Basics
Every card below asks a question and links to the working answer — the drills, the numbers, the reasons, and the mistakes that cause the problem in the first place. Search the box (press /), filter by tag, or just scroll: cards run from the fundamentals of the cast outward to watercraft and kit.
New here? Start with What causes a tailing loop, What makes a loop tight and Which fly rod should I buy first. Preparing for a certification? The casting cards use the same vocabulary as the FFI Fly Casting Definitions and the CI exam section.
FFI casting definitions
Every term from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (2025 Edition) as a card — 96 definitions, tagged by the section they come from.
96 cards
CI written exam practice questions
The 33 sample questions from Appendix D of the CI Study Guide, one card each, with the answer written out and grounded in the guide.
33 cards
- What causes a tailing loop, and how do I fix it? A tailing loop is a loop whose top leg crosses the bottom leg. It is almost always caused by dipping the rod tip during the stroke, or by applying power too early. Read the full answer
- What are the four causes of a tailing loop? Every tail comes from a concave rod tip path, and four things put the dip there: a casting arc that is too narrow, inappropriate power application, creep, and creep combined with inappropriate power. Read the full answer
- What makes a loop tight? Loop size is set by how far the rod tip travels in a straight line, and by the angle between the rod leg and the fly leg — not by how hard you push the rod. Read the full answer
- What is the double haul actually doing? The haul adds line speed by pulling the line through the guides while the rod is unloading — the rod supplies the load, the haul supplies the extra speed. Read the full answer
- What is mending, and when do I need it? A mend is a flick of the rod after the cast that repositions the line on the water, so the current does not drag your fly. Read the full answer
- What is drag, and how do I beat it? Drag is the fly being pulled off its drift by the line, leader or a faster current. Beat it with a better angle, a mend, or more slack. Read the full answer
- What is a dead drift? A dead drift is a fly travelling at exactly the speed of the current it is in, with no influence from the line at all. Read the full answer
- What is the difference between a leader and tippet? The leader is the tapered length that turns the fly over; the tippet is the fine end you replace when it shortens — same job, different place in the line. Read the full answer
- How do I read a trout stream? Read water for three things: where the current brings food, where the fish can hold without fighting it, and where they are safe from above. Read the full answer
- What do trout actually eat? Mostly small things, mostly underwater: aquatic insects, crustaceans and worms. Surface feeding is a small fraction of what a trout eats in a day. Read the full answer
- Nymph or dry fly — which should I fish? Fish a dry when you see fish feeding on the surface; fish a nymph the rest of the time, which is most of the time. Read the full answer
- Which knots do I actually need? Three: an improved clinch or Davy knot for the fly, a double surgeon's or blood knot for joins, and a loop connection for the fly line. Read the full answer
- Which fly rod should I buy first? A 9 ft, 5-weight, medium-fast graphite rod. It covers trout rivers, stillwaters and most of what you will learn in your first seasons. Read the full answer
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