The Australian Games

[ChrisBaty]

Currently working on a casting obstacle course similar in concept to the Danish games but with some of the gear and casts we use across Australia. Spent the afternoon messing about with 3 of the 10 casts, The Tailer, The Cruiser and The Overhang (like the danish games “Limbo”). With the trailer and the cruiser fly and line have to land outside the large ring or “spook zone” but then you need to be able to strip the fly into the strike zone (smaller target). A weighted bonefish style fly would be used for these 2 casts. The overhang is a simple matter of casting under the horizontal bar and hitting the target beyond it. Fly for this would be a large deer hair fly. Distances and target sizes will be sorted in the coming weeks but hoping to have a 10 cast event nailed down for a test run in the first half of the year.

[George C]

Curious.
For tailing fish I try to put the fly very close to their nose, not overcast and strip it there.
For cruising fish, again an overcast is bad unless far ahead. Typically I want the fly moving away when the fish sees it.
Alas, what I attempt and what I do usually are different.

[ChrisBaty]

George, thanks for the feedback. Many ways to skin a cat. For this tailing scenario I’m thinking carp. The cast is made past as a direct hit would spook them like a kid brushing up against seaweed in the surf. Fly lands and is dragged quickly across the surface until directly above the strike zone and then dropped into it…….such as a yabby (crawfish) or shrimp might do from time to time after being flushed out from the dredging feeding style of these critters. Agree too with the cruising fish. The actual target I want to use for the cruiser is a plank about 20cm x 1m long running in line with the fish’ path of travel. The fly just needs to touch the plank by landing on it or past and then dragged onto it. If it landed on the fish side of the plank then that would represent a spooked fish and if it landed on opposite side that would represent too far a lead and possibly allow the fish to change paths and not intercept the fly. Nothing perfect here of course but working towards something that resembles real life fishing scenarios.

[Paul Arden]

Looks like fun! I agree on the fly retrieved to fish spooked scenario of course. Also an option for curved casts depending on your position!

Great to see some variety!!

Cheers, Paul

[VGB]

Great set up

[ChrisBaty]

Looks like fun! I agree on the fly retrieved to fish spooked scenario of course. Also an option for curved casts depending on your position!

Great to see some variety!!

Cheers, Paul

Thanks Paul,

Trying this in the hope it gets some younger anglers interested in casting. I’ll be taking it to a local fly club in the new year where they cast before their meeting but only ever get a couple of members having a go. It’ll be interesting to see if this brings a few more out of the woodwork.

[ChrisBaty]

Great set up

It’s getting there VGB. More casts to work on and there’ll be plenty of tweaks along the way.

[John Waters]

Great initiative Chris,

John

[ChrisBaty]

Great initiative Chris,

John

Cheers John,

Ron and Westy certainly enjoyed it last night. Something they didn’t just nail first cast or every cast so a nice new challenge for them. Now to work on the other 7. Curve casts will be one, possibly 2 and I’d like to have a bow and arrow cast amongst the mix also. I need to go through the Danish games again as there were several that I wanted to incorporate from that, possibly with slight changes. Do you have any suggestions for something with a local flavour?

[John Waters]

Hi Chris,

For Bellarine saltwater anglers, perhaps a single pickup, backcast and and shoot to the Arenburg target at say 20 metres from the caster. Caster has picks up a start line length of say 15 metres.

Maybe?

John