Kalyn Hoggard | Monday, 21 July 2025
As I mentioned on a Front Page in the past, I am going to be competing with the USA Fly Casting Team for as long as they are willing to have me. I am loving the nerdy journey down into the bowels of lines, leaders, and equipment. In fact, the process of working through what I like and don’t like about certain casts, rods, lines, and leaders has really lit a new kind of fire in me. Also, I may be developing a stomach ulcer. I am only kidding with that remark, but to try to find exactly which setup helps to eliminate as many variables as possible, in whichever competitive fly casting game you are playing, is quite the endeavor.
Luckily for me, there have been many a great caster in the world, and there have been many experiments done and cults created around what to use in which weather condition, with which cast, and with which rod. I’m blessed to have the opportunity to talk to some of those veterans of the competitive casting world, and they have cleared everything up. Everyone agrees on which rod to use. Everyone agrees on what lines to use. Everyone agrees on which leader material, the leader formula, and all the perfect knots. Everyone even agrees on which cast to use and why. So, all the challenging questions have been solved. I just need to go out there and practice, right? Well… maybe it’s not quite as clear as all of that. Maybe I’m not the type of person to just take someone’s word for it. Maybe the equipment I have chosen isn’t a perfect fit, but maybe it is.
The last few months have been a whirlwind when it comes to finding the loop I want to throw in the events that I am registered for at the US Open in August. As of last week, Uncle Andy, aka UNC, aka THE RODFATHER, aka Andy Dear and I completed our first round of “think tank to rod in hand” experiments for Trout Accuracy, Trout Distance, and Sea Trout Distance. You might be thinking to yourself, “How in the hell did you come up with how you wanted to build all of those rods in that amount of time, Kalyn,” and you are not wrong. As I mentioned earlier, there is deep rabbit hole involved with all of this, and going from I am going to compete and I am competing in a couple of months is a quick turnaround. Our advantage was that Andy was excited about playing around and, well, it’s Andy. Also, I just asked all of the right people what they thought… specifically… like on paper… about everything. Now, it turns out that great casters don’t agree on much of anything, but when they do, one ought to pay attention. Andy and I decided to lean on Andy’s abilities and look at the similarities between the many different viewpoints and try to find a happy medium.
To quote any episode of Family Feud: “SURVEY SAYS!”
So far, I have not had enough time with the distance rods to really get to know them to the level I would like. As a matter of fact, as of today I don’t know for sure which cast I am going to be doing for distance. Stay tuned this should be a fun couple of weeks.
We had a simple idea for the Trout Accuracy rod, and the idea was backed by the man himself, so we went for it. I’ve had this rod for only a month or so. I built a makeshift platform in my backyard, and I have been putting in some rounds. I’m still not exactly sure what the perfect delivery to a target is, and I still really don’t know which leader will turnover the best in each wind condition. But I will say that this rod really likes a cast that I like, and there is a chance at a beautiful relationship there.
So what is all of the panic about?
I know that I shouldn’t be super nervous about the event that is rapidly approaching. I know that it is my first serious casting competition. I know that I have had the equipment that I am going to use for a very short time. I know that I am still not decided on almost anything when it comes to holding lines, shooting heads, and leaders. I know that I want to do this event so I can get some experience on the line when the casts matter. I know that the value of the experience regardless of outcome is going to be huge as I prepare for Worlds. But for some reason, I still want to win. I know it’s quite unlikely that I will be bringing home any medals from this event, but I would love nothing more than to do just that. I do not know if it is the fact that people are supporting me, or that the right people have told me they think that I will be competitive at these events. Or it could be that I have always had that fire to succeed at everything that I do for as long as I can remember.
Whatever the culprit, I’m fairly certain there are cocoons forming in my gut, and I hope that I can keep the soon fully formed butterflies from messing up a fun time. I can’t express how excited I am to be walking this part of my road right now, and I hope that I can get the chance to sit back and enjoy it. I have been blessed by my friends and the people that are supporting my journey to Worlds. I hope that the drive to not disappoint doesn’t get in the way of getting out there and showing them what I can do.
If you tune in next week, I will be telling you all of the intimate details about the rods. I’ve got all of the information on the blanks and the guides I am using, the spacing, and so on. I have had some interesting developments when it comes to leaders and heads. I’ll be putting out some line maps. I am going to be letting you know exactly what I am doing with my cast, and why I think it is the best way you can possibly do it. I am planning on sharing videos with anyone who shoots me an email to: ihopeyourealizediwaskidding@gmail.com I really just want to share everything that I can so as to strip any possibility of an advantage I could have. HA! Got ya! Find your own board of trusted advisers!