Basics · a card
How do I extend my accuracy cast from 20 to 45 ft without losing the loop?
Hold the trajectory you already have until the loops repeat, then change trajectory, feed the line three times and put it into one hand — 30 to 45 ft is the same routine.
Extension is a loop problem before it is a target problem. Pick up at 20 feet, hold the trajectory until the loops repeat, then change it and feed line out.
What the instructor says
- One line per distance. The 20, 30 and 45 foot targets each have their own trajectory, and the examiner looks for the difference. The tip stops a foot above the ground; only the back of the arc changes, from 12 at 20 to 12:30 at 30; the front stays near 10.
- Three feeds, then one hand. Three feeds is all it takes to reach 30; putting the line into one hand is its own skill, so practise that transfer without losing the loop.
- Stance, then speed. Short on the delivery cast, lean forward; bigger errors, step up or back. Slow to medium is fine until 15 miles an hour behind you collapses the short back cast.
Putting it to work
- Hold the 20 trajectory until the loops repeat.
- Change trajectory, feed three times, transfer to the rod hand.
- Finger on top short, thumb on top long; 30 to 45 is the same algorithm.
Source
From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 10, 00:14:28. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.