A complete report on the festival is in the making but this story needed to be separated out.
One of the events held at the 2014 Down the Hatch Festival was a target casting competition. The target used was really cool. It is called the
CasTarget. It is made out of that soft Velcro material. The flies are colorful and made out of the sticky Velcro material. The target is the official one used for the
Fishing in Schools Program and was being showcased in the competition.
The contestants were all adults and they were all competent fly casters. The first guy took a minute to figure out the right distance and then started to rack up points. The second guy did better, and the third about the same. They may have collectively scored 2 or 3 bull's eyes during constant casting over the allotted time.
When the competition ended, the announcer put in another plug for the target system and then said, "if there are any kids that want to try it out..." Before he could even finish, this little boy and girl came running up. The announcer handed over the $800 rod/reel combo to the anxious little boy without even the slightest hesitation.
While I, and everyone around me were still mentally digesting the developing situation and starting to form words...
He nails it on the second try!! Then, after letting another little boy and girl try...
He hit the bull's eye on the first cast and the crowd went nuts!!
