Song of the day: “Elevation,” U2 (click the title for a sample—sorry Mac users, it’s Windows only!)

Every year, the Washington State branch of the Federation of Fly Fishers hosts a casting expo. The event is 2 parts classes, 1 part competition and all fun. It’s a chance to introduce yourself to new skills, meet up with old friends and, if you like, see how you stack up against some of the state’s best casters.

This year, Jamie and I decided to try out for the Puget Sound Fly Company’s two teams and successfully made the cut.

After making the team, casting practice became routine and as time went on, we looked eagerly to the day of the Expo.

That eagerness died quickly when I put the car in “park” and surveyed the conditions and the competitors, as both were tough.

Yay. Thick air and tangled grass...

Geeting some early practice in

Now how far out did you set those cones again?

"I can't remember--let's find out."

Fortunately (or so I thought), my expectations were low: I only wanted one cast to be at least 100 feet. If I achieved that goal, I promised myself I’d be happy. Unfortunately, casters who were much, MUCH better than me were having a tough time getting into the mid 90’s.

So much for low expectations.

Luckily, Jamie and I had signed up for a casting course taught by Steve Rajeff.

"To form a tight loop, stop the rod tip high..."

"Like so."

"Dude, that was sick!"

Steve helped us dial in our loops a little better and gave the class pointers on how to cast more accurately. He also demonstrated some of the extreme distance competition stuff that he participates in, where 150 to 200-foot casts are the rule. Sheesh!

And away she goes!

After the class, it was my turn to step to the line. Dun dun DUN! :)

Jamie had set up cones along the tape to help the casters gauge where their line was. The first cone was 90 feet, the second 100 and the third and fourth were 110 and 120, respectively. I only cared about the second one.

I took my five practice casts, trying to keep in mind the advice Steve had given me earlier: “Keep your backast low.”

Things seemed to look pretty good and even if I wasn’t ready to go, I didn’t have a choice.

So I went.

Keep it low...keep it low...

One more false cast...

And let 'er rip!

The first cast reached the first cone but fell short of the second. My second cast looked like it landed near the second cone, but I wasn’t sure and the third cast was definitely short of the second cone.

I asked the judges to call my scores.

“Come on!” I thought, “I just want ONE triple-digit cast!”

I only remember one score and I actually reacted strangely to it, at least to the people on the sidelines, I’m sure. I thought I heard “one-hundred-six”, meaning 106 feet, which made me ecstatic at first and then the judge clarified—he meant one hundred feet six inches.

“Oh, that sucks,” I said, bummed that it wasn’t 106 feet. In reality, though, I was more than happy. :)

My accuracy score goal was much different than my distance one: I just wanted to finish the course without embarrassing myself. If I got out in the low 80's, I would've been more than satisfied. Final scores for the course? 91 out of a possible 100 and then as a sub for another team, 97 out of 100. :)

After that, it was lunch, another class, some liquid refreshment with friends, a substitution for another team, some oogling over new fly gear and then the awards ceremony.

"Cheers!"

Substitution!

No dude, it's Thomas and Thomas all the way!

Bob and the Sage Girl

Look at this pretty little thing...

Others were sure that Men’s Distance was mine for the taking, but I wasn’t so certain. What can I say? It’s not over until it’s over.

Having said that, maybe I should start listening to others because when awards were announced and prizes distributed, my name was called and a brand new Orvis Zero Gravity 9-foot 5 weight was slipped into my hands! :)

It must be my lucky shirt!

Rod 25...but not for long!

How many 5 weights does that make, though? Probably too many (unless the 5 weight in question is a Scott G2) so I’ll probably offload it (Jamie’s got first dibs!) in favor of a pair of G3 waders or, perhaps, that G2 I was talking about…

Before this entry gets too long, I want to sincerely thank the Puget Sound Fly Co. for sponsoring our teams and give a very warm thanks to my teammates, all of whom were very supportive of me and each other during this event.

I hope we can all do this again next year. :)

Song of the day: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Poison

Where: The Sound
Conditions: Slightly overcast, calm.
Time of day: 6:30AM to 8AM.
Flies used: Brown over white shock & awe; olive over white clouser
Species pursued: Anything at this point!

The rumor was that tons of baitfish have been showing up at a particular beach over the past few days and seeing as I had the time to spare...

I met Phil around 6:30 and was pleasantly surprised to see Paul there, using a double-hander, no less.

One of these kids is doing his own thing...

