Tic-tac-toe

This game is so simple and dynamic it's bound to become one of the most popular. Everybody has played it at some time or other. I'll explain how you can apply it to a very fun fly-casting game. I lost track of time and played it for most of a whole afternoon. It really hooks you.

Necessary equipment

Radically against our reductionist oriental philosophy, this game requires a few things:

  • Nine hoops (Yep, that's right. That's quite a few hoops.)
  • Four mini traffic cones of one color and another four of another color
  • Four little flags (optional)
  • Two players
  • An assistant

Objective

  • To have a great time.
  • And to practice accuracy, direction changes, double haul, shooting line and slack line casts.

Procedure

  • Prepare the game board in a weedless field. Each hoop is one of the tic-tac-toe squares. Remember: 3 x 3. The distance from the center of one hoop to each contiguous hoop is about 3 yards. They should all be the same distance apart.
  • You can stake a little flag in each of outer corners of your game board to better set it off visually (or not).
  • The players stand about six yards from the center hoop on opposite sides of the game board.
  • Each player chooses their color of mini traffic cones.
  • Flip a coin to decide who starts. This is an important factor of the game, so you can decide who starts by seeing who casts farther in a single attempt. Or who the puts the tag in the center hoop first. Or any other procedure.
  • The first player chooses a hoop and tries to land the tag in it. (The center hoop is the most strategic but not the closest to the player.) You get two false casts for each attempt. If you succeed, the assistant places a mini traffic cone of your color in that hoop and you withdraw your line from the game board.
  • Then it's the other player's turn. Needless to say, the idea is to get three hoops in a straight line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal).
  • If you miss the hoop, withdraw your line and it's the other player's turn.
  • Whoever gets three in a straight line, wins one point.
  • The first to get five points wins.
  • Strategy is a factor in this game. Great.

Harder yet

One of the important advantages of this game is that you can easily adapt it to almost any level of fly-casting, from very beginner to very advanced.

  • Increase the separation between hoops.
  • Increase the distance of the fly-casters stand from the game board.
  • Do both of the above at the same time.
  • Always start with a given length of line (for example, the distance to the edge of the game board). This will force you to practice shooting line.
  • Play without false casts and with a long length of line (to the opposite edge of the game board, for example). This way, you'll practice slack line casts.

Carlos