The Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club in San Francisco (the cradle of casting and fly rod design in America) held its annual Jimmy Green Spey-O-Rama last weekend, drawing casters from around the world to compete in what amounts to a de facto world championship.
Travis Johnson of Maupin, Oregon, took first place in the Men’s Open Division with casts of 182 feet (Left Snake Roll), 173 feet (Right Single Spey), 183 feet (Left Single Spey) and 174 feet (Right Snake Roll), for a staggering four-cast total of 712 feet. Tommy Aarkvisla from Norway took second (156, 185, 172, 195=708). His 195-foot Right Snake Roll was the long cast of the tournament. Blaine Lyon from Scotland tied for third with James Chalmers, also from Scotland with 688 total feet, but Lyon won the tiebreaker for long cast, 182 vs. 180.
Congratulations to all competitors in the Open, Senior and Women’s divisions, and especially to GGACC (see ggacc.org for more results)—you put the fishing feel into the casting competition… and you help put casting into fishing!
