A little background info: For those of you who are not aware, there are two historic fly casting clubs in California - the Golden Gate Casting Club & the Oakland Casting Club. The best fly casters in the world have come from these clubs & through the decades many of the advances in rod design have been a result of the research done there. I intend to write more about these clubs at a later date, but for now just know that the Bay area is home to some of the best fly casting in the world, both throughout the 20th century & today.
So Maxine was at the Golden Gate casting pools one day when she picked up a rod & folks started to notice her raw talent. After a little guidance & some practice time she entered a casting competition later that year where she ended up scoring extremely high in the accuracy events, but (hold onto your hat here) she also won the distance casting at 88 feet, setting new National fly casting records for Juniors (aged 9 through 12).
Think about that for a minute......this nine year old girl cast a line 88 feet!!! I don't think I've ever cast that far, unless you count the one time the high winds caught my deer hair fly & sent it flying out of control - but that was an accident & I still feel bad about how it ended (sorry again, Joe. Did that scar ever heal up?).
Seriously though, this young lady is on a path to not only make a name for herself, but to also promote the sport of fly fishing. It gives me a better outlook on the future & a feeling of gratitude to all those kind fly casters out in the Bay area who are always helping out their fellow anglers.
To read the entire story, click HERE.