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River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1400 Mild, overcast and very windy! AT 11º-13ºC. River still very pacey with a little colour but well within its banks at last. 1.16m on the E Stoke gauge still higher than I would have liked but lowest since early autumn! 11 Grayling: 7 over 1lb - best: 1lb 10oz, 1lb 8oz, 1lb 7oz. 1 Trout - small. 6 Salmon parr. 2 trip of the season to Dorset - and looking at the forecast for the next week probably my last - heavy rain will stuff the river up for several weeks again. Wind made fishing a bit of a challenge at times, it was straight downstream in most swims - in fact actually standing up in the stronger gusts was a bit of a challenge at times!! Most grayling from one swim which I kept resting and returning to. Sign on Wool bridge - might amuse some of my readers - Martin?

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1400 Cold with unbroken bright sunshine. AT when I started was -6ºC warming to a balmy 5ºC when I packed up. River high - barely within its banks, VERY pacey and quite clear (though not as clear as the Kennet ATM!). 1.36m on the East Stoke river gauge (highest I've ever fished the Frome). 7 Grayling: the two that went on the scales went 1lb 13oz & 1lb 6oz the others all around 12oz. 1 Sea trout - circa 2lb +. The river gauges on the Frome have been registering levels above the top of 'normal range' since mid-October - until Tuesday of this week. With more rain forecast for the weekend plans were changed and a trip to Dorset was hastily arranged in case this was my only chance to actually use my DDAS ticket this year (the Frome season only runs from Nov - Feb). In truth there was still way too much water than I would have liked and I suspected it would be a bit of a struggle. Actually trotting a line was the biggest challenge for the first couple of hours, with the line freezing in the ferrules between each cast I was mightly pleased when air temps lifted into positive territory. Those 2 hours produced just 1 modest grayling from the fastest stretch so I spent the rest of the session below Wool (old) bridge where the water is a bit deeper (and slightly calmer). This second half was topped and tailed by the bigger grayling and the sea trout which stayed deep and had me convinced I was into a really big lady - ho hum!

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1345 Bright, milky sunshine - very cold start - the thaw arrived mid morning - which I was very thankful for - line freezing in the ferrules had made for a tough couple of hours prior to that. AT -6ºwhen I arrived ->+6ºC when I drove off. River at normal levels - 1.05m at the East Stoke gauge. 13 Grayling: 8 over a lb - the 3 I weighed went 1lb 14oz & 2 X 1lb 10oz (different fish!) most of the others lbers around 1lb 6oz. 3 Trout - a lber, one half that and a parr. Last minute decision to go - based on tomorrow's forecast for wind and rain. Lovely bit of river and worth the long journey - even if I didn't quite get the hoped for 2lber. Most fish from just 1 swim - which I rested for a couple of hours whilst I fruitlessly searched the upper part of the fishery for another hotspot - though there were 4 other anglers on the beat - which wouldn't have helped the quest! Nearly a 2 - a very chunky fish, similar in length to my 1-12 from the Lambourn last weekend but much stockier!

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1430 Bright and sunny. Cool 3º-6ºC. River bank high - but not in the fields any more! Still with a slight tinge of colour. 1.27m on the E Stoke river guage (I've only fished the river once before when it's been this high!). 14 Grayling; 9 over a lb. Best 4: 1lb 12oz, 1lb 13oz, 2lb 0oz, 2lb 2oz. 4 Brownies; a 3lber, another half that and a couple of smalluns. 1 Sea Trout; 1½lb - a bar of silver - still covered in sea lice! The Frome coarse season is only 4 months (Nov - Feb) and for most of the last 2 months it has been well over the banks and only been remotely fishable in the last week or so. The river was still very pacey and today's tactics were about finding slightly quieter water. All fish from just 4 swims with 2 of them producing nice ladies after lengthy rests. I also spent nearly ¼hr connected to a decent salmon! I'd started to get the better of it and was wondering how the hell I was going to get it in the net when the hook pulled. Next trot through and it took my maggot again resulting in another 5 minute battle - with the same result ! Nice to see some large ladies returning - not had a 2lber from here since 2019.

