I am tending to think about photos, and about how I might commit what I see in front of me to my cameras. Light, light, light. Look at those snow-capped peaks in British Columbia above. In a perfect world I would have had ages to sit there and wait for all kinds of different light to play across such magnificence, but we needed to hike down to the Copper River. I "saw" this photo and took it. Much as it gets to me, it was no more than a quick snap, or a moment in time. But this is how I "saw" that particular moment. Can you imagine what a proper landscape photographer could have done ?
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- Light, light, light. Look at the quality of the light in the photo above. It's what it is - my mate Andy whacking out a bass lure as the sun goes down, with plenty of space on the right hand side for two reasons - artistic, and because loads of text could fit there in the event of the photo being used across a couple of pages (DPS or double-truck as it's known in the US). But look at the softness of the sunlight. No burn out on the rocks, no hot spots anywhere from the sun being too harsh. Simple, very easy, working with great light. Anybody can do this kind of stuff, but we all "see" things differently.........breathable chest waders are equally as important to me on both the fishing and the photography front !!
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- The west coast of Canada is still about the only place that I have been to where it looks arguably even more dramatic the worse (moodier) the weather gets. We froze our proverbial socks off on this particular day on the Bell Irving River in northern BC, but it just looked outstanding. I am standing right in the middle of this freezing cold river to take this photo, but I am shaking both from the cold and from the sheer excitement at fishing looking this good right in front of me. You have no idea how badly I want to go back to the west coast of Canada, for it's one of the most special places on this earth. Almost everywhere you look you are "seeing" photos, but I am always most comfortable when I am putting anglers and fishing into the frame. Why I am not quite sure, but it gets me going in a huge way, to the point where my photography of fishing has become a complete and utter obsession. Just like with my fishing. I hope you can see why working in fishing is the only real option I have, and I work my socks off partly because it scares the life out of me that if I fail then there ain't much else I can do.............
- I have been kind of flat out on a really interesting project recently, to the point where me actually going out fishing has been lacking somewhat. My recent trip to Ireland had been in the diary for ages, and I was "protecting" the dates like mad, but I will admit that I came close to calling it off to keep on with this project. Work is work though, but actually being out fishing with your mates and spending time in a place like Ireland is far too special to miss out on. In due course I will reveal what this project has been about. It's been one hell of an interesting and exciting thing for me to be involved with, and as always, it's been a huge learning curve for me - some things I have done pretty well I reckon, and some things I have made mistakes with.
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Posted 08:46, 28 July 2010
- Every single saltwater angler is surely aware of the millions of different soft plastic shads/paddletails out there. Those things that lots of us used to (and still do) buy pre-rigged (Storm, Calcutta etc.) and either lob out for pollack off the rocks or tie on the end of one of those infernal, ever-tangling flying collar rigs and drift over wrecks and reefs. Fish like GTs even love them as well. Surely a paddletail/shad (call them what you will) is as simple as that ?
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- I am not going to get into the multitude of different ways that these amazing and versatile plastics can be fished, for that is a whole book on its own - and to be perfectly honest, I am only on about page two myself when it comes to this particular learning curve. I make no pretense about it. But what I have noticed recently, and especially on my recent trip over to Ireland, is that certain paddletails/shads seem to take casting better. It's pretty obvious that some of them were not designed for repeated hard casting and retrieving (and this is not a criticism, for action/rigidty etc. comes into it), but on the flip side is the fact that sometimes these kinds of lures can be seriously lethal from the shore. However you choose to fish them, but that is not the issue here.......
- What I did find when we were fishing a particular couple of spots the other day was that some paddletails that I really liked the look of were just not lasting very long with repeated casting. They were tearing and splitting. OK, so it's probably not that often that you are going to be whacking these things as hard as you can, (finesse fishing ?) but sometimes we need to because it just works really well. Imparting lots of action on lures is vitally important in many situations, but never forget that a good old fashioned straight-retrieve is sometimes a killer. Some paddletails though really take lots of casting and retrieving very well and just last for ages, and these are going to have to be the ones that I turn to in the future when I need to "whack and wind".
