Balfron Piscatorials

13/07/2026

🎣 Airflo Spring Invitational – Part 2 is now live!

After a week of practice, changing tactics, late-night debriefs and trying to crack Rutland Water, it all came down to this… match day.

In Part 2, you’ll see how our plan unfolded, the decisions we made on the water, the tactics we backed, and whether all those hours of preparation actually paid off.

It’s been a brilliant experience fishing the airflo this year, and hopefully this gives a genuine insight into what it’s like to prepare for and compete in one of the UK’s biggest fly fishing competitions.

A huge thanks again to Airflo, the organisers, everyone who helped make the event possible, and all the teams who took part. It was an unforgettable week. And massive thanks to Andy Ford Fishing for the fantastic production.

If you missed Part 1, we’d definitely recommend watching that first to see how we built our plan before match day.

Let us know in the comments… would you have stuck to the original plan, or changed tactics once the match got underway? 🎣

Part 2 of our Airflo Spring Invitational trip is here — match day a...

29/06/2026

🎣 Airflo Invitational – Rutland Water | Part 1

Something quite different from us here, we fancied filming our most recent trip down to Rutland as a real behind the scenes following the team through the practice days as we tried to work out the water, find a few fish, and put a plan together before match day.

There was plenty of graft, a lot of head-scratching, plenty of debriefs, and a fair bit of changing our minds along the way — exactly what you’d expect from a week at a venue as big and challenging as Rutland.

A big well done to all the lads for the effort put in throughout the week. It was a brilliant team effort and a great experience to be part of.

Part 2 will be the match days itself, so keep an eye out for that one.

📺 Watch Part 1 here:
https://youtu.be/UDquhgw3uMw?is=iXMHDOAwyk1DaHoC

Welcome to Part 1 of our Airflo Invitational trip at Rutland Water....

03/09/2024

Lake of Menteith 4 Man Greys Team Competition

Evening all, just a wee write up on the Greys competition at the lake. This was a 4 man team event. It was fished to international rules and mainly on a c/r basis with no bag limit.

This was an event we were all looking forward to. As we were coming into September, it was anticipated that the fishing would get better at the lake and there would be more catchable fish all over the lake, NOT just the cages😂.

Day 1 presented unfavourable conditions with sun and a decent East wind as the day progressed. Despite the challenging conditions, the Menteith Ospreys came out on top with an impressive 38 fish. We were lying 6th with a lot of work to do to even make the top 3.

The plan on day 2 was to send out two of our boats in the open water in the East basin for the whole day and target these fish on dries. The other two were to go to the Cages and grind out some fish from there. Thankfully, the plan paid off and we managed to finish in 2nd place. The methods that we used were buzzers and a fab on a tip line or dries.

A huge congratulations to the Menteith Ospreys, they all set the standard on the lake! We would also like to thank the competition organisers and the fishery staff. It’s great to see a great competition being held North of the Mince and Tattie line.

Tight lines to all for the rest of the competition calendar 🎣

19/08/2024

Scottish Open at Lake of Menteith 18/08/24

The Lake of Menteith held its annual Scottish Open competition yesterday. This is the 4th year this competition has been running and it’s always a great competition to take part in. The competition is completely c/r where you note down the time of your first two fish in the event of a tie.

Conditions on the day were windy with sunny spells- not exactly ideal conditions. Most of the boats motored to the Cages but a sprinkling went to the Roadshore and the Malling.

Top three rods on the day were:

1. Brian Kennedy 12 fish
2. Nigel Burns 12 fish
3. Robbie Gibson 11 fish

Congratulations to Brian on his win! Brian mainly fished in the Cages with Robbie. They both used a 6 foot slow midge tip and washing line tactics to catch their fish. After speaking to several people, it seemed that twiddling was the best overall method. Dries did make an appearance in the catch returns, but it didn’t seem to be a consistent method throughout the day.

We look forward to the Greys 4 man team in a couple of weeks and wish everyone the best of luck for that.