Dorset Frome - Wool 0730 - 1400 Clear frosty start with rod rings icing up for the first hour or so - proper grayling weather! Sunny morning, clouding over by lunchtime. AT -1º -> 11ºC. River at near normal winter levels - 1.01m on the East Stoke gauge. 9 Grayling; 3 'gooduns', biggest 1lb 11oz. 8 Brownies - all around 6-8oz. A scratchy sort of day on a venue that is never prolific (but which can throw up some huge ladies which is why I keep coming back!) most fish from just a couple of spots - rest and return being the order of the day! There was meant to be a rare pic of me actually holding (well juggling) a fish. I was chatting to another member when I hooked the biggest one of the day - and he kindly landed it for me and offered to take our portrait - he said he took several shots - but there were none on the camera when I got it home this evening! Thankfully his netsmanship was better than his photography!

River Frome - Wool 0745 - 1500 Cool, bright (too bright!) and very breezy. River very low (lowest I've ever seen it). 56cm@ East Stoke. 19 Grayling; 7 over 1lb, best 1lb10oz. 1 Dace, 9oz, 7 Brownies. A bit of a struggles in challenging conditions - though the lure of a 3lb grayling will keep me coming back here! Fish very spooky in the low water so it paid to rest 'hot spots'. Dace was a nice bonus.

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1700 Cool and overcast. AT 1ºC -> 5ºC. River clear with normal flow and levels. 5 Grayling; 2lb 12oz, 2lb0oz and 3 tiddlers. 2 Brownies; 1 parr and a ¾lber. A day in Dorset with Rusty. This was another 'delayed decision' trip firstly because the forecast kept changing and secondly because of the forecast snow overnight potentially making the drive down problematic. However I judged that the river would be OK and this was the clincher. If Chris could get to me conditions should improve as we drove south. And so it proved - the dodgiest bit was a mere 400m from my house with Chris's car slewing across the road as he pulled into my lane. (Maybe I should have warned him about that! ) By lunchtime I was begining to wonder why we'd bothered. For a winter's day conditions appeared to be close to ideal - though maybe the overnight snow had put the fish off. Whatever, we struggled - big time. By noon I'd winkled out a tiny trout, and grayling barely any bigger (oh, and a minnow!). Chris was waiting for his first bite. I even (horrror of horrors ) but a feeder rod out for an hour while I had my lunch. (Chris captured the rare moment on camera so its not deniable ). This resulted in.....another minnow Chris meanwhile had covered every inch of the venue but was still biteless though I thoroughly admired his optimism when we strolled back up to the top of the venue at 2 o'clock. "Over 3 hours of daylight left - still plenty of time" he exclaimed - though for the next hour it was business as usual save for another micro-grayling that 'fell' to my rod. At around 3.00pm the sun came out and I said - more in hope than expectation - that the sudden change in light levels might wake the fish up. Prophetic words. I was first into a fish - suddenly shocked to be connected to something large I gingerly walked down to the fish - shouting for Chris to grab the net - preying it would stay on. Thankfully it did and I was soon juggling a large stroppy grayling on the bank. We both guessed at a big 1 - but I wasn't going to argue when the needle on my scales hovered bang on 2lb. Incredibly within 15 minutes I was returning the favour for Chris - who had dropped into the swim above me as I'd said it had produced for me in the past. Another big fish which like mine hung in the water and saved most of it fight for on the bank! Bigger than mine by an ounce - I was mightly relieved - incredibly we'd now both caught 2's. Despair to joy in under 20mins. My swim wasn't finished with me - another small grayling and a splashy trout followed before I connected with something really impressive which shot downstream into a riffle. Thankfully I had an able ghilly to call on who managed to get below it in the fast water and net it for me. This looked a lot bigger and Chris was muttering 3 as I put it on the scales, though having seen Paul's 2-15 3 weeks ago I knew this wasn't as big but at 2lb 12oz its my 3rd= biggest - and a great way to end the day - alls well that ends well! PS 3 weeks ago when I fished here it was to the sounds of sirens and police helicopters on a man hunt. This time it was to the sound of gun fire as the British Army shot up the Dorset countryside (the firing ranges are nearby!) Nice peaceful venue this! Pics on Chris's camera - so they will probably appear on his blog! And here they are... http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Frome-T...7-entry842.html

