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River Lambourn - Shaw 1200 - 1400 Cold with 'milky sunshine. 2 Grayling - a 'netter' and a tidller. 3 Brownies - one close to 1lb, the others only slightly bigger than parrs. Bit of a struggle - with none of my usual swims producing so much as a bite - probably because 2 other anglers had already worked there way up the water!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0800 - 1045 Bright and cold (2ºC) with a 'fresh' northerly breeze! River up a couple of inches on last visit but gin clear despite heavy overnight rain. 9 Grayling - best 2 weighed in at 1lb 1oz & 14oz - the rest around half this stamp. 2 Brownies - a 'pounder' and a parr. Usual pre Christmas jaunt to use up some bait due to the bait fridge getting its annual deep clean - as the maggots get evicted for a few days and it's comandeered for Christmas duties. Fishing was usual catch a couple and move on tactics - still a little 'scratchy' for here - expected a few more fish based on previous years....

River Lambourn - Shaw 1030 - 1300 Still dull and misty. AT 9ºC. River on the low side. 11 Grayling; A real mix of year classes (and hence sizes). Biggest 1lb 13oz (!!) with another 3 an ounce or so either side of 1lb ( the usual maximum size here). 6 Brownies most 6-10oz with one well over 1lb. Well I wasn't expecting that! Pretty sure that's my biggest grayling from this stretch - I've gone back over 20+ years of diaries and can't find a bigger one! Caught from a very shallow run as well, not the spot I'd expect a big lady to be hanging out (though looking at the size of the dorsal, this is a male).

River Lambourn - Newbury 0700 - 1000 Cool and misty. River quite low especially given how wet October was. 8 Grayling; All between 8-10oz with a couple a tad bigger. 6 Brownies - a couple of netters - the rest were parrs. Scratchy morning's trotting - fish thin on the ground - most of my usual banker swims turned up nothing - think they were just too spooky in the clear shallow water.

0645 - 1015 Speen Moors 1115 - 1315 River Kennet, Newbury 1345 - 1615 River Lambourn, Newbury Foggy start, then bright sunshine and quite warm - shirtsleeves weather! River still very high. Lambourn particularly so. Another '3 venue day'! Speen. 2 Chub; 2lb 10oz, 1lb 7oz & 3 Dace. Had planned to spend all day here but high water meant I couldn't actually get to ANY of the swims I wanted to fish. Started in a known perch slack AKA 'Rusty's Corner' which is now full of branches, so 30 mins and 3 hooklengths later I was trying to make my way down stream to a chub hot spot - got ¾ of the way there when I had to turn back at a breach in the bank that was still a couple of foot deep. APFA swim was also under water (well the bank was of course) so I had to make do with an hour or so in the ever reliable small weir and having taken a couple of trout out yesterday (I popped them back upstream for the fluff chuckers) at least fish without an adipose got a lookin! Kennet. 27 Dace & 2 Grayling. Bite of lunch in the sun and a stack of dace on the float - strangely almost ALL of them were males only 3 weren't sandpapery and I caught no pigeon chested females. Lambourn. 19 Grayling; 6 over a pound best 2; 1lb 9oz & 1lb 5oz. 4 Trout parr. Usual catch a couple and move on tactics.

River Lambourn - Shaw 0900 - 1200 Cold, bright and sunny. River quite low and gin clear as always! 24 Grayling - 7 over 1lb - biggest a couple of fish @ 1lb 5oz. Lovely morning's trotting - over half the fish from one swim - including 5 of the 'pounders'. Felt I was entertaining the local children at times as I had a crowd on onlookers everytime I landed a fish!

River Lambourn - Newbury 1330 - 1630 Drizzly and breezy (despite the promise of a dry afternoon). 13/14ºC . River very low and full of leaves! 26 Grayling with more than half needing the net and a lot of fish an ounce or two either side of a pound. Biggest weighed in at 1lb 5oz. 4 trout to 1¾lb. Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - fish very spooky in very shallow water. Caught quite a few by 'sight fishing' - watching the maggot get taken and not waiting for the float to register!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0745 - 1200 Overcast and quite mild. River very low. 4 Roach; 1lb 1oz, 1lb 0oz, 15oz, 13oz. 18 Grayling between 10-20oz (most at the lower end of that scale - but good sport none the less!) 5 Brownies; 3 parr fish and a couple of netters! A morning trotting for grayling with some bonus roach for good measure! All roach in first half an hour or so and all on trotted caster - saw a couple of shapes in the water which looked even bigger than the ones landed!! My first decent roach from here since Dec 2004!

