Fly Fishing Demonstrations

Click here for the results of the 2024 BFCC Fly Casting Competition at Scone Palace.

Starting at 11am there will be six demonstrations daily on the banks of the River Tay. Demonstrators will include:

• Scott Mackenzie – Scotland and Mackenzie Rods. Scott is a Spey casting champion instructor and CEO of MacKenzie Rods.
• Will Peak – TwinPeakes. Fly fishing, Instruction and Loop Fishing Tackle
• Stuart Sutherland – FishX. Specialising in guided fishing trips for pike, perch and trout throughout Scotland.
• Jim Fearn, along with his daughter will be representing Guide Fishing tackle
• Marina Gibson will be demonstrating on the Sunday along with signing copies of her new book.
• Lucinda Ewin is a double handed casting instructor for AAPGAI and represents LTS rods

Question and Answer Sessions

There will be a twice daily questions and answer sessions, where some of our instructors, demonstrators and fly dressers will be happy to answer any specific questions that you may have. These will be at 11am and 2pm daily. An opportunity to come along and answer that question you have always had relating to fly-fishing. No matter what the species being fished for is, we will try and answer your question.

Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling will have a display and will be giving demonstrations on all three days.

Estates Challenge

The Whitehill & Paddock Estates Challenge will also take place on the Sunday. A three way competition involving eight invited Scottish Estates, who submit a team of two who will compete for the Game Fair Estates Trophy with salmon Spey casting, shooting and working dog handling.

Daily Fly Casting Competitions

There are daily fly casting competitions for anyone to enter at £5 an entry. Have a go at all three events for only £10. (Youngsters should also enter the Junior MacNab Challenge – details here.)

There will also be a daily casting competition for the under 10’s using Orvis practice rods.

Fly Casting Competitions are organised by the BFCC at the Scone Game Fair 4-6 July 2025.

Casting outfits will be provided.

BFCC Game Fair Championship

Click here for the results of the 2024 BFCC Fly Casting Competition at Scone Palace.

Competitors have to compete at three specific events during the three days.

The winners and runners-up in each category – male, female and juniors (under 18) – will win prizes and be offered the opportunity to enter the Championship grand final at The Game Fair at Blenheim Palace on Sunday 28th July.

The British Fly Casting Club says: “We’re looking forward to supporting The Scottish Game Fair and running the fly casting competitions to see who will win the overall BFCC Game Fair Championship. There’ll be some fantastic prizes for the daily winners and those entering the championship. Casting events include trout distance, trout accuracy and salmon distance. The top three winners in each category (Junior, male and female) will be given an opportunity to go to The Game Fair at Blenheim Palace to compete at the Grand Final with the winners from Blenheim.”

All 3 disciplines* are required to qualify for the Overall Championship. £10 entry charge (i.e. for all 3 disciplines). Casting outfits will be provided. Three categories: Junior (17 and under), Male & Female

Entomology and Pond Dipping in The River Tay

We will have an aquarium within the fishing control marquee and conduct a twice daily river dipping exercises in the river to identifying the insect life present. A great experience for children and adults to see what insect life is hidden under the waters of the Tay. This will be conducted by Roger Smith AAPGAI.

Roger currently assists the Nith District Salmon Fishery Board to deliver Children’s Angling Taster days and helps with the running of the Nith Young Anglers Club.

Organisers

The fishing section of the Scottish Game Fair will be run by Alberto Laidlaw, Brian McGlashan and James Murray. All are qualified casting and fly tying instructors.

Alberto Laidlaw (gameanglingscotland.co.uk) is a fully qualified casting instructor having qualified at APGAI (Association of Professional Game Angling Instructors) in three disciplines, single- handed and double-handed casting along with fly tying, and regularly instructs in all three. He is also a Level 2 coach. He started fishing as a trout and grayling angler but latterly has focused on salmon when time allows.

Brian McGlashan (flyfishscotland.co.uk) is a Double and Single handed Casting Instructor of over 20yrs. He is the European Coordinator for https://www.flyfishersinternational.org/. He is also an award winning Mentor to upcoming Instructors. Fished extensively for Salmon, but now concentrates on Trout and Grayling with a big passion in Troutspey techniques.

James Murray is a APGAI Double and Single handed casting instructor and also holds the FFI THMCI. James is a L1 Assessor on Double handed techniques. He specialises in Salmon fishing and has fished, taught and mentored throughout Europe.

He is a L2 angling coach and Mentor.

Competition Managers

Tracy Thomas: Started fly-fishing over 30 years ago after meeting her partner James, who was already into fishing. She got into fly casting distance about 13 years ago by attending a British Fly Casting Club (BFCC) event as she had started going saltwater fly fishing and needed to improve her technique for windier coastal conditions. She now helps run the BFCC and holds most of the Ladies British fly casting records. Her favourite species to fish for is bonefish, however she also loves fishing for brown trout and grayling on the Welsh rivers.

James Evans: He started fishing in the lakes and rivers of North Wales at the age of eight, over 40 years ago. James’s initial interest was catching tench and he only took up fly fishing to cover the gap during the close season when the lakes couldn’t be fished. When work took him to Southern England he switched almost exclusively to fly fishing and also discovered tropical saltwater fishing. He says: “The typical strong winds encountered on the flats convinced me that I needed to improve my casting, and I have been learning and practicing ever since. I help Tracy with the running of the BFCC.”