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FLY CASTING TOURNAMENT AND CONTEST NEWS 7

BRITISH FLY CASTING CLUB JULY CASTING EVENT

Conditions: Partly sunny, calm with light intermittent tail breeze and cross winds. Platform not used on the flat ground.

Weight forward 7 Fisherman's Distance:

1. John Reynolds, 120' 6"; 2, Carl Hutchinson,  116' 8";  3. Sam Davis, 116' 6". 

Weight Forward Fisherman's Pro distance: 

1. Carl Hutchinson, 105' 10"; 2. John Reynolds, 100 ' 4"; 3. James Warbrick-Smith, 91' 7". 

Record Breaker's Pro Distance Round

WF5: new record set by Carl Hutchinson with a cast of 116'8" beating the previous WF5 record of 112 feet set by Jon Allen.

Single handed Fly distance (Trout) ICSF frules

1. Sam Davis, 182'3"; 2. John Reynolds, 176'; 3. Mike Marshall (Senior) 167 '.

Double handed fly distance (Salmon) ICSF rules

1. Sam Davis, 249'8"; 2. Mike Marshall, (senior) 215 '; 3. Carl Hutchinson, 190' 1". 

RESULTS  JIMMY GREEN SPEYORAMA EVENT

GOLDENGATE ANGLING AND CASTING CLUB

SAN FRANCISO, APRIL 23-35, 2004

The games were cast in the pond, wearing waders with a single  rod and line provided by the sponsoring club. We believe the rod was 14 feet with a fifty foot belly .

Overhead Cast: All constestants will use the same rod receiving one practice cast and two official measured casts. Single longest cast will be scored. 

Men: 1. Tim Rajeff, (USA) 160, 152; 2. Jerry Seim, (USA) 160, 141; 3. Knut Syrstad ( Norway), 160, 140; 

Ladies: Donna O'Sullivan, 65. 

45 degree Change of Direction: One practice cast in each direction (right to left and left to right). Three measured casts in each direction. Score will be total of longest right and left casts. (These were spey casts)

Men: 1. Ian Gordon ( Scotland) 272, 273; 2. Knut Syerstad ( Norway) 271, 257; 3. Mariusz Wroblewski ( USA), 237, 230. 

Ladies: 1. Donna O'Sullivan, 134.  

COMMENTS ON ISE SALT

LAKE CITY  FIVE WEIGHT DISTANCE

CONTESTS

Your faithful correspondent has stumbled onto some commentary on

the International Sportsmen's Exposition five weight distance

casting contest finals in Salt Lake City in years past that

are interesting to him and maybe to others. 

The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper has covered this contest regularly, 

in part because a local sport store owner, Jim Gunderson, won the

first three editions of the contest, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

All these games had a drift or inflatable boat outfit as

the first prize and, eventually a similar prize was awarded

for the ladies winner as well. (In 2004 the prizes were a $1500.00 

merchandise certificate that had to be spent at the show.)

In 2003 it was revealed by the Tribune article that "A wicked, stiff, 

quick new $700 Sage TCR rod made just for casting brought more

people into winning range this year with a special 120 foot line. Most 

fly lines are 90 feet long."  

The article further reported that six of the seven men finalists cast 

120 feet or more in practice and explained that nerves seemed

to be a factor. 

The article went on: "The field was elite, top to bottom this

year; Colorado alone had more than 30 casters in the finals. Gunderson 

laid down his big cast on the first attempt, something he is known for, 

and didn't try to top it. ' I don't showboat' he said. The crowd of

roughly 300 erupted when the two-time champ did it again. 

'it was excitement combined with a great weight coming off my

shoulders because of expectations' he said'" 

The article discussed the role of tension, as Gunderson said "It's like 

golf or anything, it comes down to nerves." Second in the 

men was Rick Hartman of Texas with 113.4 feet. (Rick won in 2004).

A different story on the 2001 contest comes from Deanna Birkholm of Flyanglers 

On Line. Gunderson won with 118 ' 2".  The rod was a Loomis 9 ft 3 piece 

Trilogy with an SA Mastery distance line. In that contest there were six outfits 

to choose from. That has since been changed to a single unidentified

rod and line. 

Mrs Birkholm had this to say about the casting: 

"His trick(Jim Gunderson's) was to carry a fantastic 85 to 90 feet

of line in the air, shooting the rest, and having the loop

open up and lay out. Jim did it consistently on all three of the 

allowed casts! Others in the  competition 'hit the wall'

- had the loop collapse and pile up in a heap on one or

two of their three casts"

Second place in '01 went to Lance Egan, Gunderson's partner 

in the "Salt Lake Fish Tech" Shop. By the way, this is not a fly 

shop. The boys sell every conceivable type of fishing gear.

Mrs. Birkholm's article goes on with other details of the

/01 games. The ladies winner was Kathryn Hart of Vancouver, 

Washington with 85 ft 11 inches and Lorie Ann Muphy of Victor,Idaho 

was second with 81 ft 5 Inches. 

.

The Salt Lake Tribune is still a goldmine of information abut the ISE finals,

at least as long as the locals do well. It reports that in 2004 Jim 

Gunderson came in second in the Salt Lake qualifier with a 112 ft 8 in. cast 

behind Randy Swisher's 114 ft 6 inches. In the finals Rick Hartman of Texas won 

with 111 ft 2 inches. The women's first prize went to Barbara Pentoney

of Oceanside, California, at 84 ft. 5 inches, one inch longer than second

place finisher Tressa Allen of Victor Idaho. 

(EDITORIAL COMMENT  All of the details of these contests have not been recited 

here but it is clearly apparent that excellent casters can have wildly varying results

in different casts and on different days. I believe that Salt Lake is indoors, hopefully

without vagrant air currents from the air conditioning and the opening and closing of

exterior doors. Jim Gunderson's somewhat edited remarks about the importance of Golfer's 

nerves in casting are validated by the scores and the descriptions of the number of failed 

ballooned casts by elite fly rod artists. Fly line distance has a vital difference

from shooting head distance. Fly line distance success, indoors, without the wind, is 

closely connected to the ability to false cast an extremely long and straight backcast.