Tight lines 🎣

13/06/2024

Lake of Menteith Head of the Airflo Open (13 June 2024)

This post is a report on today’s success in the Airflo Open. We were absolutely delighted to get a 1st place finish in our heat. All the lads caught well on the methods found in practice. Our best methods were: various CDCs on the top and pulling dabblers and bo***es on sinking lines. None of us really cracked the usual twiddling game in practice.

In general, olive in various shades seemed to be a standout colour. Most areas produced fish for the team and other competitors throughout practice and in the competition.

Well done to all the other qualifiers in the heat! Also a “thank you” to Airflo and their team for setting up a great competition! The Lake is fishing really well just now and it’s reflected in the catch returns.

Tight lines 🎣🎣

09/06/2024

Saturday 8th of June 2024- Scottish Club Championships Heat 5 (Lake of Menteith)

Afternoon folks, just a post regarding last nights heat of the Scottish Clubs at the Lake of Menteith.

With the team being faced with windy conditions upon arrival it was always going to be tricky. We utilised slow sinking tip lines with a fab on the point and cormorant patterns on the droppers.

Our main areas were Gateside Bay, Malling Shore and the Road Shore with a good head of fish in each of these areas.

Congratulations to Gordon, Bob and Bradie who finished top spot on the night as well as taking the top 3 individual placings! We would also like to congratulate the other teams on the night who qualified Leslie and Glenrothes AC, Black Bull FF, and Balbeggie AC! 🎣

We would also like to thank all of the SANACC officials for running another great match last night. It is very much appreciated the time the officials give up to run these events!

02/06/2024

Saturday 1st of June 2024- Scottish Club Championships Heat 4 (Lake of Menteith)

Hi folks, just a post regarding last nights heat of the Scottish Clubs at the Lake of Menteith. At the start of the night conditions were bright with a steady ripple so the first few hours were sure to be a bit tricky.

The tactics we employed were slow sinking tip lines with a fab on the point and changing between nymphs and cormorants on the droppers. As the sun started to drop a bit and conditions got a bit duller a switch to dries brought the team a few extra fish.

Our main areas were the top end of cages, the burnmouth and there was also a good head of fish on the malling shore.

Congratulations to Glencoe FF who put in an impressive performance to take 1st place and to FNF Falcons, and Port Glasgow A who also qualified last night! 🎣

We would also like to thank all of the SANACC officials for running another great match last night!

23/05/2024

Last weekend two of the team fished Clywedog. The fishing was incredible and big numbers were caught. Main areas were the cove in the Elbid basin, the Cages and the small dam up the top end of the lake.

Successful methods were the b**g, dries, nymphing on slow tips and bo***es on a di8. A couple of nice browns were also caught. We also managed to catch a couple of “Spartic” trout.

We highly recommend visiting Clywedog and would recommend the Hafren Forrest Hideaway for accommodation.

10/05/2024

Hi folks, just a wee post in relation to the Scottish National Heat. Yesterday Bradie and Robbie fished Lintrathen and both managed to qualify for the Semi-final in tough conditions and in a very good field of anglers.

Well done to all the other qualifiers and especially to the Menteith Ospreys for collectively qualifying in that heat. It must also be said that the SANACC officials are absolutely critical to our competition scene and are greatly appreciated for the time and effort they put in by all competitors.

Conditions on the day of the heat were far from perfect- bright sunshine and windy. We both put in a lot of practice and were confident that we would manage to qualify for the Semi-final.

The tactics that we used were either a Slow Glass 40 plus or slow sinking midge tips. B***y or fab on the point and nymphs/cormorants on the droppers. The main fish holding areas were: Stockie Bay, Back of the Island and the Sawmill Bank.

To end on a slightly negative note, it must be said that Lintrathen has the potential to become a great fishery. However, the lack of stocking for the size of it and the temperamental engines on the boats prevent it from becoming a “go to” fishery for everyone.

Bradie and Robbie are off to Clywedog next week for some good fishing and a few well deserved 🍺. Tight lines everyone 🎣.

Fario Sunburst Candy B***y
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-sunburst-candy-man-booby.html

Fario Sunburst & Chartreuse FAB
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-sunburst-and-chartreuse-fab.html

Fario Red Holo Ice Dub Cormorant
https://www.anglingactive.co.uk/fario-red-holo-ice-dub-cormorant.html