[speyghillie]

Hi All,
Two years in the planning, along with the most prestigious trophy in Speycasting.

Guy's this is just a heads up on a brand new casting competition Scott MacKenzie is helping to run this September on the River Ness, this is a memorial casting competition in honour of Alexander Grant who set the first world record on the River Ness back in 1895, this event will take place close to where Grant did the famous 65 yard cast without shooting any line, there is £1000 first place prize and another prizes for the top 3 winners, the first place winner will also win probably the most prestigious trophy ever made for this type of event, the Alexander Grant Memorial Trophy and it will hopefully be awarded to the winner by a member of the Alexander Grants family, this competition is a small part of the much bigger Scotland Salmon Festival that is being staged in Inverness Scotland the whole week.

There will be lots of entertainment and a party or two in the Highland Capital.:grin2:
Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.

 

[Tyke]

Go on! make it compulsory to use a 21 ft greenheart Vibration rod with drop rings to prevent shooting any line & couple it with a long single tapered silk line.

Let's see if anyone can really match Alexander.......

Regards, Tyke.

 

[Rifflehitch]

Sounds like a fun event, wish I could go!!

 

[wrke]

OK, so what are the dates, etc??

 

[Singlespey]

Go on! make it compulsory to use a 21 ft greenheart Vibration rod with drop rings to prevent shooting any line & couple it with a long single tapered silk line.

Let's see if anyone can really match Alexander.......

Regards, Tyke.

Tyke, you are absolutely right, this should be the way not only to honour the memory and performances of Alexander Grant but also to keep alive his way of Speycasting, in terms of concepts, expertise and appplied technology.
Can´t figure it out an homage competition to the master, as described by Speyghillie, but adopting modern outfits, casting scandi shootings and running lines through the guides to achieve long distances, for instance.
Just the opposite to all Grant´s concepts.
Anyway it is a good idea to promote an homage casting competition, something to be supported; perhaps some professionals using the original outfits could reproduce Grant´s original casting concepts during the competition, just to keep focused about how Speycasting was conceived by the master.
All the best

 

[speyghillie]

Hi wrke.
Some of the details are posted on this blog, I think the competition is already full or almost and its all part of a bigger Salmon event being held.

Salmon Fly: ALEXANDER GRANT MEMORIAL SPEY CASTING COMPETITION

It would be great if there was such a thing as 21ft Greenheart fly rod competition, but he stopped making them a while ago, :grin2:

Alexander made a lot of smaller rods and single-handed rods, and even golf club shafts, and while he is better known for fishing the long rods on the Spey and Ness, he also spend a lot of time Trout fishing with his 19ft rod.
The drop down ring on his rod were not to stop line from shooting, but to stop the line sag between the rings on the lift before the cast, he also invented his own style of casting called a Highland Switch cast, which is as far away from the popular underhand style as you can get.
Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.

 

[NCFS]

might be an excuse to finally come over myself and the wee lass
C

 

[speyghillie]

Alexander Grant

Hey Mr C,
I should be hanging around you shop in late August if all goes to plan, you should take the lassie over, fly Vancouver to London and up to Inverness.
Will be a great weekend in Inverness with live music at night, take a week out and have a look round the west coast, not quite like your west coast, but pretty all the same.
Cheers Gordon.
DTX Pro Staff.