This proposition is reinforced by the comments of some elite casters elsewhere on this

page where they remark that they can cast farther with a double taper line of 85 feet than 

with a longer weight forward. They explain this by the superior back cast possible

with the double taper and increased loading of the line as well as getting into the 

running line quicker. The weight forward line is great for a sinking line and for when the wind is bad and great distance is 

- which is all the time on salt water - but the double taper is a dream to cast for people who has

paid their dues and learned a competent back cast and the pleasure of casting a heavy

rod -heavy means the line is straight and is loading the rod the way the gods of physics 

intend us to cast. Any serious student of fly line distance casting will notice how

difficult it is to create a composed and vertical back cast with a weight forward

line. That is truly advanced casting. It is much easier with a double taper. The next advanced trick is to learn to make the

forward cast without wrecking everything by hitting it too hard. Lots of luck in learning

that. Golfer's yips are a piece of cake compared to yelling in your mind " I will not 

hammer my lay down distance cast; I will not hammer my lay down distance cast".

Some of Jim Gunderson's remarks are right in this ballpark. The records show that his first

cast was the winner the three times he won. Way back in these pages somewhere is a quote 

from Tim Rajeff where he advises fly line distance people - listening to his presentation at a 

sports show - to make their first cast a relaxed cast before trying to really cast a mile. His 

message is the same as Jim Gunderson's, disguised as a friendly hint. )

BRITISH CASTING CLUB

April 4, 2004, Huntingdon Distance Open

Dispatch of results from Dr. Sam Davis.

The British Casting Club (BFCC)
Huntingdon Fly Distance Open

On Sunday, 4th April, 2004, Seventeen fly casters and fishermen from the UK, 
Canada, and the USA were greeted at our first tournament of the year by 
strong 20+ mph winds which made it ideal for distance casting, especially 
with the various ‘shooting head’ outfits on offer. This was in complete 
contrast to the conditions at last year’s inaugural tournament when the wind 
went on strike for most of the day. Aside from the standard BFCC distance 
offerings of 7 weight floating, ICSF 38 gram shooting head, and the 55 yard 
club qualification, this year we have added more weight classes in the 
single-handed trout distance category (i.e. 34 & 36 gram), and the 
double-handed salmon distance event (i.e. 50, 90 & 115 gram). The BFCC has 
also introduced a 19 gram ‘anglers fly’ category which mirrors the Angler’s 
fly event held primarily in the USA. The only difference is that the running 
line diameter is ‘unrestricted’ for the BFCC competitions. The 5 weight fly 
fisherman’s distance competition had to be postponed until the July 
tournament since the blustery winds prevented the competitors from 
aerialising longer-than-normal lengths of fly line on the back cast which is 
crucial for big distances in this event.

7 Weight Fly Fisherman’s Distance
Because of high caster turnout, additional casting events, and strong winds 
we were only able to stage a morning session which was dominated by the 
‘Yorkshire Whipper’, Carl Hutchinson. He won this event with a mega 42.25 
yard (126.75 feet) cast. This beat the previous 7 weight record of 38.86 
yards. (116.58 feet) by a considerable margin. It just shows that 
experienced distance casters still benefit or not by whatever wind is 
available to carry to the loop! Out of sixteen friendly competitors who cast 
in this event, over half hit 90 feet or more. The BFCC thanks Corporate Fly 
Rods for providing new rods for this event. Results of the first four places 
are as follows:

1.	Carl ‘Whiplash’ Hutchinson	42.25 yds. (NEW BFCC RECORD)
2.	James Warbrick-Smith		40.08 yds.
3.	Jon ‘The Gun’ Allen			38.67 yds.
4.	Matt Miles				36.67 yds.

55 Yard Club/Single-handed Trout Distance
During last year’s BFCC casting events, nobody had hit on or over this 
magical distance using a single-handed rod, thus founder, Sam Davis, was 
hoping that a fresh crop of distance-mad fisherman would make the grade for 
this tournament. The casters did not disappoint, and Sam was pleased to 
induct five more fly fishermen into the Club using outfits engineered by 
Grand Prix Rods! They are:

•	Carl Hutchinson		63.67 yds.	ICSF 38 gram shooting-head
(NEW BFCC T38 RECORD)
•	James Warbrick-Smith	62.78 yds.	ICSF 38 gram shooting-head
•	Jon Allen			56.67 yds.	ICSF 38 gram 
shooting-head
•	Matt Miles			57.25 yds.	BFCC 36 gram 
shooting-head
•	Peter Sutton			55.50 yds.	BFCC 34 gram 
shooting-head outfit

Those casters using the ICSF 38 gram shooting heads were also simultaneously 
competing for the Single-handed trout distance event. As listed above Carl, 
James, and Jon came in first, third, and fourth respectively, while Scott 
Simmonds won second place with a cast of 62.78 yards. Scott wasn’t listed as 
one of the new 55 yard club members as he has been a member for years.

Angler’s Fly Distance (19 gram shooting head)
Many angler’s can be intimidated by the heavier shooting head classes on 
offer in tournament casting, especially when they start equating 
shooting-head line weights to AFTMA ratings which psychologically converts a 
38 gram shooting head to a 17 weight fly line. This conversion of the mind 
can unduly intimidate a caster, thus reducing greatly the odds of a person 
taking up the shooting head events. Understanding this, Sam has introduced 
this light, entry-level category to ease many fishermen into shooting-head 
casting. We thank Carl Hutchinson for providing a new Angler’s fly outfit to 
our competitors. With new events come new records. Results of the first four 
places are as follows:

1.	James Warbrick-Smith	57 yds. (NEW BFCC RECORD)
2.	Carl Hutchinson		53.33 yds.
3.	Jimmy Woo			50.53 yds.
4.	Paul Brown			42.72 yds.

Double-handed Salmon Distance
In line the 55 Yard Club event, casters were given a choice of various 
outfits but settled for either the 50 or 115 gram shooting-heads. Results 
were a mixed bag showing some casters were able to ‘throw’ big casts 
regardless of line weight. We thanks Grand Prix Rods for providing some 
excellent outfits. Results of the first four places are as follows:

1.	Scott Simmonds			85.44 yds. (NEW BFCC RECORD)
2.	Mike Marshall			82.67 yds. (SENIOR RECORD)
3.	Carl Hutchinson			79.89 yds.
4.	James Warbrick-Smith		74.58 yds.

Best New Caster
In the specialised world of fly casting, it is not often, as Carl Hutchinson 
says, that ‘a person comes out from ‘nowhere’ to compete at the top level. 
However, such is the case for James Warbrick-Smith who came, cast, and 
impressed all of us, not only for his performances but great attitude to 
casting. Like Sam Davis, who has as doctorate in biology from UCL, James is 
nearing the end of his pursuit of a doctorate in a life science from Oxford, 
after which, he intends on pursuing his casting ambitions. James was awarded 
the trophy of best new caster for being the first person to hit the 55 yard 
club qualification with two different casting outfits (i.e. 19 and 38 gram), 
and for placing in the top four of all of the casting events staged at 
Huntingdon. We look forward to seeing more of James once he finishes his 
thesis.

