MADISON, Wis. — First-time qualifier John Wilson made his presence known in the ESPN Great Outdoor Games Fly Casting event Thursday.

Wilson, a fly fishing guide from Russellville, Ark., compiled the highest score ever in the casting event with 2,464.6 points.

A distant second was Jim Hickey of Jackson, Wyo., with 1,998.3 points. Rick Hartman of Harlingen, Texas, was third with 1,938.7

Points are accumulated in four different casting categories: accuracy, distance, tight loops and line management. The casting competition serves as a method to determine seeding in the Fly Fishing competition, which will be held Friday on Silver Creek.

Seeding may prove to be crucial in this event. Silver Creek, located about two hours northwest of Madison, is a narrow stream, lined with thick vegetation on most of the 3.9 miles of the designated fishing area. That section is divided into six "beats." Six anglers will fish from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and the other six anglers will be on the stream from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Friday.

With the No. 1 seed, Wilson chose the morning session on beat No. 4. It was the consensus of the anglers that beats 4 and 1, in that order, should produce the best fishing.

Silver Creek contains almost equal numbers of brown and brook trout. The anglers will be trying to catch the longest trout they believe they can catch in three hours of competition. However, once an angler has designated a fish as his catch during the flight, it is marked as his official length and he is finished fishing for the day. It's only at the award ceremony Friday night when the anglers know each other's results.

The fishing conditions are being affected by above normal amounts of rainfall recently. In May, 10.84 inches of rain fell in the Madison area, which was just one-tenth of an inch from the all-time wettest month on record — July 1950. The average rainfall in May is 3.25 inches.

"We've had so much rain, the water is really dark," said U.S. Army fisheries biologist John Noble.

Fly Fishing - Qualifying results

1. John Wilson, Total: 2464.6
2. Jim Hickey, Total: 1998.3
3. Rick Hartman, Total: 1938.7
4. Foster Hetherington, Total: 1815.3
5. Chuck Farneth, Total: 1630.5
6. Lance Stanchfield, Total: 1580.5
7. Brian Capsay, Total: 1499.1
8. Ryan Barnes, Total: 1374.2
9. Lance Egan, Total: 1316.8
10. Steve Bechard, Total: 1115.6
11. Capt. Tom White, Total: 1015.9
12. Mike Dawes, Total: 974.5