Not long out of bed and just had a sort through some pics.
Really good weekend on the DTX stand with Hamish & Matt Howell, good to catch up with a lot of friends I don't get to see that often.
I can't really give much of a report about the show itself as I spent most of my time casting or watching other casting to make sure I was not about to be knocked out of the running for anything.
Fishermans row was fairly busy most of the time, and mobbed at certain points. Most of those I spoke to reported good trade and the show seemed fairly well attended, it really makes our game fair look more than a little pathetic. Quite a few manufacturers were in attendance, MacKenzie, Hardy Greys Shakespeare group, Daiwa and Guide Fly fishing representing Vision and Rio Products.
Main reason H & I headed down was for the competitions, after a very long and sweaty drive down to Ragley we arrived and got set up early enough to get a few casts in. My 18' Spey was appallingly bad on Thursday night, even taking the conditions into account don't think I slept much more than an hour and was out again on the platform at 4:45AM thrashing away again.
Distances were not good for anyone due to the really bad cross wind, it was hard to get the head straight to get a good pick up for a single Spey. Was a bit happier after Friday as I had managed to get into the running for the final. I didn't bother throwing the big rod on Sat as the wind was simply too strong for any improvement and at £5 for 4 mins it can get quite expensive. Saturday was Saltwater day, more on that below.
Sunday morning came and after some goading about being old and past it, Mr MacKenzie (still possibly a bit pissed from the Sat night party) came down to the platform where I was practicing and had a throw. Considering Scott had not been on a roped out, measured CLA platform since 2005 when he broke Grants record at Belvoir and no longer practices with the big gear, the form and distance was simply amazing. Out came the wallet and 5 mins later he had qualified in third place knocking me down to 4th, I threw again and knocked him back which was very quickly rectified by Scott
Spey leader board at the end of the weekend before finals after qualifying had finished showing distances as they increased.
The final on Sunday was well watched which on added to the pressure, few pics below...
Tomo launches one in the final
Setting up in the final
Barrio DH18 flying off into 1st place, the standard 84 gram DH18 was used to win. This was not a special pro team only cut & splice job, only modification to it was 2'4" off the back end. Many of the lines used at these events are not exactly the same as those available to Joe public so for the DH18 to take 1st & 4th is a result I personally am very happy with.
Scott sending the DH18 off into the distance in the final.
Overall results for the final, the column headed "storm" is the laser measured distance, this is accurate to 10mm, the centre column is best qualifying position for each competitor and the left column is the observed distance from the boat. Very close indeed in the top four places, Scott was a clear winner but places below were there for anyone to take. 4th overall makes me very happy, 2nd was not that far away. Next year........
Scott receives his prize
And MacKenzie DTX receives the manufacturers trophy
CLA competitors, great to see Seichii Kaneya over from Japan again, must learn some pigeon Japanese for 2014!
Will get some pics and salt water details up later on.
Cheers
Ben
( I edited your video link Ben so that it displays in the thread, cheers, Mike )