River Frome - Wool. 0815 - 1415 Mild (14ºC), Overcast with drizzle at times and blowing an absolute hoolie (downstream). East Stoke river gauge 97cm. 33 Grayling. 16 over 1lb, with 4 over 2lb (though not by much) biggest 2lb 3oz. 3 Brownies, 1 'pounder' and 2 parrs. Bit of a gamble which paid off handsomely - my best ever return from this water - in terms of overall numbers - good to see a whole range of fish sizes too. After yesterday's rain it was touch and go whether I'd go - but the plan was get up early - check the East Stoke river gauge and go back to bed if need be. As it turned out it had only risen 5cm overnight and was already starting to drop so it wasn't long before I was heading off for a Little Chef Brekkie en route. Fish to maggot and corn (dyed orange and soaked in salmon oil) in roughly equal number. 3 of the 2lbers on corn though the biggest was on maggot. Surprising how often switching bait resulted in bites returning - would fish for 20mins or so on one bait - get a fish or two (and bump a fish or 2 as well!) until the bites dried up - switching often brought instant success in a swim I'd have other wise rested. Lost a really substantial fish when it belted down the shallows and I ran out of bank chasing it downstream...

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1500 Bright and sunny after a frosty and misty start. River in great nick - clear with good pace - 0.94cm on the East Stoke river gauge. 10 Grayling; Half over a lb. Best 3; 2lb 3oz, 1lb 11oz, 1lb 9oz. 1 Sea Trout; c2lb.1 Salmon parr, 1 Trout parr. A 'sparkly' day in Dorset which got off to a real flyer - with the biggest 3 grayling listed above all on the bank by 0830!. Once the sun was up for the day the fishing turned into a bit of a grueller, catching wise - though was a very pleasant days angling in the sun. First time I've actually caught on sweetcorn from here too - so the experiment of soaking orange corn in salmon oil met with limited success (I had 2 fish on it - though the 2lber was on maggot). In the past the Frome fish have turned their noses up at my red corn (which catches me plenty of fish on the Itchen) so today was an opportunity to try something different.

River Frome - Wool 0815 - 1445 Bright and sunny with a cool breeze. River in good flow but quite coloured up. River gauge at East Stoke 0.90m 10 Grayling; 7 over 1lb - best 3; 2lb 13oz, 2lb 2oz, 1lb 12oz. 4 Brownies - 3 over 1lb - biggest just under 4lb, 1 Salmon Parr. After last winter I was determined to get down to Dorset at the first opportunity - even if conditions were likely to be sub-optimal. Which certainly was the case. There was a lot more colour in the river than I would have liked and after a couple of hours I was beginning to think it was a wasted journey. I had caught by then - a small grayling in the first 10 mins was followed by not a lot else. And by now the place was heaving with other anglers also making the most of a lovely autumn day. Most like me were roaming so all the swims on the top beat quickly had a visit - so imagine my surprise at dropping into a recently vacated swim and getting a 2lb 13oz grayling within 5 mins!! The next hour in the same spot produced the 2nd and 3rd biggest of the day along with another pounder and a trout. Hooray! My 3rd= biggest ever lady and justification for getting up at 0500 on a sunday! After lunch was spent exploring the lower beat - one that I rarely visit - but I also reasoned there wouldn't be many others either (Rusty called this beat the wilderness due to it lack of features - and lack of fish!) I didn't quite have the beat to myself - but spoke to a couple of anglers who had been catching regularly. I dropped in downstream and soon snaffled a couple of grayling but thereafter kept hooking trout - including the biggie and a couple more which got off - one after doing quite a bit of aerobatics! As ever trying to take a picture of a grayling is akin to trying to give a cat a pill. This was the best of around half a dozen - but is still flicking its tail....

