Post by Joshua Field on Feb 11, 2006 19:02:24 GMT -5
On a recent trip to San Francisco, we decided to visit the renowned Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park. I was amazed to discover that the park is HUGE despite being in the middle of the city and we got lost within about a minute of entering, so we pulled over to check a big map on the side of the road. (Here is the map - #9, 10 are the lodge and pools: www.sfgate.com/traveler/acrobat/maps/1999/ggparkmap.pdf)
I was surprised to see “casting pools” listed on the map and we walked through a section of woods to find a very cool structure built entirely for casting:
There is a small lodge there and there were a few guys hanging out and tying while others were teaching casting at the pools. They were very nice and we chatted for a while. They even loaned me a rod (though a rather large one) to try out the pools with. Check out these cool lockers – long enough so that you don’t even have to break down your rod.
There were some very talented casters at the pool – one guy doing amazingly long and accurate underhand casts. I tried my hand at the rings and it was a lot of fun to have the drag of the water on the back cast but no obstructions to worry about. They had a great little lodge with a fireplace, meeting room, tying room, kitchen, etc.
This is their website: www.ggacc.org/. It looks like they have casting tournaments at the pools. (I'd love to see Bill Cairns cast in a facility like this!) If you are ever out in SanFran, I recommend swinging by the park and checking out the Japanese garden (which is truly beautiful) and the fly club/casting pools. The guys there are super nice and it’s a nice place to spend an afternoon in the dead of winter.
I was surprised to see “casting pools” listed on the map and we walked through a section of woods to find a very cool structure built entirely for casting:
There is a small lodge there and there were a few guys hanging out and tying while others were teaching casting at the pools. They were very nice and we chatted for a while. They even loaned me a rod (though a rather large one) to try out the pools with. Check out these cool lockers – long enough so that you don’t even have to break down your rod.
There were some very talented casters at the pool – one guy doing amazingly long and accurate underhand casts. I tried my hand at the rings and it was a lot of fun to have the drag of the water on the back cast but no obstructions to worry about. They had a great little lodge with a fireplace, meeting room, tying room, kitchen, etc.
This is their website: www.ggacc.org/. It looks like they have casting tournaments at the pools. (I'd love to see Bill Cairns cast in a facility like this!) If you are ever out in SanFran, I recommend swinging by the park and checking out the Japanese garden (which is truly beautiful) and the fly club/casting pools. The guys there are super nice and it’s a nice place to spend an afternoon in the dead of winter.
