US Flyfishing team receiving the Bronze Medal and 3rd place trophy
EAGLE COUNTY — Spain defended its fly-fishing crown at the 36th annual FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship on Saturday, with France taking second and the U.S. finishing third.
In the individual standings, Americans Lance Egan and Pat Weiss took third and fourth, respectively, with Julien Daguillanes, of France, winning and Jordi Cortina, of Spain, taking second. The Americans had four finishers in the top 15, an unprecedented achievement for the team that finished last at the World Fly Fishing Championship in 1997 and has been steadily improving since then.
Egan said he was able to finish well by fishing making the most of the bad beats he was dealt. The athletes randomly draw what beat — or section of the river — they will receive in competition.
“I drew a beat that produced the least amount of fish and managed to catch more fish than all other competitors combined,” Egan said.”I drew two good beats and two dreadful beats.” Egan also won the Slyvan Lake portion of the competition at the State Park in Eagle.
3,802 FISH CAUGHT, RELEASED
Other venues included the Eagle and Colorado rivers in Eagle County and the Blue River in Summit County.
Egan caught 60 fish over the course of the three-day competition; Cortina caught 70 and Daguillanes caught 86 trout. Those fish were then measured for length and each competitor received a point total based on number of fish caught and the length of those fish. Daguillanes biggest fish was a whopping 32-inch trout caught in water surrounded by privately owned banks on the Eagle River.
Wining teams at the 36th annual FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship. L-R France (Silver medal), Spain (Gold Medal), USA (Bronze medal).
From John LaConte at the the Vail Daily. More information can be found here.