Welcome Haysie (Peter Hayes, Tasmania!)

[Haysie]

Graeme,
I will be at testing at the event in the Blue Mountains and more than likely testing you. It is tricky when there are so few examiners who also teach to find a candidate that we have had nothing to do with. I do hope that I do have the privilege of passing you. If I am testing you only then will I teach you what I can.
I joke with Matthew Howell about that.. Matt has been a student then mate and now MCI mate of mine for 20 years. I tell him that "I have taught him everything he knows about fly casting.... but I haven't taught him everything I know about fly casting"

[Graeme H]

Sounds fair to me Haysie. I'll make sure I don't speak to you before testing then.

Morsie is the only Aussie MCI I know. He's the one who talked me into this mad undertaking. I guess that's one of the only advantages of living in WA - no contact with other MCIs to make testing more difficult than it already is.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Haysie]

Graeme,

If you ask Morsie who is testing you - as I understand he has done a schedule of testers, and I am not one of them , then I would be happy to help.

[Graeme H]

Will do.

Thanks,
Graeme

(There's this bloke called Paul who has been helping me a whole bunch, but he's now busy getting ready for some big casting comp in Europe. )

[Glenda]

Many thanks Peter
All great advice and a lot that I will certainly be practicing.

Hope you stay well.

Ps will also check out the April fishing with the gals.

Kindest regards Glenda

[Paul Arden]

It's a bit of a chicken and egg, you need an active team to attract sponsorship, yet without sponsorship it's difficult to travel. I'm quite sure that if Australia held the championships the same 80-100 competitors competing in Europe would compete in Australia. Some are lucky and are sponsored, the others pay off their own bat. It takes a certain sort of commitment of course. This is one reason why it's every second year; it halves the expense. For me I have to be part of it, for it's where the advances are being made. If you stand still for too long you get over-taken. And of course I'm making great friends there too

7'9 is too short for most river fishing here by the way! 8'6-9ft suits most rivers with Euro-nymphers preferring 10ft. We have a 7'6 for overgrown small streams, which is very nice but also rather niche.

[Haysie]

I can only speak for me Paul... and I can only guess for the others like me. Europe is a big call, even every second year. There is not the comp momentum here at home to keep it percolating along in between times.

I think the IFFF stuff and my odd get togethers is what holds the better casters together these days and those events are few and far between. We all seem to have kids and too many responsibilities.

BTW I caught up with Tim and Steve Rajeff the other day for a couple of casts. We talked of when we competed together back in 1981 and 1983. It was literally a life time ago.

We had a great time together messing about with distance and accuracy rods - no plug rods unfortunately. I had forgotten just how good those guys are. Their hand eye is exceptional. It's interesting to me that once you can cast at that high level you never really lose it.

As I said Paul.... it depends. Our rivers are very tight and as you know I'm not the slightest bit interested in lobbing nymphs just so I can say I caught a fish fly fishing. For me it's all about the cast.

[VGB]

7'9 is too short for most river fishing here by the way! 8'6-9ft suits most rivers with Euro-nymphers preferring 10ft. We have a 7'6 for overgrown small streams, which is very nice but also rather niche.

Bollocks

Hi Peter, I'm enjoying reading your thoughts.

regards

Vince

[Paul Arden]

Well I hope you're right. I have 40 tubes for 7'6 rods sent by mistake!

[Lasse Karlsson]

Time to make 5 piece 9footers then

And g'day haysie, great to see you here! Can I have my backcast back please

Cheers
Lasse