A Casting Comp for Everyone

[ChrisBaty]

Here’s the deal. We have a small local casting group that gets together monthly for a cast and friendly competition here in Geelong, Australia. To date that has been a day of accuracy spin, bc and fly. We’ve recently started doing a distance get together (only 2 so far) and I’m wanting to try and add a competitive side to the fly distance also.

So a couple of questions

1 How could I make this enjoyable for people of all casting skills and make it available to casters who just have basic trout gear without bogging it down with too many rules yet at the same time making it worthy of the time of high level casters?

2 It seems that quite a few people cant/won’t make the journey to the location we cast at (we’re a bit out of the way) so how do we make it inclusive for those that live too far away?

3 I’ve seen virtual casting comps mentioned in other posts. For those who have run them any tips? For those that cast in them would you cast in them again, did you enjoy the experience and could anything be done to make it an even better experience?

I think the answer to question 2 is a virtual aspect to the comp especially given I know there are casters in other states that have no local casts to go too at all. I’m hoping to run this as a monthly comp in line with our get together too so that especially newcomers can see their improvement over time

Appreciate any help or ideas on this.

Cheers
Chris

[Michal Duzynski]

Hi Chris and Welcome to Sexyloops. As we spoke today count me in, and if I can help in anyway just text me.
Looking forward to this.

You see guys, finally Australia is waking up- YESSS

Cheers
Mike

[Paul Arden]

Hi Chris,

2&3 is a bit different but the best, most interesting, fairest and friendliest competitions I’ve been in have been the “Sexyloops Shootouts”.

Everyone casts the same gear. That gear can be anything from 12WT to 3WTs to cane rods, fibreglass, overlined, underlined, comp gear etc.

Depending on numbers there can be many casting lanes – I’ve cast in four lanes many times.

2 minutes on the clock, longest cast is scored. After two minutes you move lanes and repeat until you’ve cast all outfits and then you measure while other people cast. To measure properly you need two people on every lane.

If you get the longest cast you get 1 point. Second longest 2 points and so on. At the end of the comp all points are added up so the caster with the least number of points wins.

It can be a lot of fun moving between outfits and trying to figure them out in 2 minutes.

Accuracy is also a good game and I’d suggest WC rules for this:
https://www.icsf-castingsport.com/uploa ... nrules.pdf

Cheers, Paul

[ChrisBaty]

Michal, thanks for the reply and the offer to help. We will get to cast together before spring even if it’s in a virtual format. I will certainly seek you out for some help.

Paul, thanks for the input, the Sexyloops format sounds like a great idea. The issue is at the moment having so few casters being so far apart it’s difficult to get numbers. I’m looking for a way to make it fun for those of any level that turn up with the ability for those too far away to still be able to compete in some way. Accuracy, we have a dedicated day already for this and yes it’s a great game.

Thanks again for the input.

Cheers
Chris

[Michal Duzynski]

No worries, I will contact Bernt Johansson and check if we could use his program/software for the virtual comp.
It was excellent when we did it.

[James9118]

Hi Chris,

Welcome to Sexyloops.

I ran one of the virtual comps over the Covid lock-downs - the pick-up, lay-down (PULD) #5 distance event. This was pretty successful mainly, I think, because people were missing their 'live' comps at the time. It attracted some world class entries, in fact the overall winner was the reigning #5 world champion at the time.

One thing that the BFCC (British Fly Casting Club) has continued with since Covid is the virtual entries to the competitions for people who can't make it on the day. We have a regular entrant from Spain who does this. For interest there is a BFCC competition this Sunday so if you fancy entering virtually then please do so.

Also the BFCC has a 'B100' category for those who don't routinely cast a #5 over 100ft in competition. This is to encourage those who would otherwise be intimidated by the distances cast by the overall event winners.

Cheers, James

[alanj]

James, how does the virtual competition actually work? I don't see anything about it on the website.

Don't suppose there is a B50 category as well is there?

[James9118]

HI Alan,

It's just that the entrants get their results listed on the day. Obviously this relies on a degree of trust, but there's nothing to win at the BFCC that's worth cheating for. Obviously virtual entries don't count in the championship though. No B50 category , but I'm sure with practice you'd be competitive in the B100 - you're in the right place to learn.

James

[ChrisBaty]

James,

That’s fantastic thanks. I will need to look at how the PUALD comp works. We have an accuracy day Sunday which will tie me up for the day but I may be able to get away to give this a shot. I’m definitely in the B100 class but that is why I’ve taken an interest in distance casting and competitive casting, to encourage me to practice and improve. I have a MED #5 turning up this week so at least have the right line for the game. I may reach out in future for more detail or ideas to get this idea up an running for our guys.

Regards
Chris

[ChrisBaty]

James,

Sorry, a couple more for you. Do we need to send a video of the cast for the BFCC event? I’ve seen this on other virtual comps. Also it seems you are casting quite a few events on the day, what events are open for the virtual entrants? Lastly is there a need to register as such or just send in details of the distances etc?

Thanks again, sounds interesting.