The Final of the Italian Fly Casting 2022 Championships was held in Mappano on 18 September 2022. The weather conditions were good, with low humidity and moderate wind, sometimes almost absent.
Our congratulations go to Stefano De Martini, who won the Sea Trout Distance competition, with a cast of 83.50 metres on his CTS Affinity X 10’0″#12. Amazing result Stefano!
Stefano also competed in the 6th World Flycasting Championships at Gaustablikk, Norway (10-14 August 2022). He described it as one of the best world championships ever.
Here are his reflections on the competition…
The sport of Flycasting is growing steadily. The Italian team was one of the best, with many medals.
Personally I have not received any medals, but the rods you have provided me have been exceptional. The real success is the 9′ you designed last year that I used in the Trout Discipline Distance.
During training alongside the strongest, even the reigning world champion, I was able to overtake anyone and even by a lot. In the days leading up to the race I was declared the most likely winner.
Bad luck would have it that it was drawn to throw first, when the wind had not yet risen and the lake was absolutely flat as a mirror. I finished the performance with the longest cast at 37.5m. My direct Finnish opponent reached 32m and the casters in the same conditions as me reached 33m. Then as time passed the wind rose consistently and I fell in the standings, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
I got so many compliments from all the best flycasters in the world. In two years in Sweden I hope to be luckier!
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I watched a few casters in the Men’s Trout Distance event cast brilliantly while faced with adverse conditions and saw one caster personify what sport is really about. It was worth travelling halfway around the world to watch him compete with such aplomb and integrity. He did not win a medal but was the caster of the tournament in my opinion – John
Stefano De Martini with his absolute diamond casting performance (my pick of the games) got relegated among others who suffered from the wind conditions – Lasse
