LAKE LURE - Sixteen anglers from across North and South Carolina competed in the inaugural 2009 Olympiad Fly Masters Tournament in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock May 2-3.
Gordon Vanderpool of Franklin, won the event, with Paul Thompson of Marion, finishing in second place Walker Parrott of Fletcher, taking third. In the youth division, Dylan Smith of Inman, S.C. took first place.
The two-day competition, hosted by The Granddaddy Fly-Fishing Experience of Lake Lure, began with accuracy and distance casting.
The top 10 finishers on day one moved on to fish the following day on the Upper Rocky Broad River in Chimney Rock.
The two-round fishing portion of the tournament narrowed the top 10 down to five overall finishers. Scores were calculated on the combined lengths of five fish caught during each two-hour timeframe. Many tournaments in Western North Carolina are held on private waters while the areas fished on the Upper Rocky Broad River were all open to the public making that an added challenge for the competitors.
“Fishing on public water was one of the reasons I wanted to compete in this tournament," said Walker Parrott, who with Kevin Howell of Davidson River Outfitters is the National Fly Masters Champion and a member of the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team. “It’s easy to catch fish on private water.”
Vanderpool, who is also a member of the North Carolina Fly-Fishing Team, was pleased with all aspects of the tournament.
“I just wanted to say thank you to Michael and Michelle Yelton [of The Granddaddy Fly-Fishing Experience] for doing such a wonderful job with this tournament," complimented Vanderpool. "The tournament setting was absolutely beautiful and the fishing was rather challenging. That all made winning this tournament for me a real honor.”
Vanderpool won $500 and a free weekend stay at Firefly Cove’s luxury condo on Lake Lure for his first place finish.
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