Casting Contest Featured At Family Fishing Fair, June 8

[Phil Lilley]

Lilleys’ Landing Resort & Marina is celebrating its 30th year in business!

In honor of this special occasion, Lilleys’ Landing and the Branson Chapter of Trout Unlimited will host the first area “Rio Gold Long Distance Challenge” June 8 along with its own accuracy casting contest at the Family Fishing Fair. The main host for the fair is the Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery.

The Family Fishing Fair is held each year on the Saturday of Missouri's free fishing weekend in June at the Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery at the base of Table Rock Dam. The event runs from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m..

The Family Fishing Fair is a great event to bring the whole family to. There will be many different activities and learning opportunities available during the event. Events will include: free fishing for trout in a designated area for kids 15 and younger, a fish cleaning and cooking station, a station to learn about aquatic critters, how to rig your rod station, fish identification station, and the Fishin’ Magicians, along with our casting competition.

Both of these free competitions will be held together at the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in conjunction with the Family Fishing Fair. Prizes will be awarded for first place through third place in both accuracy and distance.

First place winner in the professional division of the Rio Gold Long Distance Challenge will receive an Orvis Helios 2, 5-weight, 9-foot tip flex fly rod worth $795, donated by Lilleys' Landing.

First place winners of both divisions will receive any RIO fly line up to the value of $75 (MRSP). Second prize is the choice of any fly line within RIO's Avid Series. Third place is the choice of any fly line within RIO's Mainstream Series.

Prizes for the accuracy contest will be announced at a later date. A drawing will be held for additional items donated to the event.

Other prizes will be donated by Lilleys' Landing Resort & Marina, Rio, Angler's and Archery Outfitters, River Run Outfitters, Redington, Templefork Outfitters and more.

Organizer Darin Schildknecht said anyone can fish in the professional division, but guides or those professionally fishing in competitions are prohibited from entering the amateur division.

“Fly fishing can be such a solitary sport,” Schildknecht said, “but this will bring many together to test their skills and enjoy the company of other anglers.”

Entrants can register early at Lilleys’ Landing fly shop, 367 River Lane in Branson, MO, or on the day of the competition, up until the end of the contests.

In the distance contest, each entrant will cast five times within two minutes with the longest cast recorded. See Rio Gold Long Distance Challenge Rules.

The accuracy contest is a timed event. Anglers cast into five different rings placed at different distances and at different angles. The shortest time to finish wins. The objective involves casting to rings at different distances. Points will be awarded for time and accuracy. Competitors will be allowed to compete twice (2 rounds). There will be only one division. Prizes will be given to the top 5 place finishers. No one can win more than one prize. There is only one division in the accuracy contest.

“We are excited to be apart of the Family Fishing Fair this year.” Schildknecht said, “I believe we will see some great casters at this event as well as showing anglers how to fly cast. This contest will give families at the fishing fair some exposure to fly casting and all its finesse.”

Rio Gold Long Distance Challenge Rules

1. Each caster can make up to 5 casts, within 2 minutes of starting. After the 5th cast, or 2 minutes (whichever is sooner) the caster must hand the rod back to the person manning the competition, and their turn is finished.
2. No practice casts are allowed.
3. Each competitor must use the allocated RIO Gold line.
4. The leader must be a 7.5 ft, 2x leader (provided by RIO), with a small tuft of yarn attached.
5. Any cast that lands in front of the caster without yarn will not be measured, but will still count as one of the 5.
6. There is no limit on how many times a person can enter, but a new entrant will take priority if time is short.
7. A 9 ft, #5 fly rod of any make or model can be used, but it must be one provided by the participating store. Competitors may not bring or use their own rod for this challenge.
8. The competition is open to all attendees at the prescribed (and registered) event.
9. No competitor can win two prizes, even if they have more than one of the longest casts of the day. Their single longest cast is judged.

Amateur Division:

· The person who made the longest cast will win a RIO fly line of their choice, subject to a maximum value of $75 at suggested retail price.

· The person who made the 2nd longest cast will win a line of their choice from RIO’s Avid series.

· The person who made the 3rd longest cast will win a line of their choice from RIO’s MainStream series.

