Beat Three

Beat Three on the East Burton Estate offers 1 mile of double-bank fly fishing on the River Frome in Dorset, on one of the most southerly chalk streams in England. The estate holds four miles of fishing split across nine beats on the main arm of the Frome, plus a network of carriers. Beat Three sits on the main river and is rated as a genuinely challenging piece of water, suited to an angler who is comfortable reading unfamiliar chalk stream and working hard for fish.

The beat carries a good head of wild brown trout, lightly supplemented by stocking, with plentiful grayling that run to over three pounds, and the chance to target salmon and sea trout in the hatch pools and runs. The season opens with a grannom hatch, followed by hawthorn, mayfly and blue-winged olives as the season progresses, with sedges rounding off the year. Mayfly hatches are excellent from mid-May until mid-June, and high summer evenings in July and August can fish surprisingly well with hatches of Pale Wateries, Blue-Winged Olives and sedges extending well into autumn. The Frome has a growing reputation as one of the best rivers in the country for big grayling, with sight nymphing the primary approach through late summer and autumn, giving way to deeper nymphing techniques in winter.

The beat is available to one or two rods on a fly-only basis, using dry fly and nymph. A 7.5ft rod with a 3 to 4wt floating line and tippet to 6x is the recommended trout outfit. A fishing hut is on site, and accommodation and a BBQ are available for those making a longer stay of it. Day tickets start at £60 during the main season. Grayling and winter rods are available from £35.