An opportunity for a couple of hours early morning fishing sent me to the Lambourn for the first time since last winter. The banks weren't as overgrown as I'd feared, with most winter swims fishable, although the water was pretty shallow in most places. Trotting with the centrepin is always great fun. I fished four swims, the first soon picking up a 4-ounce brownie. It was at the third and favourite swim, that apart from 11 minnows, I had my second bite. It was a good take and I could see a rather nice grayling - maybe a pound and a half say,  doing the typical grayling thing of squirming like a demented eel in an effort to free itself. I hung on, and after a few seconds it stopped whirlygigging and started to kite in the current. It also adopted a banana shape making me think I'd foul-hooked it, making it even more imperative that I brought it in before the hook pulled. As I dragged it's unmoving self against the current I realised it was fairly hooked after all, at which point it resumed its initial mania and I lost it just in front of the net. Grr. With no more bites, I moved to to the final swim, but returned to the site of the missed grayling for the last 20 minutes or so. My last cast saved my day with a spunky 1lb 6oz trout which while I'd rather had been a grayling, was nonetheless most welcome. On netting I saw it had a very fresh gash in its flank, making me wonder if the pike that I've had take hooked fish before here, had a snap at some point in the fight.