Tracy&James | Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Tracy and I are in Scotland this week ahead of this weekends Scottish game fair at Scone Palace in Perthshire. Tracy is working in the area whilst I'm just lazing around, going for walks and playing chess. I'd normally use the time Tracy is at work for Spey casting practice, however I've decided to give my hand a complete rest as things are not going well at all – pretty much all my fingers are numb.
We, along with a team of volunteers, are going to be running the fly casting competitions at Scone. These are usually extremely busy with both daily entries and championship contenders. For the daily competitions there will be the usual individual disciplines; trout distance with a #7 weight outfit, salmon distance and trout accuracy (where the rules are the casters just have to hit anywhere within the bullseye to score). Daily winners in the men's, women's and junior categories will receive some great prizes that are donated by sponsors and stallholders.
The championship, as usual, will look to find the best overall caster across all three disciplines. There are differences to the daily competitions in that the trout distance is with a #5 line on a stiff rod, the trout accuracy will be to world championship rules, and the salmon distance will be a full blown S55 outfit with mono running line (an outfit that I've cast 70m with in good conditions). I'm aware from people who have let me know that they'll be there, that this year's championship is going to be a really good one.
We are also seriously considering resurrecting the Spey casting competition which hasn't been run for a number of years. I have a suitable competition Spey outfit with me (my own), so I just need to see whether the space is suitable to allow for an angle change etc. Certainly at previous Scottish game fairs we've had people Spey casting the S55 outfit, so hopefully the demand is there. Who knows, maybe it will grow back into the kind of competition that attracts sponsorship for the prize money required to bring the serious Spey casters out of hiding.
I'm also going to introduce a special evening competition – the cack handed one (meaning non-dominant hand, not some other interpretation of meaning). Thus the cackiest caster in all of Scotland will be crowned. Obviously this is purely for selfish reasons as it may give me a chance of being competitive in something. However to avoid cheating the casters may be asked to prove they can cast further with their other hand – this will stop the left handers pretending that they're right handed and vice-versa. Actually I'm not sure whether I'd fall foul of this rule – perhaps not if I was allowed to pad the fly rod's handle out to the diameter of a drinks can before casting with my right.
If you're going to the game fair then please come and find the competition fly casting area and give it a go. Alternatively you can book a lesson with one of the many instructors who will also be in attendance. Or just pop in for a drink – Pinot Grigio for Tracy, anything but gin for me.
Have a great week, James.