- Leaving different actions and body shapes aside, the Xorus Rolling Shad you can see above seems to be tough as anything out there that I know of - it just seems to do the job, and lots of anglers know all about how they catch lots and lots of bass. Fish them on all manner of jig heads and they just don't tear up very easily at all, indeed I still have some rigged up here that were the first ones I ever got hold of. I took a few nice bass on them in Ireland the other day in fact.
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- I will not pretend that the whole "Vios" thing with some of these MegaBass soft plastics does not drive me mad, but the simple fact is that they kill. Just like all the MegaBass lures it seems. Proven bass catchers all the way. From my understanding, any of their soft plastics that have the word "Vios" on the packet means that you can not mix them with any other lures - i.e. you need to carry them on their own otherwise they will literally melt if mixed together A bit of a pain as I said, but the MegaBass Spindle Worm (see above) especially is a seriously lethal paddletail. So the inconvenience of having to carry them separated from each other is hugely outweighed by how seriously bass love them. And although it might not look like it, these paddletails are tough as hell and take lots and lots of casting and retrieving without and undue hassle. A little trick with all these soft plastics is to apply a little bit of Anglers' glue (ask these guys here about it) to the back of the jig head where the lure flushes up against it.
- The French company Delalande make a whole load of different paddletails, and mates of mine continue to do really well on their GT Shad - which also happens to be tough as old boots. Fantastic action as well. I know for example that Cian likes to use them over in Ireland (check here, give them a shout and ask away). Mates of mine over in Jersey are also starting to rave about the huge Reins range of soft plastics - have a look here. Bigger is not always better at all. I can not pretend to be a leading authority on paddletails, but the simple fact is that they work, and we have lots and lots to learn about them. Those tails going mad in current must turn bass on in such a big way............I love looking for solutions to problems, or matching certain specific lures to certain specific spots that I fish. Please do give me some feedback on this stuff, I would love to know more about other paddletails that cast, catch and last.
- I check on various different fishing blogs, and I have come across another really good one that is loaded with bass fishing info - check out bass nut Iestyn Jones' Plus Fishing staff blog right here. Some great work avoidance !! It's great that more and more bass fishermen are taking the time to blog about their experiences. Again, if you know of other blogs out there that I should be aware of, please let me know.
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Posted 08:44, 26 July 2010
- I got back home last night after another outstanding Game Fair - with this kind of huge event you have to say well done to all the people who are involved in organising this kind of thing. Where one would start with planning something like the CLA Game Fair I can only guess, but can you imagine how excited those people must feel to see so many visitors enjoying themselves over the three days. It's going to be at Blenheim Palace on the last weekend of July 2011, and I will be there if the CLA decide to ask me back to do my stuff. Hope so, I just love these shows.
- I did a bunch of demonstrations with Nick Hart on the Fishing Grandstand, and on each of the three days we seemed to get a really good audience who even clapped when we finished. Huge thanks to all the people who took time out from their day out to come and see us talking about lure and fly fishing. It's great fun being on the platform and doing the demos, but the only problem is that we can never see what it's actually like to watch them. Obviously !!
- Part of the fun for me is the chance to catch up with so many people who work in the recreational fishing industry. I got to talk to friends from all over the world. Lots and lots of fishing chat as you would imagine. I work in fishing, so perhaps I am a little biased, but this industry really does have a lot of very cool people working in it. For guys like me who work so much on their own, the Game Fair is a great chance to catch up and also put faces to names of people I might never get the opportunity to see.
- Much as it is actually called the Game Fair, without a doubt there is more and more interest at the show in all kinds of fishing. Mick Ward was over from his Mr. Fish tackle shop in Jersey to do some demonstrations and he was outstanding. Just as I thought he would be. People were so impressed with his depth of knowledge, and also the easy, approachable way he put it across.
