The Oakland
Casting Club beginnings can be traced to February 24, 1942 when the first recorded dues were paid. The Casting
Club's home is at the Leona Casting Pools in McCrea Park in the Oakland foothills (See Map). These pools were dedicated June
15, 1958, and members of the Oakland Casting Club were instrumental in the initiation, funding, design and construction.
The Leona
Casting Pools are part of the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department. They are
open to the public all year around from sunrise to sunset. They are open to the public 7 days a week, all are welcome to use
the ponds for casting practice at anytime. Members of the Club are there on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Besides the
pools, there are picnic tables and restroom facilities. The ponds are located in the beautiful city park with a
redwood
grove.
It was 1890 when the first use of "hoops" made their way into accuracy casting. The
first "hoops" were between two and three feet in diameter and scores were determined by deducting points
for every six inches away for bait casting and one inch for fly casting. More interesting reading
on the history of casting can be found in "History of the Sport of Casting" by Cliff Netherton.
It chronicles the sport from 1860 through 1946 depicting events, people, records, tackle and literature of the times. The
book can be ordered from the American Casting Association. The cost is $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping .
The club
currently has about seventy five members. We invite you to drop by the Leona Casting Pools(Click here to get directions). Club members are
usually in attendance on weekends, especially Saturday and Sunday mornings.