River Lambourn - Shaw 1130 - 1430 Bright, sunny and cool - 4ºC. River 'full' and clear - travelled very light so no thermometer. 19 Grayling - 5 over 1lb, best 2 of 1lb 6oz each. 5 small Roach 3 Brown Trout (½ - ¾lb). Pleasant afternoon in the snow - all fish on trotted red maggot. Snow fish......

River Lambourn - Shaw 1400 - 1600 Overcast after heavy rain - river with a little colour and up a couple of cm (18cm by the Shaw EA Gauge). 20 Grayling; Most quite small with around ½doz in the 12oz-1lb bracket. Going stir crazy after 3 days of rain - and wanting to catch my first fish of 2016. Thankful then for a 2 hour respite (in daylight). All fish from just 3 swims - which is somewhat unusual....

River Lambourn - Newbury 0730 - 1000 Overcast and mild. River VERY full - over a foot up on normal winter levels, BUT clear as always. 22 Grayling - most in the 10-14oz class with a few slightly bigger. 1 Dace - 11oz (another sandpapery male). 2 Brownies. Usual fall back after another week of rain has pushed the Kennet into full flood again. Fish of a remarkably similar stamp - dace was a real bonus.

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1100 Mild and overcast - river still quite low and gin clear as always.... 22 Grayling; Biggest 1lb 8oz with around half the rest a couple of ounces either side of a pound. 1 Roach: 1lb 2oz. 2 Brownies - a 2lber and a parr. Quick trotting session usual catch a couple and move on tactics - nice to get another decent roach from here.

River Lambourn - Newbury & Shaw 0915 - 1530 Bright and breezy with some brief showers. River quite coloured after yesterday's heavy rain - but quickly fining down. 39 Grayling; Around a third over 12oz - biggest 2, 1lb 6oz & 1lb 9oz. 7 Brownies 4 parr fish and 3 over 1lb - biggest 3lb 14oz! Default venues when the Kennet is the colour of drinking chocolate. Did have a quick look in on Northcroft Stream - but even if it had been trottable I wouldn't have been able to fish it - twas full of kayakers! Biggest grayling and big brownie both from Shaw. My biggest Lambourn lady of the season - and my biggest ever brown trout from the river. All on trotted mag. Lambourn Lady

River Lambourn - Shaw 0815 - 1145 Bright, cool and sunny. Temp up to 5ºC. River quite low as you'd expect this time of year. 31 grayling; All a decent size, nothing below a band 3 (20cm) and most 25cm+. Biggest 1lb 5oz with lots of fish an ounce or so either side of the 1lb mark. 1 trout parr. First trip to the Lambourn this winter and it didn't disappoint. Most fish (2/3rds) from the church stretch where I was also bitten off by a rather large pike!

River Lambourn - Shaw 0800 - 1100 Cold & misty/overcast. -1ºC -> 3ºC 8 Grayling - 3 'pounders', biggest 1lb 5oz, 3 Roach - biggest 1lb 6oz (!), 5 small brownies - oh and a bullhead! Slow morning, bites hard to come by - so the roach - caught almost last cast, was a real and very pleasant suprise. My biggest from this venue (don't ever remember having one worthy of the scales before)! Upto that point I was most pleased with the bullhead (!), my 1st of the season & another point for the IAC species race! Bullhead was a whopper - for the species! Close to a British Record I reckon!

River Lambourn - Newbury 1000 - 1300 River very full - carrying some colour. 2 Grayling 1lb 11oz & tiddler, 1 Roach - 10oz, 3 Brownies to 2¼lb First hour trotting bread in the hope of a nice roach - but only attracted the trout. Biggest Grayling from the Lambourn this season. Checking back in my diaries its my biggest from the Lambourn since 2003 (to the day!)