River Frome, Worgret & Wool. 0730 - 1030 - Worgret 1100 - 1500 - Wool. Mild and breezy. Overcast am. Mainly sunny pm. River very coloured but well within its banks. (Not at all what I was expecting!!!) 4 Grayling; 2lb 11oz, 1lb 4oz, 12oz & a tiddler. 1 Dace; 10oz. 6 Brownies - most quite small. 1 Sea trout - 1¼lb. A couple of new venues for this winter and a river I've been wanting to fish for AGES! So some new waters to learn - and the 1st part of my education was in misreading what the state of the river would be!! My heart sank when I saw the colour of it. The game keeper informed me that it wasn't like your typical chalkstream - and coloured up quickly after rain. Still he was quite chatty and pointed out a couple of hotspots - one of which produced the dace and both of which I want to revisit when the water is clear! BTW - I can't remember the last time I was asked for my permit on my usual club waters - yet get asked for it within ½hr of starting here! I was hopeful that further upstream at Wool would be less turbid - and so it proved. Still very sub optimal - but not quite as hopeless as where I'd started. Bites still at a premium but slowly they came - lost a really good fish when the maggot bent over the hook point - and next cast caught the sea trout - still with lice on it. 1st grayling of the afternoon was the tiddler, followed by some trout of similar size - but then I hit the jackpot with the big un giving a bloddy hearstopping fight - it jumped - twice! So, bit of a hard slog - but I've seen enough to want to go back!!! Edit - this site will prove very useful in the coming months...just upstream of where I started on Sunday... http://www.farsondigitalwatercams.com/live...me/Holmebridge/ 2lb 11oz of grayling - my 4th= biggest. Wool Bridge

River Frome - Wool 0745 - 1445 Bright and sunny and VERY breezy - lashing rain for 1st hour! River low and clear. 11 Grayling; 3 smalluns - all the others between 1lb 9oz - 2lb 2oz (2X2lbers). 1 Dace (small). 9 Trout (all small). 1 Salmon 4½lb, 1 Salmon parr. A challenging session due to the strong downstream wind - made presentation a nightmare and I must have spent half the session with my float waving around in the sky everytime I tried to rebait. No surprise that my 2 biggest ladies came in the first hour when it was cloudy (and wet! ) Salmon fight was, err, interesting and it had obviously found a taste for maggot as it had another angler's hook in its scissors - with maggots still attached! Was briefly connected to a MUCH bigger salmon - which thankfully got off! Had wanted to try and find a few dace on this trip - but a couple of hours fishing the supposed right area produce just one smallun.

