Scarborough Fly & Bait Casting Association

Scarborough Fly & Bait Casting Association
23 Willowhurst Crescent, Scarborough Ontario M1R 3R7
Phone & Fax - 416/755-5663
E Mail - coachman@pathcom.com
Web Site - www.pathcom.com/~coachman

We are a little late with the August Reel Thing as Sheila, Ray Cockburn, George Monroe and I were away for the past week attending the North American Fly and Bait Casting Championships in Michigan. We would like to thank our sponsors, Bridlewood Mall Shopping Centre and The Fitness Centre who assisted us with the considerable expenses of competing in the event this year.

Although each of us feel that we could have done better, it should be mentioned here that if we didn’t feel that way we shouldn’t have been competing there in the first place. One always has to believe that they can do better, no matter what the endeavour. To do otherwise, is only to regress.

Ray Cockburn scored a personal best with a wonderful round in 5/8 oz accuracy, 82, that put him in eighteenth place. If it had not been for his last cast and a momentary lapse of concentration, along with difficulty seeing the 80’ final target where he took a six, Ray would have finished in twelfth place. In only his second ever ‘National’, he can be proud to know that he is one of the top couple of dozen casters in Canada and the United States.

George Monroe, who has trained diligently with us since he joined the club little more than a year ago also set a couple of personal bests of which he can be proud, a great score of 147’ in Anglers Fly Distance placing in tenth position and 286’ in Two Hand Spinning Distance also finishing tenth. Tenth best caster in all of North America in two of the toughest distance casting disciplines there are…..damn good George!

Amazingly, too, in only his first year of competition, George competed in all twelve disciplines and did better than expected in most of them. Sheila had a difficult time dealing with the heat and conditions and was unable to live up to her customary high standards of previous medal-winning competition in the ‘National’, but as usual is eager to get back on the horse to try again next year when the event is staged in Long Beach, California.

Although I was unable to top the Senior National record, 427’ in Two Hand Spinning Distance, a record that I have been lucky enough to own since 1995, first place and the gold medal fell my way once again anyhow with a winning cast well ahead of the second place finish. That was the best I was able to do in the twelve games, other than the Anglers Fly Distance where my second place finish had to be erased as my line measured in overweight for some mysterious reason. I’m certain there is absolutely no truth in the rumour that during the weigh-in Peter Edwards had somehow managed to coat the line with lead paint. Just kidding Pete!

As president of our club, I’m pleased and proud of the efforts put forth and results achieved by our team and am looking forward to kicking butt again next year in California, hopefully with even more of our top casters in the club participating.

The Ganny produced an exciting session for Paul Kennedy and me a few days before we went to the National. After a huge brown trout mosied out for a look-see at my spinner then drifted back into its lair, several others then appeared to give it a once-over…..but no takers. We both kept working the pool until I made an up-river cast then all Hell broke loose. Splashing, thrashing, leaping all over the creek was a 29” beauty…..but alas, not the big brown but a gorgeous, resident river rainbow trout pushing the scales to almost nine pounds. Unfortunately it had to be kept as the gills were bleeding badly, but will provide a nice mess of Gravaadlaax to enjoy anyhow.

Angelo D’Souza caught his first brown on a fly while fishing the Upper Credit with Jurgen Brech who has rapidly become our premier fly fishing instructor in the club. Another interesting tid-bit occurred before we went to the National. Jim Lloyd, enamored with his big new motorbike decided it would make an interesting trek to pack up camping and fishing gear and try to get in to Limit Lake in Haliburton on the bush trail with the bike. Wrong. One of the mud holes proved to be too much for bike and rider and they went down into the muck. After a difficult job extricating himself and his wheels from the goop he decided that discretion was the better part of valour and he chose to retreat and call it a day.

I guess the big news in fishing is that our Broadback River odyssey is once again in the works. In a couple of weeks, Paul Kennedy (his fifth) Gary Benson (his fifth) George Monroe (his first) and I (my 24^th) will drive eight hundred miles into Northern Quebec, fly for about an hour in a bush plane then canoe another four or five miles to a little spot of Heaven than we deem ‘Our Territory’ to try to chase down a world record speckled trout.

We know they’re there. We have proof with film taken by our buddy and superb photographer, Rick Matusiak, a couple of years ago. Unfortunately Rick could not join us this year though. It would not surprise me in the least that George, in his first kick at the can, catches Mr. Big. He certainly has all the necessary qualifications, a professional fishing guide, fine fly caster and big enough to be able to land a trout bigger than Dr. Cook’s fourteen pound record brookie taken in 1914. George has a number of tarpon to his credit up to a hundred pounds and caught on a fly so a fifteen or sixteen-pound brook trout should be duck soup for the big guy.

We now have our fall and winter casting schedule (see below) and I think everyone will be pleased that we will be working the targets in the gym every two weeks this year instead of once monthly. Casters from other clubs receiving this bulletin are welcome to join us in the gym to work on the targets. Casting will continue at Milliken Park until August 18^th, our last night until we begin again at the gym in September.

November 3

*Indoor shop activities will be every Tuesday, commencing September 13^th providing there is sufficient participation, otherwise it will be every second Tuesday. Please advise me if you intend to attend these fly tying and rod building nights.