Tracy&James | Thursday, 28 July 2016
Last weekend the BFCC were invited by one of the club members to support a country fair in Devon, which is apparently the biggest single-day country fair in the UK. James and I ran a free to enter distance casting competition for anyone and everyone to have a go… except James as he was banned from entering as I didn’t think anyone would enter if his score was noted on the board!
We decided that everyone should use the same gear, which was the BFCC’s 7# outfit. We were a little apprehensive about whether to offer a prize or not as we weren’t sure how many people might enter or whether there would be any interest… but as we couldn’t think of a decent prize, we didn’t offer one…
The day started off well with the local casting instructors and those on the rest of the nearby fishing/shooting stands having a go, then we had a steady stream of entrants, some following instruction, others just fancied a try, some wanted to cast the gear but didn’t want to enter.
As the day progressed, the results of the competition became interesting as only a few people had passed the 100ft mark (myself being one). Then several people came back for a second try, then a third and a fourth as the conditions improved later in the day! The winning distance kept moving between the multiple entry casters, though near the end of the day, a chap called James Greene (a shooting instructor who is also a keen fly-fisher) who had entered several times, was beaten by Andy Parkinson with a stunning cast of 122’ 4’’ that was 9’ further than second place. I came fifth overall in an otherwise all male field and I didn’t have multiple attempts since I was too busy running the event! I was amazed that so many people entered just for the chance to have a go when there was no prize other than the ‘glory’ of beating others or giving themselves a target to beat in the future…
This shows that for single handed competitions, you don’t need to offer incentives for people to enter. Most people are just interested in how far they could cast and getting tips on improving their casting for fishing. Many casters had the usual tracking faults but still cast quite far – I wonder how far they would cast if that was corrected? Tracking is definitely the number one problem we see from casters attending BFCC meetings and events.
At these events, I always find that people are really friendly and helpful, and this fair was no different. We had offers of support to run a BFCC meeting in the local area, were provided with food and drink, and even offered fishing on the River Exe on the Sunday. That was a lovely way to end of trip to Devon, wading the river, catching a few small but beautiful brownies, and some escapee rainbows. Chatting to locals walking their dogs, whilst ‘enjoying’ the more usual British summer weather – heavy rain!
Next weekend is going to be equally busy, 3 days at the Ragley Hall game fair where the BFCC will be running the single handed casting events (#7 and a ST27 comps). Hopefully lots of opportunity for me to practice for the Worlds… So if you’re going, maybe I’ll see you there (does anyone know if there are carp in the Ragley hall lake?) Otherwise have a great weekend.
Tracy.
