Task 1 is a pickup, a minimum of six false casts at 40 feet, then a delivery cast of your choice. The instructor says “six false casts or three false casts or whatever” — the form’s minimum is six, so train six. It is the examiner’s first impression: a bad pickup or loop fails the task even if the delivery cast after it — a reach mend, say — is perfect.

What the instructor says

• The pickup. Lift smoothly at a constant angle until the nail knot starts coming off the ground, then stop — about one o’clock; slightly larger or smaller is fine if the stop is smooth.
• The transition. Stop at 1:30, drift to two, then go 10 to two for a level plane; or skip the drift and send the first forward cast to 9:30, slightly downward.
• The risky cast. The first forward false cast is the one most likely to tail.
• The drill. Pick up and lay down over and over with the line deliberately screwed up, watching the fly and the stop.

Putting it to work

1. End every reset with the line and tip down.
2. If you skip the drift, aim the first forward cast slightly downward.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 2, 00:00:57 and 00:04:59. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.