The BFCC Geriatric Distance Wizard
People who know of UK tournament casting have either cast with the now elder 
statesman, Mike Marshall who is 68 years of age, or have heard of him. Not 
only is he a key figure within the BFCC, and co-founder of the 55 Yard Club, 
he still casts a beautiful loop which won him an impressive second place and 
a senior record in the Salmon Distance event. Sam was the up-court judge 
when Mike was casting and witnessed poise under pressure, not only from 
competing, but from battling the wind which was blowing him around like a 
drunken caber thrower (the rod was 17 feet long!) during his false casts. As 
soon as Mike gained control over the ‘beast stick’ he put together some 
beautifully smooth loop combinations, then launched his best loop for a 
wonderful 248 feet cast. People who think that brute power means distance 
should take a leaf out of Mike’s casting book!

GO TO WWW.THEBFCC.CO.UK  TO VIEW ALL OF THE CASTING RESULTS

The BFCC would like to thank the Fish and Fly website, Trout Fisherman, and 
Fly Fishing and Fly Tying magazines for their support in getting the BFCC 
message out to the UK fishing fraternities. We also warmly thank the UK 
Surfcasting Association for providing the casting field and continued 
support to the BFCC. One day soon casting will be housed under one umbrella 
organisation due to the efforts of Sam and Colin Howlett of the UKSF. The 
next fly distance open will also be held at the Huntingdon racecourse, 
Cambridgeshire on July 4th, 2004.  All interested fly casters who want to 
give any of the events a go are requested to contact Dr Sam Davis (BFCC 
Founder) on samuelpdavis@hotmail.com or 01273 550 278. Our website address 
is: www.thebfcc.co.uk

FIRST ANNUAL ARKANSAS CASTING GAMES

SATURDAY, JUNE 5,

LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS 

The First Annual Arkansas Casting Games will be Saturday June 5 at 
Murray Park on the Arkansas River in Little Rock, Arkansas. Chuck 
Farneth, Andrew Colley, John Wilson, and myself have gotten together 
and laid out plans for the casting games. The games are based on the 
OLN Masters competition but modified somewhat with fishing not being 
a part of the contest. The casting games are composed of: 
-        Distance casting with a 5-weight rod, an 8-weight rod, roll 
cast, and an unlimited division.
-        Accuracy overhead casting and roll casting.
-        Obstacle course, a certificate of completion will be issued

The games are scheduled to start at 2:00 and end by 5:00. There will 
be organizers and club members there by 9:00 that morning to get 
things set up and ready to go so you are welcome to drop in at any 
time. There will be an A and B classification with the men and women 
competing on the same level. Competitors will consist of teams of two 
persons. Partners will be determined, by drawing numbers from a hat. 
Since this is the inaugural event and we are not sure of the 
attendance our initial plans are to have a first, second, and third 
place team in each event and issue plaques and prizes. 

The casting games will be in conjunction with the Arkansas Fly 
Fishers annual fish fry (catfish), which has been going on for well 
over ten years now and has always been for the whole family to enjoy. 
There will be raffle prizes to be drawn for, with the raffle tickets 
going for $5 each or six for $25. The grand prize will be an Orvis 
TLS rod, a battenkill bar stock reel with line and backing and other 
fishing related items too numerous to list. The fish fry (all you can 
eat) is $8 per person or $15 for a couple and will start bout 5:00 
Saturday evening after the casting games.

I would like to say thanks to Chuck Easterling and all the others at 
the meeting we had at the Sow Bug Round Up. This will take a team 
effort but I think we can get the casting games going and hopefully 
it will take off and evolve like the Sow Bug Round Up in Mt. Home.

Look forward to seeing everyone and remember like Chuck Easterling 
said, "this is to be a FUN event—just a bunch of guys and gals who 
enjoy casting getting together and having a great time". Thanks, Bob 
Cheatham. 

ol Al

This is a new kind of casting fun day in Arkansas  hot off the pens of some

people  who know how to have a good time with a fly rod. 

RESULTS

SOUTHWESTERN TOURNAMENT

Long Beach Casting Club, Long Beach CA

February 28, 29, 2004

Trout Fly:

Class A: 1. Rene Gillibert, 99, 2. Henry Mittel, 97, 97; 3. Bobby Spear, 97, 89.

Class B: 1. Glen Nagumo, 94; 2. Bob Middo, 90; 3. Luke Sing, 89, 87; 4. Tom Gong, 89, 85.

Class C: 1. Kazu Koshimizu, 90; 2. Mark Tsunawaki, 83; 3. Mike McClay, 82.

Bass Bug:

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 98; 2. Jamie Murphy, 96, 3. John Napoli, 95.

Class B: 1. Mark Lipe, 93; 2. Trevor Walker, 91; 3. Cajun Bill Clements, 90 (coin toss) 4. Glen Nagumo, 90

Class C: 1., Kazu Koshimizu, 91; 2. Bob Middo, 86; 3. Mike McClay, 84.

1/4 Oz Plug

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 99; 2. bobby Spear, 97; 3. Ian Walker, 96.

Class B. 1. Glen Nagumo, 87; 2. Luke Sing, 86, 88; 3. Charles Judy, 86, 87.

Class C: 1. Jamie Murphy, 90; 2. Mark Tsunawaki, 87, 85; 3. Paul Burgner, 87, 84; 4. Tom Gong, 86, 87.

 Open Plug

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 97, 98; 2. Cajun Bill Clements 97, 94; 3. Bobby Spear, 94.

Class B: 1. Glen Nagumo, 93; 2. Paul Burgner, 92; 3. Luke Sing, 91.

Class C: 1. Jamie Murphy, 91; 2. Carl Rischer, 87, 88, 90; 3. Mike Mc Clay, 87, 88, 86.

Angler's Fly Distance

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 163; 2. Per Brandin, 154, 3. Rene Gillibert, 153.

Class B: 1. Glen Nagumo, 131; 2 Luke Sing, 120, 3. Peg Van Natter, 107.

Class C:  1. Mark Tsunawaki, 133; 2. Kazu Koshimizu, 122; 3. Elaine Gong, 108.

1/4 Oz. Distance

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 193; 2. Rene Gillibert, 184; 3. Ian Walker, 172.

Class B: 1. Tom Gong, 186; 2. Paul Burgner, 184; 3. Glen Nagumo, 150.

Class C. 1. Kazu Koshimizu, 147; 2. Mike Mc Clay, 146; 3. Charles Judy, 135.