River Lambourn, Shaw. 0800 - 1045 Bright and sunny 2ºC - 8ºC. River 'full' with a merest tinge of colour. 7 Grayling - biggest 1lb 11oz, rest all sub 12oz. 1 Brown trout. Last minute change of plan - as I forgot to check the match booking sheet until I got into Newbury - so decided on Shaw (before it got too busy!) first followed by a quick jaunt to the Kennet. Biggie first fish of the morning - best grayling from the Lambourn this season.

River Lambourn - Newbury 0930 - 1315 Cold, overcast and quite breezy. AT hovering around 0ºC all day. Just warm enough not to suffer iced up rod rings. River low and clear. 17 Grayling. 9 over 1lb (!), best 3, 2lb oz (!!!), 1lb 13oz & 1lb 10oz. Cracking morning's trotting - until I got married I always went fishning on Christmas Eve! Catch a couple and move on tactics. Fish were hungry - in a couple of swims they were boiling on the surface when the freebies went in - soon got spooked when one of their brethen were hooked though! 1st 2lber from the Lambourn since Dec 2001, also lost something which was MUCH bigger and though was suspiciously barble-ly was probably a troot. Christmas Grayling

River Lambourn - Shaw 0730 - 1230 Frosty and bright start - clouding over by mid morning. 0ºC -> 6ºC. River low. 56 (!!) Grayling; 3 over 1lb - best a lovely fish of 1lb 12oz. 2 Roach (small). 8 Brownies small ( but bigger than parrs). Nice sociable session with Paul. Original plan had been to do some more prospecting for perch on the canal but the weather forecasts had been predicting a cold clear Friday morning all week - so Plan B was the ladies! Got off to a slow start and we thought we'd be off the water in under a couple of hours and moving elsewhere but then we found the fish. Usual tactics here are catch a couple and move on - but I guess because of the low water they were somewhat shoaled up - I had 22 from one spot alone. Paul managed 37 grayling and 3 trout with 4 over a pound - his best 1lb 6oz. So over 100 fish between us - a great morning's sport !!! 1-12 is my =biggest grayling from here. Pics courtesy of Paul (as per usual!)

River Lambourn - Newbury 0745 - 1115 Cool and mainly overcast. 2º -> 6ºC. River low and clear (of course!) 33 Grayling; 10 over 1lb (!) best 4, 1lb 15oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 7oz, 1lb 6oz with another dozen around the 12oz mark. 3 Brownies - all small but bigger than parrs. Christmas Eve sees the annual cleaning of my bait fridge as the maggots are served with an eviction order and the appliance is commandeered for Christmas duties. As usual for this venue it was a case of starting at the top and working my way down - fishing every likely look run - resulting in a remarkably similar return to my last visit here (see 23 November). Unlike last month though the fish were a bit more spread out - though all the 'pound plussers' came from just 3 spots - the 2 biggest from the same swim - one devoid of fish last time out though equally last months hot spot was empty. It really pays to travel light!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0830 - 1100 Mild and windy with some drizzle in the wind (Storm Dennis approaching!). River VERY full with just a hint of colour which is unusual for here. 8 Grayling; 4 'netters' biggest 2 went 1lb 7oz & 1lb 5oz. 2 Brownies - both around ½lb. This weekend had been pencilled in for months for an IAC fish-in. I'd booked Lower Itchen Fishery and filled all the places with folks coming from far and wide to attend. Unfortunately Storm Dennis had other ideas and the event was cancelled - pity as I was really looking forward to my annual late winter trip here. The day like all fish-ins' I organise these days was a charity event in memory of Paul and with no fishery to pay and most of my rods asking that their monies go straight to the charity - Storm Dennis will at least have benefitted Sue Ryder! So with the storm not quite arrived (the rain at least)and to ward off cabin fever - I sneaked a couple of hours on the Lambourn - so that I wouldn't be denied a grayling this weekend!