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1645 Overcast, mild and breezey (rather too breezey at times). River clear and quite low. 16 Grayling; best 3 1lb 11oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 9oz. The rest mostly small. 5 Brownies - most small with a couple of pounders. Ever since my first visit here in November I've been bending Paul's ear to come and join me - and the premise of a belated birthday trip was the perfect excuse. However work (his) threatened to get in the way and we only decided to go yesterday. Fortunately DDAS are rather more forward looking than a lot of angling clubs - and a simple paypal transaction resulted in Paul's Guest Ticket being emailed to me within 5 minutes of payment - I was very impressed. So a quiet day by the river in deepest Dorset!! You gotta be kidding - the morning was as if Armegedon had started. Numerous fire engines, dozens of police cars and a ruddy police helicopter hovering overhead for 2 hours. We were checked out a number of times - with police cars pulling up - and in one case crossing the field towards us. Most surreal was when we moved 400m upstream and the helicopter followed us!!!! Once home it all became clear! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-16650234 The morning's fishing was pretty uneventful - at least for me. We started off in what I'd boldly said were banker swims - as they had produced 2lbers on my previous trips in November - so of course we struggled. I was really keen for Paul to catch as I'd persuaded him into this jaunt - and thankfully he scored the only success of the morning with a very fat lady of 2lb 3oz - A fish that made fools of both of us as we estimated it at much bigger. There was no mistaking the size of Paul's next biggie though!! After lunch we had moved downstream and whilst I was saying we might have a chance of dace here Paul started to catch grayling. A tiddler was followed by a 1-10 fish. He then connected with something that he annouced was a trout. However from my vantage point I could see from the first flash of the fish in the clear water that this was a grayling - and a rather special one at that!!! Acting as netsman I managed to net it first pass - And we were quickly guessing its credentials - a 3? My guess was a modest 2-14 - I was an ounce out; both sets of scales registered an ounce below the magic 3lb mark. Still an awesome grayling and a new PB for Paul. Things then started to look up for me too - and I started to get amongst the grayling - they had obviously moved down into the deeper water. Paul had the last say though with a third and final 2lber. I don't think I'll need tooooo much persuasion for a return visit next year!!! The 'Banker' swim - no fish here! Top of the fishery looking down to where Paul got off the mark! Paul's First 2 of the day... Woolbridge Manor (Wellbridge House in Tess of the D'Urbervilles) Paul's clonker - 2lb 15oz. I get in on the act at last. Paul perfects the ancient art of grayling juggling with his 3rd, 2 of the day. Sunset over Wool Bridge.

River Frome, Wool 0830 - 1500 Cold and overcast - max 2ºC with a raw northerly wind. River high with a little colour (more than the Kennet!) but within its banks (at last!). EA Gauge at East Stoke 1.14m 7 Grayling - best 3; 2lb 9oz, 2lb 2oz & 2lb0oz, 1 Sea trout; 1¼lb. First Frome trip of the season and given the season on this bit of river closes on 28th Feb, my last! All winter it looked highly improbable that I'd get to fish it at all - but thankfully this latest cold snap has at least been dry and the river has dropped over a foot in the last fortnight - making it fishable at last. Conditions weren't exactly easy though and for a couple of hours it looked like a wasted journey as I couldn't buy a bite. The third swim I dropped in looked a nice pool - which last year in lower conditions I didn't even look at. After 15mins I bumped a fish here - progress, and shortly after had one of a pound and a half. I'd found some fish and it was time to put a little plan into action! Yesterday when I went to pick up my bait, Tony was showing me some artificial rubber wasp grubs. We both agreed they looked and felt like the the real thing. Tony went on to say they were coming on the market in the spring - but in a fit of generosity for which he is famous - he gave me one! I think the chub will go crazy for them and can't wait to give them a go in earnest next winter. But would the grayling like them? Only one way to find out - I snicked it onto my size 16 and blow me if first trot through the swim the float buried in the same place I had the first one and a 2lber was brought to the net. 20 mins later and I repeated the trick with another 2! Another 20 mins or so later and yet another 2 - this time the biggest of the morning fell to the same tactics! Think we might be onto a winner with this!!! I only found fish in one other swim - and that just one - on conventional red maggot - but returning to this pool for one final time with my trusty rubber grub produced a bright silver and very acrobatic sea trout. So quite hard going overall - but can't complain with my biggest grayling of the season AND a succesful experiment. Best of the day! Today's hotspot. Bait du Jour - Look out for them in the shops soon!

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1600 Cloudy, windy with bands of rain. At least it was very mild at 11ºC ALL day. River very low (63cm at East Stoke a foot down on when I came in November). 8 grayling - only one over 1lb (and not by much). 3 brownies to 1¼lb, 1 sea trout and 4 salmon parr. Ahh - the perils of relying on the 5 day weather forecast for making your fishing plans! As late as Monday night every forecaster I looked at was predicting a benign week with quiet weather into the weekend. That started to change 24 hours later when 'light rain' appeared on the forecast for Dorset. By then plans were already firmly in place - Guest Ticket acquired and we were committed to go!! In truth we didn't get as much rain as the forecast I saw over a very early morning coffee predicted - but we did get a lot of wind - downstream and across to the near bank it made the fishing very tricky and presentation very problematical. However when I slipped the net under my first grayling of the day - a fish of a pound or so - little did I think it would be my biggest of the trip!! Like Paul I caught the odd fish or two from nearly every swim I tried but the big ladies eluded me. The only time I hooked a really good fish ended with the fish wriggling off - a maggot bent double over the hook point the cause of my grief. Thankfully Paul fared a little better than me ending the day with 14 grayling with a number of pounders to just under 1½lb. He also managed a nice dace of 9oz. A couple of Paul's fish: The swim where I 'lost' my biggie! Windswept Frome