Dry Fly:

Class A: Jamie Murphy, 99; 2. Henry Mittel, 98, 99, 100; 3. Tony Yap, 98, 99, 96; 4. Ian Walker, 98, 99, 96; 5. Matt Rickerd, 98, 94.

Class B: 1. Glen Nagumo, 94; 2. Cajun Bill Clements, 93, 95; 3. Luke Sing, 93, 93; 4. Tom Gong, 93, 89.

Class C: 1. Mark Tsunawaki, 96; 2. Mike McClay, 93; 3. Kazu Koshimizu, 89. 

Wet Fly:

Class A: 1. Jamie Murphy, 99; 2. Matt Rickerd, 98, 99, 97

3. Henry Mittel, 98, 99, 95; 4. Tony Yap, 98, 98; 5. Bill Van Natter, 98, 95.

Class B; 1. Charles Judy, 96; 2. Luke Sing, 95; 3. Bob Sheppard, 94.

Class C: 1. Christopher Walker, 92; 2. Kazu Koshimizu, 91, 95; 3. Mike McClay, 91, 91.

3/8 Oz Plug:

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 97; 2. Per Brandin, 93; 3. Tony Yap, 91 (Coin Toss); 4. Bobby Spear, 91; 5. Ian Walker, 91.

Class B: 1. Tom Gong, 95; 2. Paul Burgner, 89; 3. Mark Lipe, 87.

Class C. 1. Jamie Murphy, 96; 2. Christopher Walker, 88; 3. David Contreras, 87.

5/8 Oz. Plug:

Class A: 1. Matt Rickerd, 97; 2. Henry Mittel, 94; 3. Per Brandin, 92.

Class B: Paul Burgner, 95; 2. Bill Van Natter, 94; 3. Mark Tsunawaki, 91.

AMERICAN CASTING ASSOCIATION

8TH ANNUAL INDOOR NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

McCormick Place, Chicago, January 22-25, 2004.

This is an interesting place for casting games. The pond is in the midst of a gigantic boat and RV show with spectators seated in bleachers and  walking  by the 80 x 10 foot tank. There was a sportfisher's class for people who have never been in the fishing industry or a casting tournament. The amenity of a second pond for practice  made this visit more like a fishing trip with lots of conversation about fishing and casting. One man came all the way from Texas to watch and research a magazine article about tournament casting.

The casters were part of the show in that they not only provided spectator sport but introduced countless youngsters to the pleasures of fishing and casting with bait casting outfits provided by one of the exhibitors. Casting games were part of the iron man competition held during the show. Six outdoorsmen camped outdoors on the Mc Cormick Place grounds in tents and sleeping bags for several days during the show. They came indoors to compete at the climbing wall, archery range, casting pond and other events with significant prizes for the three top finishers. They kindly warmed up the casting pond for the ACA people the day before the ACA casting began.

The Outdoor Life and ESPN TV fishing contests use a combined accuracy and distance fly casting game  to determine the order of choice for fishing water so casting games have their uses. They are even fun on the lawn.

3/8 Oz.  Plug Accuracy

Men: 1. Henry Mittel, 96; 2. David Roberts, 95; 3. John Seroczynski, 94.

Senior men: 1. Dick Fujita, 93; 2.  Jim Chapralis, 89, 84; 3. Phil Seroczynski, 89, 79; 4. Pete Edwards, 89, no score.

Women: 1. Pam Peters, 93; 2. Beth Statt, 86, 3. Peg Van Natter, 72.

Intermediates: 1. Andy Tulgetske, 80; 2. Becky Statt, 68.

Juniors: 1. Josh Carl, 50.

Youth: 1.  Mitchell Mysliwy, 72.

5/8 Oz Plug accuracy

Men: 1. Henry Mittel, 98; 2. Ray L. Huber, 94; 3. David Roberts, 93; 4. Andy Statt, 93 (Sudden Death)

Senior Men: 1. Ed Lanser, 95; 2. Pete Edwards, 93; 3. Tom gong, 93 (Sudden Death)

Women: 1. Pam Peters, 89; 2. Beth Statt, 72; 3. Peg Van Natter, 54.

Intermediates: 1. Becky Statt, 86; 2. Andy Tulgetske, 82.

Juniors: 1. Glen Carl, 80; 2. Josh Carl, 67.

Youth: 1. Mitchell Mysliwy, 77; 2. Sarah Thomas, 54.

1/4 Oz Plug Accuracy

Men: 1. Andy Statt, 99; 2. Henry Mittel, 96; 3. David Roberts, 94.

Senior Men: 1. Gus Beushausen, 92; 2. Ed Lanser, 90; 3. Bill  Clements, 89.

Women: 1. Beth Statt, 85; 2. Peg Van Natter, 84; 3. Pam Peters, 79.

Intermediates, 1. Becky Statt, 85; 2. Andy Tulgetske, 80.

Juniors: 1. Glenn Carl, 80; 2. Josh Carl, 67. 

Bass Bug Accuracy:

Men : 1. Henry Mittel, 95; 2. John Seroczynski, 94; 3. Jim Carl, 93.

Senior Men: 1. Ed Lanser, 89; 2. Tony Yap, 89 (no score); 3. Bill Van Natter, 86.

Women: 1. Pam Peters, 85; 2. Peg Van Natter, 83; 3. Beth Statt, 77.

Intermediate: 1. Andy Tulgetske, 79.

Juniors: 1. Josh Carl, 81; 2. Glenn Carl, 76.

Trout Fly Accuracy:

Men: 1. Henry Mittel, 96; 2. John Seroczynski, 95; 3. David Roberts, 93.

Senior Men: 1. Ed Lanser, 94; 2. Bill Van Natter, 93; 3. Bill Clements, 92.

Women: 1. Pam Peters, 89; 2. Peg Van Natter, 83; 3. Beth Statt, 80.

Dry Fly Accuracy:

Men: 1. Henry Mittel, 99; 2. John Seroczynski, 97; 3. Dale Lanser, 94.

Senior Men: 1. Bill Clements, 94; 2. Tony Yap, 92, 95; 3. Ed Lanser, 92, 93; 4. Bill Van Natter, 92, 83.

Women: 1. Pam Peters, 92; 2. Peg Van natter, 87; 3. Beth Statt, 83.

Intermediates: 1. Andy tulgetske, 90.

Juniors, 1. Josh Carl, 75; 2. Glenn Carl, 70.

Sportsfishers Division

Dry Fly Accuracy: 1. Dennis Cook, 84.

