Parrott Wins Costa Del Mar 2 Fly X-Stream Competition at Teva Mountain Games

Fly fishing may not sound like an extreme sport, but the anglers at this year's Costa Del Mar 2 Fly X-Stream competition took it extremely seriously. Local angler Steve Parrott emerged as victor in this nationalfly fishing competition, held as part of theTeva Mountain Games in Vail, CO.

One of 21competitivedisciplines at theTeva Mountain Games, fly fishing has been one of the more recent sports included at this annual event held June 4-7.The competition iscomprised of three rounds to whittle down the field of competitors from 75 to a final round of 8 anglers vying for victory. The first round of competition begins with a round of accuracy casting at three targets of varying distances and a distance cast. Competitorsare giventhree attempts to land their fly within each target ring and thenthree attemptsto throwa distance castwithina 10-footlane. Only 20 anglers with the top scores move into the second round.

At this year's competition,the morning's calm breezes weresoon replaced by wind gusts, making precision castingeven more difficult. WhenParrott stepped up to the line, he was battling steady winds of 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. His final score reflected the difficult conditions. According to Steve, "this was one of the worst rounds of casting I had ever had and I hope never to repeat it again." Despite his personal disappointment, he had done well enough to finish 17th and progressed round two.

Round two of competition moved the casters to the pedestrian bridge over Gore Creek in Vail casting at various targets on land and in the water. The casting order is reversed so the 20th caster goes first which meant that Steve was the fourth caster to go. He managed to score 7 points out of a possible 15 which is a good score but according to Steve, he was not sure that would get him in the top eight to make it to the final round. But as the 13th caster left the bridge, Steve still had the highest point total, guaranteeing him a spot in the third and final round of competition the next day. The winner of round two had a final score of 9 and two other casters had a score of 8.

The final round of competition took anglers to the water to see who could catch the most as well as the biggest fish. Anglers gathered early in themorning at the Colorado River outside of Vail to load up into three-man rafts (two competitors and a guide to row the boat) and float down the high-flowing river. The particular challenge of this round of competition is that each angler is limited to taking only six flies,of two different patterns. Thus, if an angler chooses the wrong patterns or loses all of his flies during competition, that angler is done for the day.

Each fish caught counts as one point. In addition to total fish caught, the angler also gets points for the length of the fish they choose to measure. The challenge here is that the angler must choose on the spot which fish to measure and that is the only measure that counts, even if the angler catches a bigger fish later in the day.

During the early part of the day,beforemany anglers had been on the river, Steve managed to net 8 fish and measured a 17" brown trout for a total of 25 points. As the day wore on, more anglers were on the river, and the fish got smarter.Even still, Steve managed to land 6 more fish for a total of 31 points. According to Steve,"Ihooked alot offish that I lost right at the boat trying to get them into the net. The wind was blowing 25 mph directly upstream which blew the line all over the place and the fish would just pop off."

After coming off the river, anglers were kept in the dark about the performance of their competitors until the awards ceremony held back in Vail Village. Having finished third in last year's competition, Steve wanted to improve his standing and thought he may have a good chance. When the 3rd place angler was announced with a total score of 22 (7 fish to the net and measured a 15" fish), Steve knew he had bettered his 2008 performance by at least one spot.

Now the tension was really thick with only two anglers left, Brian Capsay from Fly Fishing Team USA and Steve.When the announcer named thesecond place finisher witha score of 24,Steve knew he hadpulled it off and won the 2009 Teva Mountain Games Costa Del Mar 2 Fly X-Steam competition.

Steve received a $1000 cash prize along with an Orvis Helios rod, Victorinox watch, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses and other items. He plans to return to the games next year to defend his title.