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Just a general statement that has nothing to do with anyone's geographic origin and I'll keep this limited to freshwater fly fishing:
There's 'fishing' and there's 'catching'. The former has enjoyment and the entire experience at the root of its foundation. The need to catch fish is secondary. However, in the latter, it is exactly the opposite. The foundation or primary goal is to catch fish. 'Catching' is the reality of competitive fishing. Which is not to say it cannot be enjoyable but that is simply a by-product.
Allan
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I think the reason that these competitions are held on trout water, is because that is still the over all general non-fly fishing general public's conception of what fly fishing is. And don't foreget the advertising dollars. It's always about money.
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part of the reason the Euros do better at competitive fishing may be for the same reason they have ruled in competitive rock climbing for decades. that is, there is a total community support, both private and corporate, in the european competitive realm, whether it be fishing, climbing, hockey, or what have you. that means family, friends, and sponsors train together, work together and improve together.
here in the US, so much focus is on individual improvement and "im better than you" crap, rather than team growth, that the focus is lost on the competitions at hand. couple that with limited community support in the private realm, as well as limited corporate support, and you have the makings for a "lesser team" from the americans. the only "athletes" (competitors) that recieve both corporate and private support from the communities are professional athletes IE: football, baseball, basketball.
look at it this way: we cant even hardly share a stream with a stranger without it turning into some sort of "unhealthy" rivalry, where, often times, one or more fisherpersons end up angry, and having a fit of "rod rage". you dont see that in the european realm. close-knit companionship is sought after, rather than ran from. it helps to promote the improvement of everyone involved, rather than one or two exceptional fisherpersons.
considering that i live and breath USA, and have never been overseas, this is obviously conjecture based on observation, rather than fact based on experience.
for the record, there are several areas in southern california and the northern west coast where you can warm water, saltwater, and trout fish in a day...
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tyeflier, I was thinking that about the West Coast myself.
Also, Hawaii, although the trout there are a little hard to reach.
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I'm afraid that AScott Trout Flies has it right. The USA "can" compete with the European teams. The first year I coached the youth team we won a silver team medal and an individual gold. As a team member in Sweden we placed in the top 10 and in Spain we placed 8th with one of the members winning a bronze.
As a team our largest hurdle to over come is the lack of support back home. I've pulled out of pocket personally to compete and coach these teams. On a guides salary I've eated pork and beans to pay the bills during competition years. I won the ESPN Great Outdoor Games casting competition this year. I even set a new total point record by a considerable margin. With a 4th place finish in the fishing I cashed a huge check of $1750. If I'd of been a bass angler it would have been in the hundreds of thousands. Back to pork and beans. Thank goodness for sponsors like Simms, SA, Columbia, etc. Also thank goodness for all the supporters of competitions who book guide trips with me to help pay the bills.
Yes we did have a competition on the Snake River in 96. The rules of competition state that no competitor can be on the competition waters 90 days prior to the World Championships. There were no area guides that could afford to give up a summers worth of guiding wages for the sake of a competition or we'd of swept the event.
All the hub-bub over competitions that I hear is over the fact that it is with trout or that it will call attention to event waters. Every event is catch and release with the best anglers in the world. The waters are generally closed during the competition to the public. The waters will receive considerably less pressure during an event than they ever would during a normal day of fishing. In regards to media attention, I certianly hope so. After the event in Jackson the One Fly grew to epic porportions. That TU chapter raises nearly a million dollars last year during the One Fly event. Almost all that money will go back into the fishery.
My participation in the Masters, the Great Outdoor Games, and the World Championships have been some of the best fly fishing experiences of my life. I've learned more as a result of the event itself than I've learned in 25 years of guiding. I have fishing buddies now quite litterally all over the world and we stay in contact via email.
I can understand how you might have a negative feeling about competitions, but for me they have been a very positive experience.
John Wilson
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Did I deride competition? I merely posted that I'm not sure it's good. That's a statement of moral ambiguity, not condemnation.
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Sorry Obtuse. My post wasn't directed at you specifically, just at the questions of competitions in general. I hope you didn't think I was directing anything at you. If you did please accept my apologies. I was just trying to answer all the questions at once, including some of those that haven't as yet been asked.
John
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John,
I've fished in the past on the U.S. fresh water fishing team (float, not fly), so I know what you mean about not getting any support (monetary or otherwise). Our European competitors had small armies of support people plus lots of sponsors with deep pockets.
On a side note, how are U.S. fly team members chosen?
And congratulations on winning the outdoor games!
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the money side of things in the UK are no better, most competitors use their own money to fund the trips to competitions. And as for competitions being bad for the sport, I disagree, whould we have had the advance in rod design etc without them?
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Work is a means for people to afford their fishing.
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FlyFishAR wrote,
"Yes we did have a competition on the Snake River in 96. The rules of competition state that no competitor can be on the competition waters 90 days prior to the World Championships. There were no area guides that could afford to give up a summers worth of guiding wages for the sake of a competition or we'd of swept the event."
Boy, is that self-serving and a load! I'm guessing that all of the potential competitors, here and foreign, had to consider their finances, travel, being away from home, fishing new waters, etc.
Then tyflier says one of the reasons for the success of the Europeans is, "there is a total community support, both private and corporate".
This last comment conflicts with Garic who wrote (above) that, "the money side of things in the UK are no better, most competitors use their own money to fund the trips to competitions".
Competition isn't easy and it certainly isn't always equal. Our athletes have the best resources for training available. That's just the way it is.
So the fly fishing (freshwater for trout) team got beat. That's the way it goes.
Allan