Contributed Story, Edited by Rob Potter
LIVINGSTON MANOR — January 2, 2007 — At the 11th annual Catskill Rodmakers Gathering held this past September 9 and 10, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM), the Eastern Bamboo Rodmakers, Harold and Eileen Demarest and the Cortland Line Company made an announcement about the First International Bamboo Rodmaker and Bamboo Rod Casting Challenges.
These challenges seek to advance the craft of building bamboo fly rods and increase the appreciation for casting bamboo fly rods.
The semifinals and finals of these challenges will be held at the 12th annual Catskill Rodmakers Gathering, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday, Sept. 8 and Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 at the CFFCM, located on Old Route 17 in Livingston Manor.
Harold and Eileen Demarest are the sponsors of the Bamboo Rodmaking Challenge and the Cortland Line Company is the sponsor of the Bamboo Fly Rod Casting Challenge.
The challenge for the Bamboo Rodmakers is to build a Bamboo fly rod that weighs less than 3.5 oz. and casts a Cortland SYLK WF5 line the furthest. The Casting Challenge is to be able to pick up different Bamboo fly rods and quickly get the feel for that rod and be able to cast it the furthest.
Qualifications on Saturday, Sept. 8 will determine the best five Bamboo fly rods created for this competition and will also determine the five best casters for the finals on Sunday, Sept. 9.
In the finals, each caster will be given five casts with each final Bamboo fly rod with the three longest casts counting for both the Caster and the Bamboo Fly Rod events. The Caster and Bamboo Fly Rod with the longest cumulative distance cast in the finals will be the winners of the respective challenges.
Special bronze medallions and prizes will be awarded to the winners. The bronze medallions are to be created by world famous sculptor and Livingston Manor resident Bud Wertheim, who also created the Poul Jorgensen Bronze Medallion for the Golden Hook Award that is also presented by the CFFCM.
For more information about the International Bamboo Rodmaker and Bamboo Rod Casting challenges, please call the CFFCM at 439-4810.