1/4 Oz Plug Accuracy: 1. Tim Jacob: 71; 2. Elmer Bergendahl, 68;

5/8 Oz Plug Accuracy:

Men: 1. Dennis Butts, 90; 2. Elmer Bergendahl, 69; 3. Tim Jacob, 59.

Juniors: 1. Joey Dunigan, 77.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTSMEN'S EXPOSITION CASTING SEASON IS IN FULL SWING

Thanks to Graham Anderson of  Alberta we have some tidbits of information about the ISE games. The January 11 Los Angeles five weight fly line distance contest, with it's entry into the Salt Lake City finals for the big prize, went again to Ian Walker of the Long Beach Casting Club with 107 feet. In Sacramento, the following week, Rick Hartman, a salt water fishing guide from Texas, won all the marbles with a 104'7" cast. His winning cast collided with a booth at the end of the casting course so he didn't get credit for all of his distance. Second was Floyd Dean of Sausalito, CA, with 95 feet and third, Jeff Currier with 91 feet. Lori Ann Murphy did her usual thing and won with a 77 footer. Strangely enough there are reports that the indoor exhibition site was windy from the combination of heaters and open doors.

There is some rumor about that Rick Hartman casts distance with his casting side foot forward. This bears further study. Marvin Hedge, the Oregonian who brought double haul casting to the civilized world at the 1934 Nationals in St Louis, was right handed and cast his new record casts with his right foot forward.

BRITISH FLY CASTING CLUB TRENTHAM GARDENS CASTING GAMES

The BFCC's second event of '03 was October 24 and 25 at Trentham Gardens. Saturday was a windy practice day for the Sunday contests in five weight and seven weight fly line distance and a 17 weight shooting head event. There was not room for the double handed distance.

Representative distances were 116.58 feet for seven weight and 112.0 feet in five weight. Carl Hutchinson, in the single hand trout distance 55 Yard Club tryouts, showed what practice can do by improving his 126 feet of the September Huntingdon go to a first place 159 feet, just shy of the 165 foot mark for membership in the 55 yard Club. This event was shot with a nine foot single hand rod and a 38 gm./53 foot Airflow head with 8lb mono running line. All of the events were shot with the same rods and lines provided by the hosts. 

An entertaining account of the festivities is at FISH AND FLY . There will be more contests in '04.

Morning session; 1. Pete Sutton, 116.2 feet; 2. Carl Hutchinson, 111.7; 3. Matt Miles, 107.3.

Afternoon Session: 1. Pete Sutton, 124.5; 2. Carl Hutchinson, 116.8: 3. Jim Harris, 88.59.  An account of the event is at Fly Fishing in the UK and Europe

The double hand salmon distance was played with Simon Gawesworth's old 17 foot tournament rod and  a 120 gram shooting head .

Salmon Distance: 1. Hugh Newton, 214.8; 2. Sam Davis, 211.9; 3. Rob Caley, 192.2.

An additional event was the Single hand trout distance 55 yard club tryouts. This was with a nine foot rod, 38 gram 50 foot Airflo shooting head line with 8 lb. mono running line. The 55 yard club was created by Mike Marshall and Iain Thomson of the British Casting Association several decades ago and uses the same rod and line as the single handed fly distance.

1. Hugh Newton, 154.9; 2. Rob Caley, 152.06; 3. Sam Davis, 151.4. This event was actually a qualification for the 55 Yard Club badge and no one did 55 yards but the conditions were such that no one could cast his current form, even those who were already members.  That's the way it is in casting.

The organizers promise that as interest grows they will include accuracy games as well. 

NORTHWESTERN TOURNAMENT

Western Tournament Casting Association

Oakland, CA, October 4, 5, 2003

Trout Fly:

Class A: 1. Chris Korich, 100; 2. Steve Rajeff, 98, 99; 3. Ian Walker, 98, 93.

Class B: 1. Bill Clements, 96, 95; 2. Glen Nagumo, 96, 93; 3. George Karsant, 94.

Class C: 1. George Revel, 89; 2. Dustin Revel, 86; 3. Kazu Koshhimizu, 81.

Bass Bug:

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff, 100; 2. Rene Gillibert, 97, 94, 98; 3. Chris Korich, 97, 94, 96; 4. Bruce Bowles, 97, 93.

Class B:  1. Luke Sing, 91, 91; 2. Peggy Van Natter, 91, 89; 3. Charles Judy, 91, 85.

Class C: 1. Dustin Revel, 90; 2. Kazu Koshhimizu, 83; 2 George Revel, 83.

1/4 oz. Plug Accuracy

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff,m 100; 2, Henry Mittel,  95; 3. Chris Korich, 94, 1; 4. bobby Spear, 94, 0.

Class B: 1. Nicole Kozicki, 91; 2. Alice Gillibert, 89; 3. Peggy Van Natter, 88, 86; 4. Austin Emmerling, 88, 84.

Class C: 1. Luke Sing,  90; 2. Charles Judy, 89, 88, 1;

3. George Karsant, 89, 88, 0.

Open Plug:

Class A: 1. Henry Mittel, 100; 2. Steve Rajeff, 99; 3. Chris Korich, 97, 97; 4. John Seroczynski, 97, 91.

Class B: 1. Glen Nagumo, 92; 2. Nicole Kozicki, 91; 3. Alice Gillibert, 90, 1; 4. Mark Lipe, 90, 0.

Class C: 1. George Revel, 88; 2. Guy Manning, 87; 3. George Karsant, 86, 93; 4. Luke Sing, 86, 87; 4. Dustin Revel, 86, 87.

Steel head distance (angler's fly Distance)

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff, 160; 2. Henry Mittel, 154; 3. Rene Gillibert, 142.

Class B: 1. Dennis Amato, 121; 2. Alice Gillibert, 109; 3. Kate Blubaugh, 99.

Class C: 1. George Karsant, 106, 97; 2. George Revel, 106, 93; 3. Dustin Revel, 100.

7.5 Gr. Distance

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff, 194; 2. Henry Mittel, 182; 3. John Seroczynski, 173;

Class B: 1. Dennis Amato, 168; 2. Kate Blubaugh, 129; 3. Bill Van natter, 121.

Class C: 1. George Revel, 121; 2. Luke Sing, 115; 3. Dustin Revel, 109.

3/8 Oz. Accuracy plugs

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff, 99; 2. Jay Clark, 97; 3. Henry Mittel, 94; 4. Keith Pryor, 94, 94.

Class B: 1. Henry Fujita, 90; 2. Tom Gong, 88, 90; 3. Allice Gillibert, 88, 84; 4. Charles Judy, 88, 0.

