Tracy&James | Wednesday, 27 November 2024
The BFCC casting season is now officially closed after the competition event in Dodleston. Given the forecast for incoming rain during the afternoon, the competitors made sure they were ready to cast and we managed to get through all seven disciplines in double quick time. Unfortunately the weather meant that once again the distances weren't huge, but the various comps were hard fought. Hopefully next year we can drum up some more competitors, maybe a few more all-rounders who can challenge for the championship. We will also be introducing a seniors championship, although the details of this will be worked out sometime before the start of the 2025 season.
As usual Tracy and I will be practising throughout the winter. That said, Tracy hasn't cast since she injured her knee before the Dodleston event – she's still limping quite badly. We're fortunate enough to have a casting area right outside of our front door. This isn't big enough for full blown distance casts but can be used for carry practice and accuracy. I put quite a bit of time into my competition accuracy over the summer which paid off with the BFCC record plus a number of wins when previously it's been my weakest event. I think I can improve some more and plan to try a softer rod over the winter after listening to Chris Korich's pod cast – I'll see if this makes any difference to me over the next few months.
It's also time for me to dust off my fly tying kit. First on the list of ties is a replenishment of my Clouser stockpile. I haven't tied these for a while since I made a big batch a few years ago. I tend to tie these in size 4 and size 1, these are castable on our #7 outfits. Once I need a bigger fly I tend to go straight to a 6/0 streamer cast on a #10 outfit – almost always with a wire.
A couple of dozen chartreuse and white Clousers should do (I don't bother with any other colours) and then I'll move on to bonefish flies. Here I'll maybe have 4 or 5 patterns (Charlie and Gotcha variants plus my own concoctions) which I'll tie in sizes 4 and 6. Before I start though I need to source some hooks – the Daiichis I've previously been using have become harder and harder to find so I'm going to have to try something different. I had found the Ahrex SA220 whilst looking for an equivalent and this same hook was recommended when I asked a question on the Board – so I'll be giving them a go. I'll probably look to tie maybe a hundred flies – 20 odd of each pattern. However it's always the case that we'll favour one fly other the others, probably based on initial success, thus we'll burn through one pattern before all the others. Once again I'll be tying 100% of these flies with weed guards – I don't see the point of not including a weed guard on my bonefish flies these days, especially knowing the flats we'll hopefully be fishing next year.
Hope your having a great week.
James.