Basics · a card
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.
A tailing loop is the fault where the fly leg drops below the rod leg and the two legs cross. On the water you see the leader and fly tuck under the line; in the air the loop looks like it closes on itself. It is the single most common fault in the CI exam and the easiest one to cure, because it always comes back to one question: what did the rod tip do?
What actually causes it
Three things put the tip on a dip:
- Power applied too early. The rod bends hardest at the start of the stroke, so the tip travels in a concave path — down, then up. This is the classic cause. The fix is to start the stroke slowly and accelerate to an abrupt stop.
- Too narrow a casting arc for the amount of line. The rod has to bend and unbend through a wide enough angle to keep the tip travelling in a straight line. With a lot of line out and a short arc, the tip dips.
- Creep. After the stop, the rod drifts forward before the next stroke starts. That eats the arc you needed and turns a straight tip path into a concave one.
The FFI documents separate these into four causes, because creep on its own and creep combined with inappropriate power behave differently on the water: What are the four causes of a tailing loop? sets them out with the exam wording and the sources.
How to fix it
- Slow the start. Begin the stroke with the hand barely moving and let the acceleration build. Say it out loud if it helps: slow, then fast.
- Widen the arc until the fault stops, then narrow it again in small steps. A wider arc never hurts while you are learning.
- Watch the stop. The stop should be abrupt and complete. The rod tip rebounds; if your hand keeps drifting, the tip dips and you are back in tailing-loop territory.
- Check the line hand. Yanking line during the stroke has the same effect as adding power too early.
Practice drill
Lay a tape at 40 ft and false cast with a deliberately wide arc, watching only the loop. When the loop is smooth, narrow the arc two degrees at a time. The moment the tail returns, go back one step. Ten minutes of this is worth more than an hour of blind casting.
If you are preparing for the exam, the fault and its correction are described in the FFI’s own vocabulary — see FFI Fly Casting Definitions (2025 Edition) for tailing loop, concave tip path and creep, and The Double Haul for how the same tip-path rules apply when you add hauling.