Class C. 1. George Karsant, 92; 2. Luke Sing, 91; 3. Guy Manning, 88.

5/8 Oz. Accuracy  Plugs

Class A: 1. Rene Gillibert, 97, 97; 2. Steve Rajeff, 97, 92; 3. Bill Clements, 97, 0.

Class B: 1. Tom gong, 93; 2. Glen Nagumo, 91, 91; 3. Alice Gillibert, 91, 86.

Class C. 1. George Revel, 91; 2. Luke sing, 87; 3. George Karsant, 86.

Dry Fly:

Class A: 1. Chris Korich, 100, 100; 2. Steve Rajeff, 100, 99; 3. Rene Gillibert, 99.

Class B: 1. Luke Sing, 98; 2. Henry Fujita, 97; 3. Tom Gong, 93, 93; 4. Bill Clements, 93, 89.

Class C: 1. Dustin Revel, 93; 2. George Revel, 92; 3. Kazu Koshhimizu, 91.

Wet Fly:

Class A: 1. Steve Rajeff, 99, 99, 100; 2. Chris Korich, 99, 99, 99; 3. Floyd Dean, 99, 98.

Class B: 1. Peggy Van Natter, 97; 2. Charles Judy, 96, 97; 3. Bill Clements, 96, 92. 

Class C: 1. Dustin Revel, 92; 2. Kazu Koshhimizu, 90; 3. George Revel, 88.

ALL AMERICAN TOURNAMENT

CHICAGO ANGLING AND CASTING CLUB

AUGUST 23 AND 24,  2003.

The Chicago Angling and Casting club is hosting the All American Tournament on Saturday, August 23 for distance events at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana and accuracy events at the Lincoln Park casting facility in Chicago on Sunday the 24th. There will be adult and non adult events for fly and plug casters.

 For further information call 219-464 1125 or e mail jseroczinski@worldnet.att.net.

RESULTS

2003 American Casting Association National Championships

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

July 28 - August 2, 2003

5/8 Oz  Plug Distance (1 hand revolving spool. spider web line) This event has been replaced by a 5/8 Oz. double handed revolving spool event with a heavier line  starting in 2004

Senior Men:

1. Richard Fujita, 371 ft.; 2. Bill Burke, 369; 3. Gord Deval, 351.

Men:

1. Steve Rajeff, 463; 2. Chris Korich, 426; 3. Dave Roberts, 388.

5/8 plug Distance (2hand spinning tackel)

Senior Men:

1. Bill Clements, 365; 2. Bill Burke, 345; 3. Gord Deval, 343.

Men:

1. Henry Mittel, 402; 2. Chris Korich, 399; 3. Steve Rajeff, 394.

Women:

1. Elaine Gong, 219; 2. Alice Gillibert, 191; 3. Peg Van Natter, 190.

1/4 Oz  plug distance, single hand

Senior Men

1. Richard Fujita, 267 ( National Record); 2. Bill Burke, 256; 3. Bill Clements, 242.

Men

1. Steve Rajeff, 325 (National Record); 2. Henry Mittel, 294; 3. Chris Korich, 278.

Women

1. Alice Gillibert, 156; 2. Elaine Gong, 153; 3. Kate Blubaugh, 147.

Intermediates

1. George Revel, 184; 2. Dustin Revel, 160.

Fly Distance, Single Hand

Senior Men

1. Ed Lanser, 157; 2. Jim Chapralis, 151; 3. Gord Deval, 149.

Men

1. Steve Rajeff, 203; 2. Henry Mittle, 182; 3. Rene Gillibert, 178.

Fly Distance, two handed

Senior Men

1. ed Lanser, 215; 2. Richard Fujita, 205; 3. Gord Deval, 203.

 Men:

1. Steve Rajeff, 273; 2. Chris Korich, 251; 3. Henry Mittel, 239.

Angler's Fly Distance

Senior Men

1. Jim Chapralis, 138; 2. Gord Deval, 137 (131); 3. Tom Gong, 137 (127)

Men

1. Henry Mittel, 189; 2. Steve Rajeff, 174; 3. Rene Gillibert, 173.

Women

1. Alice Gillibert, 120; 2. Peg Van Natter, 117; 3. Tana Montgomery, 106.

Intermediate

1. George Revel, 126; 2. Dustin Revel, 109.

1/4 Oz Plug Accuracy

1. Bill Burke, 90 (95); 2. Ed Lanser, 90 (84); 3. Larry White, 90 (73)

Men

1. Steve Rajeff, 98 (99); 2. Henry Mittle, 98 (94); 3. Chris Korich, 95.

Women

1. Nicole Kozicki, 93; 2. Nancy Burke, 81; 3. Kate Blubaugh, 75.

Intermediates

1. Chris Walker, 78; 2. George Revel, 68; 3. Dustin Revel, 60.

3/8 Oz. Plug Accuracy

Senior Men

1. Bill Clements, 93 (93); 2. Tony Yap, 93 (87); 3. Bobby Spear, 91.

Men:

1. Chris Korich, 98; 2. Henry Mittel, 96 (99); 3. Dave roberts, 96 (95).

Women

1. Nicole Kozicki, 83; 2. Alice Gillibert, 82; 3. Elaine Gong, 89 (90); 4. Peg Van natter, 80 (71).

Intermediates

1. Dustin Revel, 83; 2. George Revel, 74; 3. Chris Walker, 59.

5/8 Oz. Plug Accuracy

Senior men

1. Bill Clements, 99 (ties national record); 2. Ed Lanser, 97; 3. Bill Burke, 96.

Men

1. Dave roberts, 98; 2. Steve Rajeff, 97; 3. Chris Korich, 96.

Women

1. Alice Gillibert, 85; 2. Kate Blubaugh, 82; 3. Elaine Gong, 80; 4. Nancy Burke, 80.

Intermediate

1. Chris Walker, 83; 2. George Revel, 82; 3. Dustin Revel, 59.

Dry Fly Accuracy

Senior Men

1. Bill Burke, 97 (97). 2. Tony Yap, 97 (96); 3. Richard Fujita, 97 (94). 4. Bobby Spear, 97 (92).

Men

1. Chris Korich, 100; 2. Henry Mittle, 99 (100). 3. Jamie Murphy, 99 (99); 4. Ian Walker, 99 (97).

Women

1. Nicole Kozicki, 93; 2. Peg Van Natter, 92 (95); 3. Elaine Gong 92 (85).

Intermediates

1. George Revel, 94; 2. Dustin Revel; 3. Chris Walker, 91.

Trout Fly Accuracy

Senior men

1. Tony Yap, 97; 2. Bill Van natter, 95; 3. Bobby Spear, 94.

Men

1. Chris Korich, 100; 2. Rene Gillibert, 99 (98); 3. Henry Mittel, 99 (96); 4. Jay Clark, 99 (94).

Women

1. Elaine gong,  93; 2. Peg Van natter, 91; 3. Sandra lee, 89.

Intermeidates

1,. dustin Revel, 87; 2. George Revel, 86 (88); 3. Chris Walker, 86 (87).

