Basics · a card
Do examiners score my loops or my targets on the accuracy task?
Examiners grade the loop as hard as the landing — some trade leeway for close targets, many give none — so build the loop before you ever aim at the cone.
Examiners grade the loop as hard as the landing: some give leeway on the loops for close targets, many give none. So loops first, targets last.
What the instructor says
- Fifteen inches, eighteen at 45. The form asks for about 15 inches from the target centre at 20 and 30 feet, and about 18 inches at 45; the video rounds it to 16. Examiners allow for adverse conditions, but wind should not bother you until about 15 miles an hour.
- A tick is an attempt. Tick the grass on a false cast and it counts as one of your attempts — it is watched alongside trajectory.
- About 20 sub-skills. He counts at least 20 and will not move on until each is finished with a high degree of success.
- Wind into the opposite shoulder. A hard crosswind wrecks lateral accuracy, and a gusting tailwind breaks up the short 20 foot back cast.
Putting it to work
- Measure 55 feet with six big strips; stack the line clear of your feet.
- Toe of the casting-arc foot on the tape, rod and shoulder on it, 8 foot leader, big yarn.
- Three attempts each at 20, 30 and 45; a miss pulls you back a station.
Source
From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 10, 00:00:11. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.