MOUNT VERNON — Fly fishing is known as the quiet sport.

On a rare sunny Saturday at Edgewater Park, however, there were plenty of moans, groans and claims of near-misses as members of the Fidalgo Fly Fishers and non-members alike tested their fly casting prowess in the Danish Casting Games.

The games are basically an obstacle course for the fly fisher. They consists of nine casting stations, each of which presents a different casting challenge. Each station is representative of a real situation a fly fisher could encounter out on the water while in search of a number of aquatic species.

The object of the games is to place the fly, or in this case, a bright orange piece of yarn impersonating a fly, into or through a plastic hoop placed anywhere from 20 feet to 100 feet away.

Several tamed the course. Others didn’t fare quite as well. In the end, however, scores didn’t matter — or so they said.

The games have been around for about a decade. More recently, the Fidalgo Fly Fishers have adopted the games and have excelled at not only the casts, but also in constructing the necessary obstacles.

“We hosted the games over in Ellensburg at the Fly Fishing Conclave,” said club member Richard Raisler. “The response there was excellent. Even for us, it’s still a work in progress.”

Raisler explained the games are an excellent evaluation tool for testing a fisherman’s casting mettle. And who better to do the evaluating than Raisler? After all, he’s a certified casting instructor and has taught many a fly casting course.

“The game is a lot like playing golf,” he said. “Except we don’t use clubs to make drives, chips, putts, hooks and slices. We use our fly rods.

“Each station represents a casting challenge — challenges such as making an aerial mend or casting over, around and under obstacles.”

The nine stations are: 1. The Moon Shot; 2. Tight Loop; 3. Limbo (sidearm cast). 4. Ambidextrous; 5. Vespers; 6. Straight and Narrow; 7. Double Trouble; 8. Reach Cast; 9. Salt Water Cast.

“It’s an excellent instructional tool,” said club member Bruce Freet. “A lot of the challenges are around 30 feet and that is the distance where most fish are caught. But you have to do a lot to put yourself in that position. If you flub the first cast, that fish is going to see you and be gone. There won’t be a second chance.”

Participants are allowed to use rods of any length and weight. The only rule is no metal. In other words, no actual flies complete with hooks. Practice casts are not allowed. Participants, however, can practice as much as they want before entering the casting box. Once in the casting box, competitors must be ready to go.

Raisler has his own strategy when it comes to gear. He uses a 9-foot, 5-weight rod with floating line. On this day, he was sporting a Sage Technical Casting Rod complete with floating line and stiff trout leader. He explained that because the casts were being made on grass, finer leader simply wouldn’t hold up.

“This Sage is a very fast action rod,” said Raisler. “It’s a very nice rod and perfect for these games.”

Scoring is straightforward. For simply attempting the cast, one receives 100 points. From there, it’s 200 points for placing the fly between the two rings and a maximum of 300 points for the perfect cast, placing the fly directly in the center of the ring.

“You can come away with 100 points for just making the cast,” Raisler said, “you’ll end up with 900 points if you don’t do anything. Myself, I don’t keep an average.”

At the Ellensburg conclave, the top caster garnered a score of 2,800. The lowest was 1,600.

John Freeman is a 15-year club veteran and past president. It was the second time he’d been a games entrant. Following Freeman around the course with clipboard in tow was fellow club member and certified casting instructor, Robin LaRue. Both hail from Mount Vernon. LaRue’s charge was scoring Freeman’s points from each station and tabulating his total at the end.

“These are the situations you are going to face if you fish,” Freeman said. “These types of things are where you fish. You are going to find them right out on the Skagit River. Practicing these different types of casts is very useful. You never know when you are going to need it.”

While Raisler may not keep an average, he does have a particular cast that he finds the most challenging.

“The curve cast,” Raisler admitted. “Typically, you are trying to keep a straight line. At that station, you are having to cast a positive and negative curve. Using golf as an example, it would be like hitting a slice and a hook. Technically, it’s really hard. It’s a cast that takes a lot of practice.”

The easiest according to Raisler is the moon cast. It’s just a straight distance cast. Raisler’s also a fan of the saltwater cast.

“It simulates fishing from the bow of a flats boat,” he said. “You start with the fly in your hand and that is sort of unique. Learning to fish for all different types of species is important.”

Freeman joked he had a hard time with the entire course. Saying he finally placed the fly under the bar at the limbo station, “after 38 tries.”

“Wrapping the fly around that post was hard,” he added. “But these are casts that you do all the time, but you just don’t know it.”

LaRue made the cast look effortless. The line sailed back and forth and then was sent around the post. The fly softly nestling onto the grass inside the ring.

“Amazing,” Freeman said.

LaRue just smiled.

“It just takes practice,” he quipped. “A lot of practice. Several years ago, we put together a casting team and took first place at a competition in Port Orchard.”

In the meantime, LaRue said it’s just fun to come out and cast around, saying it’s always good to be able to just concentrate on technique and not worry about catching fish.

“Out here on the grass,” he said, “you can concentrate on getting the fly to do what you want.”

It would appear that no matter how polished a caster is, there seems to be that one cast that throws a fly in the ointment. For LaRue, it’s the ambidextrous station. Casting with his off hand presents all kinds of problems.

“Casting with my left hand does not go well,” La Rue said. “It’s tough. The curve cast is another tough one to master.”

After the calculations were complete, Thompson’s round ended with a score of 1,300. Now a veteran of the games, he’ll come prepared with a fresh strategy and rather interesting approach the next time he takes to the course.

“I’ll have it all figured out,” Thompson boasted, “next time, I’m going to use a 3-foot piece of yarn.”

• Vince Richardson can be reached at 360-416-2181 or by e-mail at