Whilst the overall results have been covered in earlier posts I would like to provide an overview of how much fun it was for both Keith Heaney and I as casters as well as our respective wives Leanne and Sue.
To say that we were made welcome and put at ease would be a huge understatement. The overall atmosphere at this Texas event was one that I had come to expect from the Loan Star State, laid back relaxed and just plain fun.As an added bonus the Trophies that were on offer were something to to aim for , though with the weight of them some to see. Must say that they are definately casting trophies that are easy to identify .
( Trophies courtesy of Jack - Top class )
After getting to the field and helping out with setting up we started the day casting the 150 and 175 gram weights, as would be expected the weather report was out and the forecast wind direction was found to be at 180 degrees to the way the could was set.
(Field prep is more than just laying the court out )
Still this just made the morning session more of a challenge for those of us competing and amusing for the ladies listening to our excuses for not putting the leads out further, as well as the usual run of incidents that come with casting. And before anyone asks yes I had a few crack-offs
but I wasn’t the only one to fall victim to this as we pushed the casts trying to get the leads to fly that little bit further. Conditions were also made that little bit more difficult with the residual Texas summer weather giving us a taste of what it can be like, the temperature was around 70 degrees in the morning rising to close on 90 as the day progressed with a very high humidity which was quite ok in the shade but for this Melbourne caster too hot for my liking. On the other hand for Keith who hails from the north of Western Australia it was a pleasant day and considered mild by his standards.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GHYQchn9avQ
( Keith the bare foot wonder doing nasty things to his rod )
( The Pavilion where we escaped the Texas Sun )
Casting kicked of and from the outset you could see that everyone was wanting to get a good distances posted but regardless of how hard we hit the leads the possibility of hitting any pb’s was to prove to be unlikely.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a0nDe1ivk0w
After battling with the wind and heat it was decided to take the lunch break as an opportunity to change the court around and get some assistance from what little wind there was as it had subsided as the day heated up. It did eventuate though at the end of casting
( Big Lou belting one down field )
I have attached video footage with the sessions broken up, I wasn’t able to capture all of the casts but as you will see I did get a fair chunk of footage down and have done slow motion shots to allow everyone to see what they were doing right or wrong whichever the case may be.
Note that the last few cast of day one and in particular mine was a light hearted tribute to the USA champion Tommy Farmer who I had hoped would have attended but due to circumstances wasn’t able to make it. I did catch up with Tommy in New Jersey and as you will see he does a much better job of getting the lead down field than I was able to do.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n4YwQ9ZmSL4
As the number of the people were unable to attend both days I made a concerted effort in capturing the images from the day to help as a reminder of the fun and laughs that we had with are new and reacquainted friends from my past visit in 2008 (where it was 108 degrees) Note to self don’t cast all day in Texas in Summer unless you have plenty of shade and LOTS to drink.
( Behind the scene wonder woman Lisa )
Day two dawned with the hope of milder conditions and a bit of dew on the grass but this was quickly dried of by the Texas sun and we once again had bright hot (for me anyway) conditions.
( Everyone assisted with running the day- Leanne marking up the score board )
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/894/p1000883y.jpg
( Getting ready for the first day wrap up )
Leads for day two were the 125 and 100 gram leads and it was to prove to be a very competitive day with the lead swapping around both at the upper levels as well as those progressing up with their distance. It was fantastic to see the improvements in everyone’s casting from only a few years ago and now we are seeing a number of casters that are world class and will do their country proud one day soon at the world titles or some of the other major events that are earmarked for the future.
(Video for Day two will follow)
I look forward to seeing these guys and hopefully a few of the lady’s as well in more comps as it is a great pastime as well as the perfect opportunity to pick up information and skill to assist us in getting a few more fish on the end of the line when we next hit the beaches, pier and rocks around our respective coastlines.