PITLOCHRY ANGLER and fly-tyer Ally Gowans could not complain there was a fly in his pint yesterday—he put it there himself.

But Ally did it the hard way at a preview of this weekend’s Game Conservancy Scottish Fair at Scone Palace, by casting into the beer from 20 yards.

For a rod, he used a walking stick with two rod rings tied to it.

Ally will be one of the experts giving instruction and exhibitions at the fair, now in its 19th year.

The three-day event starts today, and is expected to attract more than 30,000 people from all over the country.

As well as Fisherman’s Row and Gunmaker’s Row, the fair attracts some of the top names to the food hall showcasing the best of products from Scotland and beyond, while the craft fair is another popular venue.

There are more than 30 trade stands ranging from overseas holidays to the latest gear for falconers.

New this year will be a display on coracle-building, and revolutionary fly rods made from carrot-derived fibres.

The fair’s organisers had an early taste of what the weather can offer thanks to a seven-foot spate on the River Tay.

It washed away some of the causeways built across a backwater to take competitors to the island for some of the gun dog competitions, but they have now been reinstated.

As always, the fair has a strong conservation message from organisers the Game Conservancy Trust, and this year the central theme is “planning for partridges,” with their stand highlighting the habitat of the grey partridge.

Chairman Ian McColl stressed the importance to the rural economy of field sports and bio-diversity, with the SEERAD rural land working group taking the opportunity to launch a new leaflet on biodiversity and sporting enterprises.

The fair will also host a wide range of competitions, from clay-pigeon and air-rifle shooting to casting competitions, including the Scottish Spey Casting Championships.

There will also be the gun-dog scurries, some by invitation only, others open to the public and their dogs.

The Pedigree Highland Agility preliminaries and finals will be held in the main ring on Saturday, with the Fife and Kinross Working Terrier Club’s terrier show on Sunday.

Each day will see the very popular terrier racing.

New attractions to the show ring are the Swords of Dalriada, the Quack Commandos, and the Pakefield Ferrets, while on Friday at 5.30pm, weather permitting, the RAF’s Red Arrows display team will take to the skies above Scone.