Totaloutdoorsman

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Yesterday morning, the 16 finalists competed in the flyfishing event at Dogwood Canyon. Each guy got his own beat on the stream (which was assigned based on his score in a casting accuracy competition the night before), and fished it for 90 minutes. So for three hours, I got watch competitor after competitor catch big honking trout after big honking trout. Which, don't get me wrong was a lot of fun, but the trout junkie in me was absolutely jonesing for a fly rod. I'm telling you, these trout were big and the fishing was hot!

How hot? Consider this: Yesterday was the first time ever at the TOC where every competitor caught and scored his limit of three fish. In most cases, the guys caught a lot more than three fish and had to release smaller fish unscored, hoping that they'd catch one last big 'bow before their time expired. That's what Matt "the Vermonster" Stadina did, and the gamble really paid off.

With two 20-inch trout already scored, Matt caught a 19-plus-incher but decided not to score it because he wanted to catch another 20-incher. That would put his total score over 60 inches, which was the score everyone thought would be enough to win. Sure enough Matt eventually caught his third 20-inch trout, and finished first with 62 inches.

Peter "the Principal" Mosby finished second in flyfishing with 60.75 inches--a score that was good enough to push him ahead of Scot Marcin as the leader of the overall standings.

A few of the competitors had their trouble with the fly rod, but they all still managed to get that last fish at the zero hour.

I'll leave you with some photos from the event for now, but you'll be hearing back from me later today. --Colin Kearns

Greetings from Dogwood Canyon

Just in case you hadn't heard, the 2008 Total Outdoorsman Challenge is officially underway, and it's already shaping up to be the best yet. Before the competition began, the threats of t-storms and Hurricane Ike were looming, and it seemed like the show would go on (rain and no shine). Fortunately, that hasn't been the case.

So far.

The first two events, shotgun and .22 rifle, were bumped up one day ahead of schedule to beat the rain. And with the exception of a few light showers, the 16 competitors shot in dry (albeit humid) conditions. There were a couple surprises on the shotgun course: James "Shotgun Specialist" Harrod, who was a favorite to take first, had a disappointing performance and finished in the middle of the pack. And Matt Stedina, more know for his talent in flycasting, finished in the top three. Not bad for a trout bum!

As soon as the shotgun event ended, the guys walked over to the .22 rifle range, which is a big change from the air-rifle courses in the past TOCs. Each finalist shot at 15 targets (3 sets of 5, and each set consisted of 4 clays and 1 paper target) from distances of 25, 40, and 55 yards. Now, that might not seem like much, but believe me, those targets look pretty darn small when you step up the shooting line.

Scot Marcin, the TOC winner of 2005, won the .22 course (not to mentioned finished second in shotgun) and was the overall leader after the first day. Meanwhile, Paul Thompson, the two-time defending champ, finished 11th in .22 rifle and was far from his familiar place at the top in the overall rankings.

Here are some shots from the first day's events. Keep checking back for more updates. Up next: flyfishing and bass fishing. Let's hope it doesn't rain as much as they're calling for. -Colin Kearns