As has been the pattern of late, my presence seemed to scare the fish away and all of us walked away with goose eggs. :(

No matter, there was plenty of day left to do other things. Like compete at the Loomis casting games at Puget Sound Fly Company. That and pick up my new reel. :)

I couldn't resist! It was on sale, after all...

The course looked pretty standard, except for the typically devious wind currents present in the alley.

Looks easy, doesn't it?

Far from it. I didn't even show up for the accuracy competition.

Nice loop! Why couldn't I do that?

As far as distance goes, I was lucky enough to make a shootout with Ibn but how are you supposed to beat a cast of 119 feet?

And to the victor go the spoils!

Given the whippings I got today, I was just happy that I made one of the shop's casting teams for the September competition. :)

Now, if I could just solve that issue about catching fish...

Song of the day: Inno Nazionale Italiano (The Italian National Anthem--it's a long story...)

"Hey, check this out--you've been to this shop, right?"

"Yeah. Casting games this Saturday, huh?"

"Let's go; it's another Scott Demo Day, too."

"Nice. You remember what happened the last time I went to one of those, right? I bought rod 23..."

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm in the back of Pacific Fly Fishers, tooling around with a limited edition 12-foot 5 weight spey rod--the one rod that eluded me at the previous event.

"Are you going to compete?" Dan, the Scott rep asks me.

"I think so, after Jamie goes. Or maybe after Chris and Brendan throw."

I'd seen "Backyard" (Chris--video) cast before and knew he could huck line and with Jamie throwing bombs earlier in the week, I was thinking my A game wouldn't be enough. Plus, this was a distance AND accuracy competition. Distance was pretty straightforward but given the tiny rings we were all faced with, accuracy would be the challenge of the day. For me, at least. :)

The competitive field

On the other hand, this was the perfect oppportunity to see how I match up against my fishing partner and a couple of other notable anglers in the area. All under the pressure of competition.

Jamie went first, throwing an average in the mid 90's. To add to things, he did pretty good on accuracy.

Great.

Having set the tone like that, the rest of us were reluctant to go. But impatience got the better of me and I stepped to the line. My second cast piled up at 74 feet--the result of some annoyingly-placed weeds behind me. The third cast was a complete turnaround: 102 feet. The fourth cast measured in the mid 90's and with final cast left, I managed to throw 103 feet. Sweet! And no, I wasn't using an 8, it was a 6 weight. :)

Accuracy is where the Fish Gods took mercy on me. I scored on 4 of the 6 itty-bitty rings, finishing with a total score of 118.5 points--first place!

For the time being.

All that was left to do was hope Chris and Brendan didn't oust me. And trust me, Chris shook my hope when he bombed a 101 on his second cast. All he had to do was throw 105 to tie me in average distance and then administer the coup de grace in the accuracy portion.

Long story short? Take a look below:

The final scores. Too bad those are points and not feet, huh? :)

And here are the spoils:

First Prize

Hmmm...what to spend it on. Well, this was a Scott Demo Day, after all, and remember that 12-foot spey rod I mentioned earlier?

Let's just say that my reward is $75 off rod number 24... :)

"...is a new SA fly line."

"Fair enough. See you tomorrow night."

At $65, a new line is a small price to pay to attend an invitation-only casting class taught by none other than Brian O'Keefe. If you don't know who Brian is, just flip through the pages of any fly fishing magazine and take a look at who took the photos. Not only does this guy have the life that many of us dream about, he's a Fly Fishing Federation Master Casting instructor.

Today's topic? Competitive casting.

How could I resist the invitation?

High performance rods for high performing casters

I wasn't the only one who couldn't stay away. Besides Jamie, Joe, Ibn, Ed, Corey and a few other competent casters came out to see, and later participate in, the show.

Brian messing with Clark's stroke

After a breakdown of the skills needed to throw 90+ feet, Brian coached each attendee, starting with yours truly. Luckily, I didn't make a fool of myself and even threw a couple of near 100-foot casts.

The interesting thing was that just about everybody was bombing last night, with Jamie easily tossing over 100 feet with the upper end being around 115. All I can say is that I'm glad he's on my team this year! :)

Many thanks to Clark and Anil at Puget Sound Fly Company (253-839-4119 www.pugetsoundflyco.com) for hosting this event. It's not every day you can get one-on-one tutelage from someone of Brian's caliber and see immediate results.

Now I just have to practice all that stuff before September's competition...