Scariff man nets gold at first fly casting games

AN East Clare man, Ruairí Costello has won the first official World Fly Casting Championship, held in Norway recently.

Ruairí returned home to Scariff with his gold and three silver medals after competing in five main events in Fagernes, Norway. These included two single-handed, one overhead salmon and two spey-casting competitions where he qualified for the finals of each event. He was the only man who succeeded in doing so, producing spectacular personal bests en route to the finals.
This magnificent achievement earned Ruairí a standing ovation from all his fellow competitors as he left the casting platforms. In addition to winning the overall prize, world champion, Ruairí, won his three individual silver medals for the five weight trout distance, 15-foot overhead distance and the 18-foot spey-casting categories.
The Scariff angler is a member of the Mountshannon Coarse and Trout Angling Club and was sponsored to participate in the world event by Carron Jetstream.
Ruairí had a number of titles in this field to his name previously having been placed in competitions all over the world in the last three years.Among these were first-place titles at the World Saltwater Distance Championships in 2009 and 2008.
His latest achievement puts Ruairí into the number one position in the world. What makes it more interesting is that typically competitors at these events tend to specialise in one style of casting and practise year round. Ruairí’s achievement is all the more impressive as he has developed his own style for each event and mastered it with great success.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, Ruairí said he was delighted with the outcome and to hold the first official world championship title.
“It’s all just a dream come true. The competition was unbelievable. Half the guys that were there, I’d never met before they came from all over. To be honest, I would have been happy just to qualify and to come in the top six,” he said.
According to Ruairí, the world fly casting championship had been in the planning for the last few years and that it was held up to a high standard similar to that of Olympic events.
“Every event was a separate competition and I was the only person that qualified for all five events. I got three seconds and two fourths and the overall first. It’s judged then on your longest distance and second longest in all of them. It does take unbelievable skill, there’s a lot of luck in it too. Some days you would have a great day and other days you wouldn’t,” Ruairí explained.
A total of 70 people participated in the international event and Ruairí was one of two Irish competitors, the other was Gerard Downey from County Mayo.