A blown anchor is an anchor that releases prematurely during the delivery cast. It lets go too early, but at the moment of delivery rather than before it.

• A. An anchor that never touches the water
• B. An anchor that releases prematurely during delivery
• C. A correctly placed anchor
• D. A long leader

Answer: B.

The distinction that matters is timing, and the neighbour to keep it apart from is the skipped anchor:

• A skipped anchor briefly forms and then leaves the water prematurely before the delivery cast, while moving away from the target.
• A blown anchor releases prematurely during the delivery cast itself.

Both are failures of the anchor to hold when it should, but the moment of release is different, so the evidence you look for is different. Calling every early release blown blurs exactly what the definitions ask you to notice.

The other options are not anchor faults at all. An anchor that never touches the water is not an anchor. A correctly placed anchor is the goal. A long leader describes tackle, not the timing of an anchor’s release.

On the water, watch when the anchor leaves: if it moves away from the target before the delivery stroke, it is skipped; if it lets go during the delivery, it is blown.

Source

Defined in the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (August 2025); terms on this site follow the same FFI Fly Casting Definitions.