- I have wanted to meet a fishing journo called Mike Thrussell for ages now, and over the weekend I finally got the chance. What a thoroughly nice guy. Just an outstanding bloke to yap fishing with, and I really hope that our paths cross again someday soon. Mike was there with the DHP lot, and I have to say that it was excellent to have a magazine group actually at the Game Fair. I also caught up with an old friend called Roger Mortimore. Very cool. I will never forget how he went out of his way to help me out some years ago now, and I am so pleased what he now the Deputy Editor for Total Sea Fishing magazine. Roger is also seriously getting into his photography - have a look at the current front cover of Nathan Taylor holding a bass. That's Roger's photo. Nice one !!
- Great to see a bunch of guys from B.A.S.S. as well - they told me that interest levels over the three days were really good. The new chairman Ian is a serious fishing junkie, and just a really fantastic guy as well - if you ever get to meet him, ask him about bass fishing in Ireland and striped bass fishing in the US. Watch his eyes roll around his head. He's got it bad !! I am hugely proud to be a member of B.A.S.S. - if you have any interest in making the seas a better place for fish in general, please think about joining up here. And try to come along to their AGM as well, because it's blast.
- The guys and girls working on the Bass Lures stand seemed to be pounding busy every time I walked past - they have a tank in which they demonstrate loads of different lures all the time, and their stand was just a great place to take a look at hard and soft lures in action. Plus yap fishing of course !! They also had some interesting rods, reels and accessories. I also found some anglers who read this blog lurking around as well, trying to imply to me that no, they did not have any kind of a problem with nice shiny lures !! You know who you are, very cool to catch up. I might have a minor problem, I admit that, but there are anglers who have it worse than me out there. At least I think so. Acceptance is half the cure.......
- But the best bit about these kinds of events for me is getting the chance to meet regular anglers - people like you and me. OK, so some people come up to me to kindly say hi because they have seen my (often repeated, sorry) TV programmes, but once they have realised that I am just the same as them (fishing junkie, TV was something I fell into almost by mistake), then we get the chance to talk. I love it. People are so kind. But it is not about me one bit. Every year it seems to me that I get to meet more and more kids who are into fishing - both boys and girls, plus also female anglers.
- Blokes like us will always be into fishing. But the future of this sport is the younger anglers, and fishing also so badly needs to attract more women into the sport. I can not tell you how much it means to me when I get to meet all kinds of people who are into fishing. I met a fantastic family up from Cornwall for the day for example, and their two young daughters are really into fishing. I was hugely honoured that they came over to me and spent some time talking. Simply outstanding. Makes my day like you can not believe to meet youngsters who have got the fishing bug.
- Fishing can often come across as some kind of macho, almost male-only sport at times, but it is not the way forward at all. Fishing is for everybody. Look at the England Ladies Flyfishing Association for example. I even met various brave women who admitted to me that they had watched some of my programmes and looked at this website. You have my thanks and respect in a big way. One particular girl I met for example is a complete fly fishing junkie. She and her boyfriend save up and take themselves off on fly fishing adventures together - sadly I did not get to meet him because he was away flying (pilot), but hopefully I will one of these days. They just sound like such an awesome couple to me. Emma told me that her ultimate dream was to go and fish on Cosmoledo, one of the most famous outer atolls of the Seychelles. Perfect. I took her over to meet Arno Matthee on the Aardvark McLeod stand. I hope this couple get the chance to go there one day.
- But I will tell you about my most favourite thing over the three days - tucked away in a corner of the lake were a bunch of professional angling coaches who had freely given up there time to come along and show kids what fishing was all about. The lake was crawling with carp, bream etc., and these fantastic people were working their socks off all day long as girls and boys came and sat down and caught fish under their watchful eyes. I watched as one young girl caught here first five fish in a row. Humbling. The smile on her face said it all. I believe they had over 90 youngsters come along and fish on Saturday alone. There was no charge to do this. All the guys involved were there on their own time, working with the youngsters to help them catch fish and perhaps help some of these kids "find" their own lifelong fascination with fishing. It's people like this who deserve a serious amount of respect and thanks. I even managed to catch my first fish on a pole, but enough said about my lack of fishing skills on that front the better !! What a great three days.
