I just finished a jasmine tea with boba. Whenever I have something to celebrate, I have one. That’s the way it’s been for almost two decades.
This weekend, a dream came true. I became the Northwestern Fly Accuracy Champion. What’s more, I won with an aggregate score of 397. I am told that only two people have scored higher in the history of the American Casting Association. I also beat three of my heroes: Steve Rajeff, Henry Mittel, and Chris Korich.
Up until two days ago, I had never beat Steve. Never. Nine years. Nine long years. Very few people can say that they have beaten Steve. He is the world’s best fly caster, winning countless American Casting Association and World Championship titles.
Henry won the Fly Accuracy Combination, All Accuracy Combination, All Anglers Combination, and the coveted, US Open All Around at the last US Open of Casting in 2023. He is the next Steve Rajeff. At the World Championships in Sweden, he beat me in Trout Accuracy where he placed second.
Chris Korich was the World Champion in Trout Accuracy in 2022 (Veteran Men’s Division) and 2016 (Men’s Division). He has also won many American Casting Association and World Championship titles. Chris is also my coach.
I don’t name these Hall of Famers of the American Casting Association as if they were heads mounted on a trophy wall. No kills were made this weekend. I am certain that they will cause me much grief and disappointment in future battles. I simply casted better than everyone else for four combined events this weekend. I mention their names in total reverence, and I just wanted to put things into perspective for others and, in particular, for me. I am so proud of myself. I am beaming. And honestly, I rarely beam.
Who knows what will happen. I will continue to train hard and think about one target at a time. I cannot control whether another title is in my future. So, I need to enjoy this victory. But this achievement is not mine alone, and hence, this post. I would like to thank my two coaches.
Chris. I want to thank you for your mentorship. I am the fly caster that I am… because of you.
Before the World Championships this year, you raised my fly casting to a new level. Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way that I had planned in Sweden. I had prepared for every tiny possibility – except COVID. Under the circumstances, I was fortunate to get bronze while I was sick, but as you know, I had trained for gold.
Every day for two years, I trained for a singular goal. Four days before the finals, I qualified in first place. Then, my quest ended… in (what felt like, at the time) failure. I don’t know whether I would have won if I were not sick. 72 (the winning score) was formidable. But, following the tournament, I was also sad. I felt that I had let everyone down – including you. This year was the first time a non-American won Trout Accuracy (congratulations to Steinar Røstad) when Team USA was part of the competition.
I know that you have tried to ease my grief. You have told me that I did not let anyone down… that I am now a two-time World Championship medalist… that you believe in my abilities. I also know that a number or a result does not define me. I know. But, it’s been difficult.
To an extent, I know that I sound spoiled. I struggled to cope with an international fly casting tournament where I medalled. Relative to others, my problems are trivial. I know.
Yet, this weekend became everything that I had worked so hard to accomplish. Although I thought about other people’s scores occasionally, I gently reminded myself to re-focus. “Stand tall. Stay loose. Don’t hammer the front casts.”
This weekend, I turned a corner. For the first time, I enjoyed casting during a competition. My fly landed where I wanted it to go. Finally, my fly casting wasn’t a version of Jekyll and Hyde. At last, I had a reliable, trustworthy stroke.
There will be stumbles ahead. Up until this weekend, we both know that I have found every possible way to lose an event… and in the process, I’ve managed to create some new ways not to win, too. But I think that this weekend marks the start of a new chapter.
You summed it up best on Sunday morning before my last two events. I was like Dorothy. I was already wearing the ruby slippers. I didn’t need to find the Wizard of Oz. I could have gone home at any time that I had wanted.
Thank you for being my coach, but more importantly, thank you for being my friend.
Chi. Thank you for coming to virtually all my practice sessions. Thank you for watching my back casts and the rod tip at the end of my back casts. Because of you, I have one of the best back casts out there.
Now that we are working on my front cast, my next goal is to get my loop as tight as Steve’s or Chris’ loop.
Thank you for coming to every competition. I couldn’t have done it without you. WE won the Northwestern Fly Accuracy Champion. WE won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Sweden. WE won the silver medal at the World Championships in Norway.
Thank you for being my coach, but more importantly, thank you for being my better half, fiancée, and soon-to-be wife.
I am a very lucky person… in life and in casting. I should have another jasmine tea with boba. No milk, please.
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