Tracy&James | Wednesday, 23 April 2025
The last few weeks have been pretty hectic. Just before we flew out to the Bahamas, we entered the UK Fly Casting Championships in Haverigg, Cumbria. As expected, it was a very windy experience, though the mornings were often calmer and we did get some sunshine. The weather turned out to be very helpful as I managed to break the women's ST27 record. I also extended my accuracy record slightly, though I am hoping for slightly calmer conditions on future trips so I can get this record nearer to my British (BFCC) record.
Of the events, two include Spey distance, for which I am a complete beginner, so having to cast in gale-like conditions was not pleasant and Steve P offered to second me to help me get 'legal casts'. With his help, I managed to do this and made one or two decent (for me) Spey casts, though I definitely need more practice. We plan to hold Spey comps at the two Game Fairs we are supporting in July, so I can keep practising to compete at those.
The UK Champs was run so all competitors cast twice in each event; the first towards the Overall Championship and the second being the final to win and become the UK Champ for each event. The Overall Champ was determine by a % scoring system, where the furthest distance gained 100% and all others were a % of that distance/score.
Overall I managed to retain my UK Championship, with a good margin over second place, winning 4 out of the 6 events. Not too bad considering I am still struggling with my injured knee. Stewart Ross and John Reynolds fought for the UK Senior Championship. John had a good accuracy score and beat Stewart by a large margin, whereas Stewart beat John in the Trout distance with a very close result. Stewart won the S55g and John the ST27, but they were very close. Going into day 3, John was in the lead in the overall championships. It all came down to the Spey events. Stewart, who is a competitive caster in the event having been a medal winner in the Worlds and also a competitor at Spey-O-Rama, edged a significant margin and would have been third if he had competed with the younger men. In the end, there was only 4% between them, with Stewart retaining his UK Championship.
For the men's champs, Blaine Lyon dominated the whole weekend, with several records and amazing distances. Blaine is an fantastic caster and certainly has a huge potential for more championship wins, though his younger brother, Beck, is certainly going to push him based on his great distance results; not bad considering he was casting with an injured ankle. Blaine won the Overall UK Championship with a perfect 600%, followed by his Dad, Kirk, then Steve P and then Beck. James did well coming second in the finals of three events, trout distance, trout accuracy and ST27. Steve P was also pleased that he won the S55g event final (the only final where Blaine was beaten) and is now the UK S55g champion.
Much thanks go to Lee, Ang, Kirk and Joanne for running the competitions in not so great weather conditions and persevering even though at times it was very cold and on one afternoon, being absolutely soaked due to the persistent rain. It was lovely to catch up with everyone and we all had a great time drinking in the Ski bar. Look forward to catching up again soon, hopefully at the GFs.
After this comp, it was a mad rush to pack and get everything ready. Then we started the holiday in great form, catching lots of bones in very windy conditions. James won the first bone of the trip award – just five minutes before I got my first bone, although mine was probably a little bigger - LOL. Then on day four, James had his accident and since then we've been managing the situation. After a few days to recover, he spent a day or two as my 'ghillie' so I could bonefish without carrying my gear – it was lovely. The he started to cast left-handed and is now doing pretty well considering it's very windy here.
We've had more days off than we would normally do on these holidays, so I have managed to do some admin for the BFCC. Hence there are now five meetings organised and we are sorting arrangements for the Game Fair comps too.
MAY 24th (SATURDAY) - Stothert & Pitt Rugby Club, Bath, Somerset
JUNE 8th (SUNDAY) - Willesborough CC, Ashford, Kent
JUNE 22nd (SUNDAY) - Dodleston Sports Field, near Chester, Cheshire
JULY 4-6 - Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace Parklands, Perthshire
JULY 25-27 - Ragley Game Fair at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire
TBD (TBD) - Scotland (TBD, but probably near Glasgow)
AUGUST 2nd (SATURDAY) - Ashford in the Water CC, near Bakewell, Derbyshire
SEPTEMBER TBD - Jersey, Channel Islands (specific location TBC)
OCTOBER 4th (SATURDAY) - Bentley CC, Brentwood, Essex
James has put out a request for feedback on how we run the British Championship this year. Currently the responses have mainly been from the 'senior' community, so it looks as if one of the changes will be to introduce a Senior British Championship, though the age it starts at needs some consideration – 60, 65 or 67 are the current options being proposed.
Whatever you are doing, tight-lines
Cheers
Tracy