Tracy&James | Wednesday, 17 June 2026
I'm currently suffering from a very mild case of tennis elbow which I stupidly brought about during the weekend at the Harrogate Country Sports Show. It's not bad enough to give me much in the way of discomfort, however I know that it could progress to being troublesome if I kept up my normal routine of casting practice. As such, I haven't picked up a rod since the show packed up on the Sunday.
I should point out that I didn't cause my tennis elbow by casting fly rods, no it was caused by trying to stick a whole fly line out using a garden brush! When I saw this monstrosity being 'stringed' up I actually made a comment to another caster that it was a recipe for an injury and that they shouldn't try it. But then you get a few drinks in you and suddenly it looks like too much fun not to have a go, and before you know it you're trying to cast it further than the previous victim. As you can imagine, the loops the broom produced were super pointy and I heard more than one of the casual observers commenting that we were casting it further than they could with a proper outfit. However, the day after I wished I'd stayed stood on the sidelines myself.
Unfortunately the first day of the show was a bit of a wash out due to persistent rain. The slight boredom that ensued probably contributed to the desire to have a few drinks and sling some weird outfits – the broom wasn't the only one – there was a surprisingly good bit of electrical conduit that performed well with a '170' style casting stroke and also a spatula that wasn't so great. The weather on the Sunday was much better and Nick and Chris were kept busy with a string of customers wanting tuition, including numerous juniors who received their excellent instruction for free. Although the show was principally shooting based, the organisers expressed the wish to expand it into fishing, hence the invite to the BFCC. They are aiming to grow it for next year so we'll look forward to supporting them again, hopefully surrounded by more angling activities.
This Sunday sees a new venue for a BFCC meeting – Guilsborough in Northampton. Nick and Chris suggested that there should be a casting day in the Rutland, Grafham, Pitsford triangle in the hope that it could persuade some of the reservoir anglers to come and have a go. At the last meeting, in Cheshire, there were more instructors than people wanting to improve – we're really hoping that we don't get a repeat of that. I've said on here many times previously that a BFCC day offers unrivalled value for money regarding getting top class casting tuition, whether you're an absolute beginner or an already accomplished caster looking to hone up on a few things. The weather forecast is also looking really nice for the day – probably too hot for fishing but perfect for some instruction and maybe a drinks break or two in the clubhouse.
Assuming my arm is ok, and I'm sure it will be for 'normal' casting, Tracy and I are planning to stay on after the BFCC event to fish either Rutland or Grafham. Packing our fishing gear, waders etc. will mean that the car is full to the roof, though Tracy is now pretty adept at getting everything in for such weekends; it's nice for us to combine some fishing with the casting. Hopefully this will prove to be a successful venue and it will become a permanent fixture on the BFCC calendar – as will the Harrogate show.
Hope you're having an injury free week,
James