On a recent fishing trip to the to the Yuba River I was asked to produce an article for the website. One of the suggestions was to do something on tournament casting. Hence, the following. There are twelve events offered in the “big” tournaments: Six using a fly rod and six using spinning or bait casting reels. One may elect to compete in those events of his choice(s). I have heard it mentioned that there is no correlation between tournament casting and casting while fishing. Well, I disagree as in both cases one must utilize exquisite rod control and where better to learn that control than casting to targets. Isn’t that what we do when fishing -- attempt to hit various targets? In most fishing circumstances it boils down to the first cast to the “target” as being the most crucial. It is enjoyable when practicing to attempt to hit as many targets as possible. It has been my experience in observing others practicing their casting, they work only on how far they can cast, which in turn further inbeds poor techniques and ignore the subtleties of good “target” casting. Incidental most of the tournament caster I know also fish . There are three fly accuracy events:
Target Course The targets are 30” in diameter rings floating in water. The nearest target is 20’ to 25’ from the center of the edge of the casting platform. The far target is 45’ to 50’ away from the casting platform. The other three targets are set at random distances between the nearest and the farthest.
Rod, Reel, Line, Leader and Fly The rod cannot be more than 9’6” long. The reel is unrestricted. The line can be any weight. The leader cannot be less then 6’ in length. The fly must be an official ACA dry fly. The hackle of the fly shall not be less than 3/4” or more than 1” in diameter. The fly cannot be oiled or treated in any way.
Time When the caster enters the casting box to cast he has a time limit of 8 minutes to complete the course. Casting one-handed ten casts are made to the targets in order.
Method of Casting The caster begins with fly in hand and no more than the leader plus two feet of line extending beyond the tip. The false cast is the mechanism in which the line, leader and fly are moved through the air without intentionally striking the surface in front of the casting box. The cast is completed when the fly, leader, or line settles on the water on a final forward delivery. The caster must not pick up the fly in preparation for the next target until the judge calls “score”. At the start of the first round the line must be on the reel. The second round is started the same as the first except the line need not be on the reel.
Scoring and Penalties A perfect score (100 points) occurs when the casters fly falls within or hits any part of the target on both the first round (five casts) and the second round (5 casts) of casting. For each foot or fraction of a foot missed one (1) demerit is charged. All demerits are subtracted from the score. Maximum demerits for any single final forward cast shall be ten (10). Penalties of three (3) demerits can be charged for the following: Sunken fly, Ticks, improper strip, improper retrieve, improper cast and overtime.
The fishing season is rapidly approaching.
Practice, Practice,
Practice.
Wayne Taylor