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1630 Very mild (14ºC), overcast and quite breezy with the very occasional drizzly flurry. NOT at all what was forecast - which was pretty much rain all day! River quite pacey (0.97m at East Stoke river gauge) and carrying a bit more colour than I'd have liked. 14 Grayling; 8 over 1lb (6over 1½lb). Best 3; 1lb14oz, 2lb0oz, 2lb1oz. 2 Dace; best 10oz. 1 Roach; 9oz. 9 Brownies to 2¼lb. 3 Salmon parr. A trip that we nearly aborted at the last minute due to an increasingly dismal forecast but because little rain had fallen in the run up to the trip we decided to chance it. As it turned out the river was in a slightly worse state than we expected while the weather was way better - in fact we got the weather that had been forecast on the Wednesday when I bought Paul's guest ticket! As ever though the Frome makes you work hard for your fish - and Paul and I caught slowly and steadily throughout the day. I had way too many trout - many of them doing a good impression of a big grayling in the fast current - so I was repeatedly disappointed to see a spotty flank when I got a fish on the surface. I'd heard of some nice dace showing - and they were very much a secondary target after the grayling. A first for me was one of my grayling (a fish of 1-10) sicking up a half digested bullhead in the net! First time I've ever seen evidence that they predate on smaller fish (and this bullhead wasn't a whole lot smaller than its mouth)! Apart from the brownies I think Paul had a near identical return - a dozen grayling to 2lb 1oz (not the same fish as mine!) and a brace of 10oz dace. As ever grayling will simply refuse to pose for a photo - my 2-01 in mid flick! My other 2 behaved itself just long enough for Paul to get a shot off! Cut off Oxbow. Last year this was bank - from the grasses in the bottom left corner - out to the island - last winter's floods have created a short cut! Compare with this picture taken last December - where I'm standing is now the middle of the river!

River Frome - Wool 0830 - 1600 Cold, and very bright with everything white in a very heavy hoar frost - very picturesque. -3ºC -> +3ºC - though in negative territory for most of the day (certainly all morning) by the way the line was freezing in the ferrules. River looked in good nick - down a few inches on our last trip in Nov (85cm by the East Stoke gauge) 11 grayling: 4 over 1lb - 2lb 0oz, 1lb 13oz, 1lb 10oz, 1lb 3oz. Bit of a grueller of a session. Bites at a real premium - especially in the morning - though I did get my 2 early doors. 7 fish in the last hour and a half resulted in a slightly more respectable final total. Paid to rest swims and revisit - which resulted in a LOT of walking - good a way as any to stay warm - though in the sun we were really quite toasty for most of the day. We did blame the bright conditions for the lack of action - but then learnt it had been heavily fished the day before - so we're blaming that!Paul struggled too and I think ended up with half a dozen - with nothing over 1¼lb gracing his net. Frosty Frome. Hoar Frost 2lb lady!

River Frome - Wool 0815 - 1515 Cool, overcast with a stiff and very chilly easterly breeze. AT 1-6ºC. River still dropping and a little coloured. East Stoke EA Gauge reading 1.12m. 19 Grayling; 5 'pounders' to 1lb 8oz. 1 Brownie. Penultimate day of the season and at last the river has dropped enough to gamble on a visit. The river has fallen from a high of 1.49m (as measured at E Stoke) in the last 10 days - though was still carrying a bit more colour than I would have liked. As it turned out it was still a bit of a struggle though it got off to a good start with the 1½lb fish in the first 10 minutes - pity I didn't better it and it also turned out to be the only fish I caught on corn all day - all the others falling to maggot. Last swim of the day produced 9 fish in the last hour bringing up a respectable final tally (though I was greeted with 'That's a long way to catch tiddlers!' by my wife when I arrived home!) Spot the Float!