River Lambourn - Newbury 1100 - 1400 Cold with sunny spells. 5ºC. River very full and gin clear looked in cracking nick! 17 Grayling; 2 'pounders' biggest 1lb 7oz Usual catch a couple and move on tactics - venue was rather busy and bumped into that reprobate Rusty who was worming for roach! Had rather hoped to be fishing the Frome this weekend - alas it still has a flood warning out for the river - and here's why - somewhere just behind the tree Rusty and I caught 2lbers last winter! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101...pe=1&ref=nf Lambourn Lady

River Itchen - Twyford Meads 0800 - 1100 Itchen Navigation - Winchester 1130 - 1430 River Lambourn - Shaw - 1530 - 1700 WET. Rain, continuous, unrelenting rain. Mild - 10ºC and no wind (so that's alright then).Did I mention the rain? Twyford Meads - 9 Grayling, best 2; 1lb 5oz & 1lb 3oz the rest all small.16 Salmon Parr, 1 Brown Trout. Itchen Navigation - Blanked. Lambourn - 4 Grayling 1 small the other 3 12-14oz. 1 Brown Trout, 1¼lb Late passes granted to both Paul and I from TWMBO - but Paul's impending Grand parenthood had meant we hadn't booked in anywhere. Even 24 hours out the trip was in some doubt. In the end Paul got the all clear so we went off to explore some new water. A couple of locations we'd heard about and even done a bit of recce-ing in the past - but never fished. And Paul had an alterior motive - he needed a salmon parr for the species race he has entered this year! So 1st up was Twyford Meads - a lovely looking bit of river - though we were a bit unsure of the fishing boundaries (still are in fact). That didn't stop us and before you could say 'Here's the bailiff' Paul was landing a pound and a quarter grayling. A great start - though he wouldn't get another!!!! I was quickly into some small ladies and kept losing goodish fish before managing the 2, pounders in quick succession. Paul and I leapfrogged swims back down to the road - but pretty much the only fish that would bite were salmon parr - they were everywhere - bit like minnows in the summer - so Paul got that box ticked! 3 hours and we'd fished the length of it so it was back to the car for a coffee and some respite form the rain - before moving up to Winchester to another free stretch we'd heard about. Arriving and looking at the river didn't exactly fill us with anticipation - it is a canalised stretch of water and pretty featureless. We walked the length of it hardly dropping a float in - and it probably would have stayed that way if we didn't see some encouragement in the margins - this took the form of a dead roach - freshly dead it was a LARGE dead roach - not quite a 2 but certainly north of 1lb. The top part of the section has at least got a bit of flow and it was here we concentrated our efforts - I fished down the stretch without a bite but Paul managed a very decent lady of 1lb 11oz and lost a much bigger one. So back at the car for a late lunch, another drying out session and a debate about what to do next. Avoiding the rush hour seemed a good idea - so we headed back to Newbury to finish off with some 'easy' grayling - and maybe just maybe the rain will have passed through by then. Wrong on both counts - I only found fish in one swim and Paul didn't find fish in any and if anything the rain got even heavier! Twyford Meads

River Lambourn - Newbury 0915 - 1215 Bright, crisp and cold. -2º->3ºC. A lovely winter's morning. River low and clear (as always!) 20 Grayling; 3 over 1lb - best 2; 1lb 12oz & 1lb 10oz. 2 Dace. 4 trout parr. A great way to kill time while my car was having its MOT! Had arranged to meet up with Paul (who provided a lift back to the garage) and we leap frogged our way down the fishery - for near identical returns. Think Paul ended up with 21 grayling to 1lb 10oz (6 over 1lb) had a solitary dace and a bonus roach of 13oz. A couple of arty pics from Paul - plus a roach which looks like it's been crossed with a fantail goldfish!!!

River Lambourn - Newbury 0800 - 1245 Cold (-1º -> 4ºC) bright and sunny. River very full but clear as always! 18 Grayling with around half a dozen in the 12oz class and a couple of bigger ones to 1lb 6oz. 1 Dace; 10oz & half a dozen brownies 1 fish of a 1lb plus the rest small or parrs. Another 2 inches of rain since last weekend has really stuffed up the Kennet and with the first frost of the year there was only really one choice if I wanted to get on the bank this weekend. Seems I wasn't the only one - I encountered 8 other anglers fishing here this morning! Usual tactics of catch a couple and move on - dace was a bit of a surprise - especially the size of it.