Hello Everyone, the Dallas Fly Fishers, with the support of several of the area�s FFI certified casting instructors, will be hosting a casting workshop discussing the Fly Fishers International�s (FFI) new �Casting Skills Challenge� on Saturday, May 18, in the McKinney area. The challenge is an FFI "Learning Center" educational program designed to help us improve our casting skills.

On Saturday, May 18, from 10:00 to 12:00 several of the area�s FFI casting instructors will be hosting a free casting workshop on the Bronze award level of the FFI Fly Casting Skills Challenge. The location will be at �Inspiration Park� in McKinney, TX. The park�s address is 4212 Shawnee Drive, McKinney, TX.

The casting skills challenge is new and the goal of this workshop will be to explain the program and the casting skills required to achieve the Bronze award level. A wide range of casting skills are required for each of the different award levels and I think you find that this program will challenge your casting skill comfort zone. The goal of this program is to help you learn additional casting skills that will enable you to efficiently fly fish in a wider variety of conditions and environments.

This email is an invitation to come join us for a free casting workshop and learn about the program. This workshop will be open to anyone that wants to attend, but please note that this will not be an introductory level workshop. The workshop format will include demonstrations and explanations of the required casting skills and the opportunity to try casting many of them.

Unfortunately, we will not be able perform any challenge evaluations during this workshop due to time constraints.

The details about the casting skills challenge program are in this FFI link:

https://flyfishersinternational.org/Education/Learning-Center/Casting/Casting-Skills-Challenge

More details about the Workshop:

- Location: Inspiration Park
- Address: 4212 Shawnee Drive, McKinney, TX
- Time: The workshop will start at 10:00 am
- Duration: Expected to end by 12:00 noon
- Recommended Equipment:
> A medium weight line/rod � 5, 6, 7 weight range
> You are welcome to bring a lawn chair
- Safety: Please wear eye protection and a brimmed hat.

- Restroom: Unfortunately, this park does not have a restroom. The nearest restroom is the QT store on the corner of Wilmeth and 75. It is located one exit south of the Bloomdale Road exit.

Directions to Park:
- The park is located at 4212 Shawnee Drive, McKinney, TX.
- The park is located in a newer subdivision on the north side of McKinney
- Going North on Hwy 75. Take the Bloomdale Road exit, exit # 42B.
- At the Stop Sign turn Right (east) on Bloomdale Road.
- The first Left (north) is Shawnee Drive, about 1/2 mile from 75.
- Note: There is an elementary school on this corner. Turn left on to Shawnee.
- The park is located at the bottom of the hill.

This sounds like a great event, looking forward to it.

Thanks Ocelot. I hope you can join us.

Awesome and thank you Rex!!

very interested!

I put together everything to setup a half dozen casting courses this weekend. After going through it several times, I like this challenge program even more than I did before. None of the Bronze skills are difficult, but when you put them all together this course will challenge most casters. And it is just fun to do.

Come join us in a few weeks, this will be a fun session.

The Bronze challenge has seven different skills. Here's a summary of them. None are too difficult, but there are limits on how many attempts are allowed for some of them and that does increase the overall difficulty.

1. 40 foot pick up and lay down cast landing within 2 feet of a 40 foot target.
2. 40 foot vertical to horizontal cast that delivers the fly no higher than 4 feet from the ground and landing within 4 feet to either side of a line from the caster to the 40 foot target. (Think about casting under a tree limb or boat dock.)
3. 40 foot roll cast dominate side landing within 2 feet of a 40 foot target.
4. 40 foot roll cast non-dominate side landing within 2 feet of a 40 foot target.
5. Shooting line, 40 ft pick up and lay down cast with the fly landing 45 feet or more within 4 feet from the tape.
6. Accuracy - land the fly within 2 feet of 20, 30, and 40 foot targets.
7. Distance - start with a 40 foot pick up and cast to 50 feet or more landing within 4 feet either side of the tape. False casting and hauling allowed.

Sounds great Rex! I am going to try to make it.
On roll casts are we using water or on the grass?

eric

Yes Eric, come join us.

Unfortunately, no water at this park. One of the topics will discuss how to use a �roll cast tool� for practice.

I suspect the roll cast tasks will be the most challenging for most people to complete.

I'm sorry, but there is a severe thunderstorm forecast for Saturday morning.

In the interest of safety, we have decided to postpone this workshop.

I apologize for the late notice. Please help spread the word about this change.

Thanks,
Rex

Just bringing this up to the top one last time, in an attempt to insure everyone knows that we had to cancel tomorrow's workshop.

Wow! Tornadoes in San Angelo, Abilene, Balinger, and Lawton, I think we made the right call to delay this workshop.