2007 Spey Omega Open Speycasting Competition
25/10/2007
October 2007 was the inaugural Spey Omega casting competition on the River Shannon near Castleconnell in Ireland. This competition was organised by Pat Nolan of Premier Angling Supplies Co. Tipperary. This was a true competition in the angling sense as it was conducted on a flowing river wading waist deep with a 15 foot rod. The competition took place over 1 day with the top 6 reaching the final, the competition was well attended with lots of the competitors having a go, this was very encouraging as they were gaining experience casting for the first time in competition.
A challenging course
Top 6 qualifiers
| Gerard Downey | 51 yards 20 inches |
| James Chalmers | 48 yards 10 inches |
| Ruairi Costello | 45 yards 3 inches |
| Robert Gillespie | 42 yards 2 inches |
| Andrew Toft | 41 yards 30 inches |
| Michael Egan | 40 yards 18 inches |
It was decided that the order of casting for the final would be drawn, thus giving no advantage to the highest qualifier casting last. The weather was changeable making it difficult to keep the casts between the boundaries as there was an element of accuracy involved as well, keeping the final cast as close to the marker line as possible, the final was a thriller with the distances between the 6 finalists minimal.
Prizes on display
Final Results
| 1st | Ruairi Costello | 45 yards 30 inches |
| 2nd | Andrew Toft | 45 yards 12 inches |
| 3rd | Gerard Downey | 44 yards 28 inches |
| 4th | James Chalmers | 44 yards 24 inches |
| 5th | Robert Gillespie | 42 yards 16 inches |
| 6th | Michael Egan | 38 yards 10 inches |
Spey Omega winner Ruairi Costello
Ruairi receives 1st prize from Pat Nolan
A great weekend was had by all at Carron and we look forward to next year which will be a 2 day event