BC-
I'm from Cary and have participated in the informal casting mucks held at the Carter Finley Stadium in an unimproved portion of the parking lot in past years. Unfortunately, with the expansion of the stadium and the construction of the RBC Center, the grass field has been developed, as FishRung indicated, and is no longer suitable for casting. The last gathering that I attended, early last year, as I recall, was a friendly match between the Virginia and Tarheel casters, was held in a mowed farm field near Smithfield, NC.
A suitable practice field is the first obstacle that has to be addressed in organizing a casting club. I keep looking around, but haven't found anything that wouldn’t be crawling with people when you’d want to use it for casting.
Currently, there aren't any active tournament casters in the area that I am aware. There are a number in Virginia, including Blaine, primarily located in the Richmond and the Tidewater areas. There are also a number of tournament casters who reside on the NC Outer Banks. There are also some excellent casters in the Charlotte area, not sure whether any of them are tournament casters, though. Think Thumb-Burner may have competed in some tournaments.
If you are just interested in improving your casting skills for fishing purposes and are looking for pointers, come out to one of the Raleigh Salt Water Sportfishing Club meetings. There are 20 to 30 members that are accomplished surf fishermen and many fish the various Outer Banks surf tournaments. Several of the guys can cast surf fishing gear (as opposed to tournament casting gear) in the 150 to 200 yard range. The club meets on the third Tuesday of the month at the North Carolina State Alumni Club on Hillsboro Street near the State Fair Grounds.
Drop me an e-mail and I can provide details if you're interested.
Dan
FISH (Finally In Saltwater Heaven)