Professional Division:

· The person who made the longest cast will win an Orvis Helios 2, 5-weight, 9-foot, tip flex fly rod values at $795 suggested retail price.

· The person who made the 2nd longest cast will win a line of their choice from RIO’s Avid series.

· The person who made the 3rd longest cast will win a line of their choice from RIO’s MainStream series.

10. One competitor can not enter in both the amateur and professional divisions. If you enter as a professional in one contest, you are required to enter the second contest in the same division.

11. In the event of casters being tied with the first cast, their second longest cast will be compared and the longest of these will win. If the second longest cast is tied, then the third longest cast will be considered, then the fourth and finally the fifth. In the event of all five casts being of equal distance, all tied casters will receive the applicable prize.
12. The winners will be sent their prize directly from RIO, assuming they have filled out a registration form.
13. Every competitor who casts will receive a 3 pack of 9 ft 5x RIO trout leaders.
14. The entry award of a 3-pack of 9 ft, 5X leaders will be handed to each competitor by the rep (or the shop staff manning the event) after the competitor has finished casting. Only one pack per person will be given out, regardless of the number of times the competitor tries.
15. The RIO sales rep that is present at the event will make the final call on all mitigating issues – including cancellation of the event due to inclement weather.

Contact Lilleys' Landing Resort and Marina for more information at 417-334-6380.

[Phil Lilley]

I wanted to release this on the forum first. The long distance contest is pretty straight forward. So is the accuracy contest. But if we've made any errors in the explaining of the event, I wanted you all to find it, point it out before we send it to the media.

I think the Helios 2 rod till bring a few casters out!

[duckydoty]

Sounds like an interesting and exciting competition.

[Feathers and Fins]

Only thing I see as a possible issue is

7. A 9 ft, #5 fly rod of any make or model can be used, but it must be one provided by the participating store. Competitors may not bring or use their own rod for this challenge.

I have entered many long cast competitions over the years and seen many rods broke. If you must use a rod provided by a "Store" and you break it, you buy it! This lead to a lot of bad press and feelings. Most competitions quickly learned to allow anglers to use their own rods or if they supplied one understood broken rods were their responsibility not the anglers. Something should be done to and said about this, I understand from the past the sponsor wanted to try and maintain an appearance of everything is equal but it is impossible in casting contest. Best to let people use their own tackle incase of breakages. JMHO for experience.

[Wornica]

Wow, that Helios 2 rod is an outstanding prize!

[Phil Lilley]

Only thing I see as a possible issue is

I have entered many long cast competitions over the years and seen many rods broke. If you must use a rod provided by a "Store" and you break it, you buy it! This lead to a lot of bad press and feelings. Most competitions quickly learned to allow anglers to use their own rods or if they supplied one understood broken rods were their responsibility not the anglers. Something should be done to and said about this, I understand from the past the sponsor wanted to try and maintain an appearance of everything is equal but it is impossible in casting contest. Best to let people use their own tackle incase of breakages. JMHO for experience.

Never thought about it... thanks

[Brian Wise]

Only thing I see as a possible issue is

I have entered many long cast competitions over the years and seen many rods broke. If you must use a rod provided by a "Store" and you break it, you buy it! This lead to a lot of bad press and feelings. Most competitions quickly learned to allow anglers to use their own rods or if they supplied one understood broken rods were their responsibility not the anglers. Something should be done to and said about this, I understand from the past the sponsor wanted to try and maintain an appearance of everything is equal but it is impossible in casting contest. Best to let people use their own tackle incase of breakages. JMHO for experience.

I casted in the Best of the West competition in Denver (before it turned into a accuracy only competition and basically died) and they had a variety of rods to choose from. This event was a huge indoor event with over 700 casters just in Denver, and they had 3 other ISE Shows they held the competition at. If you are casting a standard floating line and no shooting-heads or other tweaked lines the chances of breaking the rod through the casting stroke are slim to none. There were casters that put up HUGE numbers (120'+) with standard 9' 5wt rods and floating line and no rods broke.

Haven't distance casted in a while....might need to start messing with it again.

[Phil Lilley]

Good to know.