River Frome - Wool 0730 - 1330 Overcast with a cool easterly breeze - brightening up as I packed up. River low with (dropped over 40cm since last weekend) 67cm on the East Stoke River Gauge. 7 Grayling; 3 over 1lb went 2lb 5oz, 2lb 1oz, 1lb 8oz. 1 Bream 7lb 14oz (!), 1 Roach 8oz, 6 Brownies - all quite small. I ummed and ahhhed about renewing my DDAS card this winter - the last 2 seasons have been very scratchy and its a long way to travel to catch grayling that I could catch within 10 miles of home... Reports from this season (the venue opens on 1st Nov) also weren't hopeful - but I reasoned that last weekend's flush through might have livened things up a bit - and so it proved. It's never a prolific venue but thankfully 2 of my first 3 grayling were the 2lbers. Both caught on trotted orange corn that had been soaked in salmon oil, I reason that they're a good imitation for salmon eggs - whatever I have confidence in it as a bait. Bream also caught on it - and not entirely a surprise as a 7lb+ slab came out a couple of winters ago - and I was talking to its captor not 20 mins before landing my bream (probably the same fish!). ps How did the demise of Little Chef pass me by - both of my options for an Olympic breakfast are now Subways - despite still being advertised on the Little Chef website - the Bere Regis one even boasts as having been refurbished. Had to make do with a cheese and bacon melt - not happy!

River Frome - Wool 0800 - 1530 Bright and sunny - quite warm (16ºC) for Feb despite a frosty start. River quite full (1.06m at E stoke) and a little coloured. 7 Grayling - 4 over 1lb best 2lb 1oz & 1lb 11oz. 2 Trout (both sub 1lb) and a Salmon Parr. Sparkly day in Dorset with bites at a premium - especially in the morning - when I broke for lunch I had just 3 modest sized grayling to my name - but returning to the 2 swims that produced them resulted in better sport in the afternoon. Few other anglers which was a surprise for the last Sunday of the season here.

River Frome - Wool 0745 - 1345 Cool and quite bright for most of the day. River at normal levels - 0.72cm at E Stoke. 9 Grayling; 7 over 1lb to 1lb 10oz. 2 Brownies to circa 1lb. 1 Salmon Parr. Started with a bit of a grueller - no fish of note at all for the first 3 hours. Moved to some swims I'd never fished before at the venue and thankfully found a few ladies - nothing approaching 2lb alas - but quite a few in the 20oz class.

River Frome - Wool ​0745 - 1500 ​Mild, sunny spells interspersed with fine drizzle. VERY windy! At 10ºC. ​6 Grayling: 5 over 1lb - all between 1lb 4oz - 1lb 11oz. 2 Small trout. River at 'normal' levels with a bit of colour. 92cm at East Stoke. ​Last weekend of the season here and it was a bit of a slog in challenging conditions - wind in particular was very strong and downstream in most swims. Bites at a real premium, but thankfully usually resulted in a half decent (and very fat) grayling.

​River Frome - Wool ​0800 - 1400 ​Cool, and murky! River at normal levels with a tinge of colour (more than I expected to see! 74cm at East Stoke river gauge. ​8 Grayling; all 'netters' with 6 over 1lb - biggest 1lb 9oz. 4 Trout: to 1½lb. ​Slow day in Dorset. Bites at a premium - in fact was fishing for nearly 3 hours before I had my first fish. All ladies were of a nice stamp though was hoping for something a little bigger. Main excitement of the morning was being briefly connected to a goodish salmon - rather relieved when it threw the hook!