Bass Bug Accuracy

1. Tony Yap, 90 (89); 2. Bill Clements, 90 (83); 3. richard Fujita, 89; 4. Larry White, 89.

Men

1. Rene Gillibert, 98 (98); 2. Marius Wroblewski, 98 (94); 3. Jay Clark, 98 (90).

Women

1. Alice Gillibert, 87; 2. Peg Van natter, 83; 3. Nicole Kozicki, 81.

Intermediates

1. Dustin Revel, 82; 2. George Revel, 79; 3. Chris Walker, 75.

COMBINED AWARDS

ALL PLUG ACCURACY

Men: 1. Steve Rajeff, 290; 2. Chris Korich, 289;  3. Henry Mittel, 289.

Senior men: 1. Bill Clements, 280; 2. Bill burke, 275; 3. Ed Lanser, 271.

Women: 1. Nicole Kozicki, 252,; 2. Alice Gillibert, 238; 3. Elaine Gong, 234.

Intermediates: 1. George Revel, 224; 2. Chris Walker, 220; 3. Dustin Revel, 202.

ALL FLY ACCURACY

Men: 1. Jay Clark, 295; 2. Chris Korich, 294;  Rene Gillibert, 294; Ian Walker, 294.

Women: 1. Peg Van natter, 266;2. Elaine gong, 265; 3. Nicole Kozicki, 261.

Intermediates: 1. Dustin Revel, 261; 2. George Revel, 259; 3. Chris Walker, 252.

Senior men: 1. Tony Yap, 284; 2. Bobby Spear, 278; Bill Van Natter, 278.

All Accuracy:

Men: 1. Chris Korich, 583; 2. Steve Rajeff, 581; 3. Henry Mittel, 580.

Senior men: 1. Bill Clements, 555; 2. tony Yap, 549; 3. Bobby Spear, 541.

Women: 1. Nicole Kozicki, 513; 2. Elaine gong, 499; 3. Alice Gillibert, 498.

Intermediates: 1. George Revel, 483; 2. Chris Walker, 472; 3. Dustin Revel, 463.

ALL AMERICAN TEAM

Steve Rajeff, Chris Korich, Henry Mittel, David Roberts, "Cajun " Bill Clements, Jay Clark, Ian Walker, Rene Gillibert. 

HERE IT IS

FIRST EVER FINALIST IN THE OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK TROUT FISHING GAME

The Western finalist team  for the Outdoor Life Network Kansas City finals in October is the Flying Rajeffs, Steve and Tim Rajeff, a brother act. An inspection of the team rosters posted shows quite a few brother acts entered so maybe brothers know something.

Second place (sorry, no second place prize) went to the Jedi Knights, Bruce Bowles and Chris Korich. (we thank Chris for providing these results)

The East Walker River was not at its' best on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the release of irrigation water which puts the fish off their feed for a few days so fish were scarce. Some of the teams caught no fish and one fish was enough to get into the next round for more than one team. In fact an eleven inch fish won out over an eight inch fish in one match. The flies of choice were weighted nymph types and san juan worms, fished on the bottom in deeper parts of the river. One contestant caught a sixteen incher on a humpy/goofus bug/deer hair Horner and had the honor of discovering that it was a sucker. Oh Woe. The most fish caught by any team in one session  was three. It's too bad the river  was out but  hopefully the next four  rivers will be at their best and the contestants can have the agonizing task of deciding whether to measure a fish in the net or hope for a longer one. There was no communication between the fishers so that strategy was kind of blindfolded.

Each team was fully photographed all the time it was fishing with two camera people and a sound person in attendance besides the judge and a volunteer local who helped the judge. The contestants were not only photographed but they were wired so whatever they said to their creator, to the fish or to their partner was preserved for possible inclusion in the sound track. The four beats covered three miles of river so part of the game was choosing what parts of the beat to fish without spending all the time hiking.

This was pressure fishing where every cast counted. There was not much surface activity on these two days but it was important to keep a fly in productive water as much of the time as possible. From my own experience time spent casting to targets on my lawn has enriched my fishing moments by leaving me free to put the fly where I want it when I want it without getting messed up with the brush and rocks or my boat, dog or fishing companion. Besides, hitting a target is fun and you don't need to drive anywhere.

FIRST RESULTS AT OUTDOOR LIFE SAN FRANCISCO

Thanks to Alice Gillibert and Chris Korich we have the results of the richest casting contest in history. First the results and then some details.

The winners of  the Sunday castoff of the top twelve from the Saturday fifty teams are:

1.  Steve and Tim Rajeff                        6, 189 points

2. Chris Korich and Bruce Bowles         5,800.2

3.  Rene Gillibert and Matt Rickard        5,698.4

4.  Keith Pryor and Henry Mittel            5,206

5.  Bill Ward and Floyd Dean                 4,454.2

6.   John Hergenhan and Ron Mosher     4,010.2

7.  Vern Jeremica and Aaron Culley       3,533.8

8.  Eric Sherar and Dannis Amato           3, 418.8

Chris Korich sent along these remarks:

"On an individual note, the top all around casters (distance and accuracy) over the two days were:

1. Tim Rajeff

2. Chris Korich

3. Rene Gillibert

4. Steve Rajeff

On the production side , I think it would be safe to say that no casting competition has ever been captured for TV like this weekend. Barrett Productions had six cameras, huge jibs, booms, radio mikes on casters, and an impressive staff of production people that pulled this off, (with help from GGACC and OCC members!). John Barrett has said that OLN will present twelve 30 minute (prime time) TV specials and three of these will cover the various regional casting competitions."

The  scores are for the Sunday rounds of casting. The casters were allowed to stretch their lines and then strip in and leave the line on the ground with fly in hand and less than two feet of fly line out of the guides. There were three s  coreing casts to each of the tartgets with 300 points for the two foot, 200 for the four foot and 100 for the six foot ring. This made a possible 3600 points for accuracy. The targets were 20-25 ft, 45-50 feet, 65-70 feet and the obstacle target was 30-40 feet out.  The obstacle  was a clump of bushes five  feet wide, leaving six inches of the six foot ring visible on each side and vulnerable to a straight cast. The contestants chose to shoot positive curve casts and some of them were pretty accurate at this target. 

