The introductory pickup-and-lay-down lesson specifies a yarn fly and eye protection for practice. Both choices are about practising the cast without turning the lawn into a hazard.

• A. A weighted hook and no glasses
• B. A bare hook and a spectator in front
• C. A live fly for realism
• D. A yarn fly and eye protection

Answer: D. A yarn fly casts like a fly but does not hook. You can work on the pickup, the back cast, the lay-down and the timing without a hook on the end of the line; a snag on the grass is a nuisance, not an injury. Eye protection matters for the same reason: the line, the leader and the fly come back toward you on the back cast, and a yarn fly at speed is still something you do not want in your eye.

The alternatives miss that. A weighted hook adds weight and a point to a drill that is about the line; a bare hook removes the yarn that makes the fly visible and castable; a live fly for realism adds a hook and a fish, and no spectator in front of the cast is a safe or sensible setup.

Set the drill up the way the lesson does: yarn fly, glasses on, line laid down cleanly.

Source

From the Pick-up and Lay-Down lesson; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.