The distance lane was twenty feet wide and the longest overhead distance cast was 111 feet while the longest roll casts were in the eighties with an  87 footer on Saturday and an 82 footer on Sunday  with the weight forward Cortland 444 Lazer line.

The scoring was a little different from other games in that the distance was to the point the fly landed in the water - this meant that a fly which hit a ring target was scored where it landed - which could and was sometimes clear out of the scoring radius. Rim shots are common in casting games and generally if the fly hits the ring it is scored as landing within the ring radius.

TWO NEW CASTING GAME EVENTS AT

CABELLA'S DUNDEE MICHIGAN

PONDS

Cabella has leaped onto the casting game bandwagon by allowing the Toledo Casting Club to stage the Michigan State Championships at the Cabella megastore casting facility on Lake Cabella in Dundee Michigan on July 20, 2003. The Ohio State Championships will be at the same place on September 14, 2003. Lake Cabella is near the Michigan - Ohio border.

There will be a full slate of  American Casting Association accuracy events - dry fly, trout fly and bass bug fly rod events and 1/4oz, 3/8 oz and 5/8 oz plug casting contests in various classes.

In addition, there will be a Sportsfisher class for first time casting game participants. There will be plaques, trophies and medals as prizes and there may be a double taper fly line combined accuracy and distance game. The targets are always on the water for practice with the only condition that people wanting to practice sign up in the store beforehand.

For further information E mail Toledo Casting Club .

MORE NEWS ON OUTDOOR LIFE SAN FRANCISCO 03

The regional in San Francisco has a full slate of fifty teams and ten alternates heading into this weekend of June 27-28. On Saturday there will be a round with distance in the morning and accuracy later. The top dozen teams will cast off again on Sunday morning for the top eight entries into the fishing contest the next three days. Sunday afternoon there will be a clinic at the Golden Gate ponds.  It is too bad that the two day format, with the chance for socialization and casting palaver around the three Golden Gate ponds and the Angler's Lodge clubhouse was not known to the general public before since the prospect of getting two rounds of casting would sweeten the pot for people on the fence. The Outdoor Life people arranged for concessionary hotel rates at a good hotel in the area so this has turned into an interesting weekend. The local casting clubs will undoubtedly roll out the welcome mat for the visiting casters. There are some fast fun casting games that don't require  much daylight and the locals play these in the  evening under the lights in front of the clubhouse. this is a good chance for anyone to see a lot of classy casters/fishers  in action.

We sure hope they do it again.

$52,000.00 prize pool for casting - fishing contest winners

NOW HEAR THIS

Outdoor Life Network is sweetening the pot for fly fishers. Nothing like the bass bonanza but a start. This summer their Fly Fishing Masters fishing contest will allow the winners of four regional fly casting  contests to participate in regional and a national trout fishing contest for substantial bucks - in cash. No boats or fly rods. 

The proceedings will provide video footage for a fly fishing show later in the year after the October finals. The contestants will be teams of two with the only restriction that fly fishers under 18 years of age must enter with a parent or legal guardian. The first regional is in and near San Francisco, commencing June 27, 2003. the Northeastern qualifier will begin July 18 at State College Pennsylvania with fishing in Spruce Creek, Rocky Mountain, August 1, Denver Colorado for casting and  Steamboat Springs, Colorado for fishing. The Southeast, September 19th at Atlanta for the casting contest and Helen Georgia for fishing. The finals will be somewhere accessible to Kansas City, starting October 10th.

Any team of two can apply by completing the the detailed application which must be submitted by June 15. The extensive details of the contest are on several pages of the Outdoor Life Network website.

Briefly, any two fly fishers can apply for the regionals by completing and submitting the detailed application on or before June 15. Fifty teams for each regional will be chosen and notified by June 20.  The qualifiers will compete in a combined accuracy and distance game with their own nine foot five weight  fly rod and a five weight weight forward floating line and leader and accuracy fly supplied by the contest sponsors. There is a suggestion that each team include a competent fly tier. There is no application fee but those selected will pay $100.00 per team to participate. The contestants will go to the site of the regionals at their own expense and shoot four targets at distances from 20 to 70 feet and then cast for distance overhead and roll casting, with the same outfit. The targets have three concentric rings, six feet, four feet and two feet in diameter with graduated scores  One of the targets will be behind an obstacle requiring a curve cast to score and the scoring is weighted in such a way as to place a premium on accuracy. It is my present judgment that there will be more variation in accuracy scores than in distance scores

This format is reminiscent of  another television contest in which scores in accuracy determine choice of  beat on the fishing river part of the contest. The casting contest reduces the contestant pool to the eight top scoring teams. These top scorers then have a fish off for the regional winning team.  The regional teams, four of them, then have a fish off somewhere near Kansas City for the prizes of $30,000.00 for the winning team, $15,000.00 second, $5,000.00 third and $2,000.00 fourth.

The fishing contest involves a series of two and three hour sessions walking a particular beat on a river. One member fishes at a time and the other gillies - tying on flies, handing the fisher a dry rod or a sink tip rod, spots fish (climbing a tree is good) etc. (They can have three rods each). The first fish caught must be measured and the fisher then can elect when to measure any other fish caught. When a fisher has measured two fish, time is up for that person and the other fisher goes to work. When the other has measured two fish time is up for the team. The combined lengths of  fish caught determine the winners with ties broken by elapsed time.

This sounds like a lot of  fun. The ticket is to regard the trip to the regional as a fishing trip. If you are one of the fifty chosen plan to compete and go fishing. If you win the casting competition your fishing is on the tournament. If  you don't win your fishing is on you, like it always is. All of the regionals are near good fishing. There is no rule against mixed teams and I can think of some  that would be competitive. The contest itself seems like a first class spectator event given the variety of the casts involved and the pressure on the casters. 

The promoters will be getting their money back from the TV footage of the contest and the contestants all face the prospect of becoming a sports celebrity for a little while. Can you imagine a guide or insurance man or surgeon  going back to the office after being shown on national TV fishing for $30,000.00. I expect they will film some fish that got away and I suspect that there will be some big fish in the waters chosen.

Now aren't you glad you made friends with your fly rod.

AMERICAN CASTING ASSOCIATION NATIONALS

July 27 to August 1, 2003

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Details on American Casting Association website. 

MORE CONTEST NEWS

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