Exam-Prep on HookedLee

What rod, line and leader should I bring to the CI exam?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bring tackle that makes the test easier rather than tackle that fishes well. The exam rewards clean loops and an abrupt stop.

What the instructor says

A fairly fast 6 or 7 weight, with a long orange line. Soft rods throw tailing loops much easier; the head needs at least 42 to 45 ft, maybe longer, and his pick is the Ballistic. Stiff saltwater line is out.
An 8 ft leader and an inch of yarn. The minimum is 7.5 ft; his is exactly 8 ft so torn yarn can be re-tied. The fly is polypropylene, tied in the middle with three overhand knots.
The smallest, lightest reel you can find. Mass keeps travelling after the stop and torques the rod down; a 7 weight line on a 4, 5 or 6 weight reel, with no backing, is plenty at $45 to $50.
A roll cast tool. The test says specifically you can use one, and nobody will hold it against you; the object is to pass.

Putting it to work

Spit on the yarn when it is windy: it gets a little heavier, then dries during the next tasks.
Keep the yarn skinny but fairly long so you can see it against the cone at 45 and 50 ft.
Check the leader after every tangle, not just before the test.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 1, 00:01:46–00:06:12. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How is casting distance measured in the CI exam?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The tape starts at your front toe and runs to the yarn, not from the rod tip. That is why the distances on the exam are smaller than they look.

What the instructor says

Subtract the rod and the leader. With a 9 ft rod and an 8 ft leader, a 40 ft cast from front toe to yarn leaves roughly 23 ft of fly line out.
The 75 ft task is shorter than it sounds. With the fly pulled out to 80 ft, only about 60 ft of line has to be out.
A cut-down line is enough. That is why you can cut the back 10 ft off the line and still make the distance task work.

Putting it to work

Lay the tape from your front toe out to the yarn, exactly as the examiner will.
At 40 ft, check that only about 23 ft of line is outside the tip.
At 75 ft, check that about 60 ft is out.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 1, 00:08:16. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How should I structure a practice session for the CI exam?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A session needs a shape. Warm up, drill, review last week, then one new thing, all inside an hour.

What the instructor says

Drill first. Ten minutes of warm-up, then long-distance, shooting, loop, horizontal casting and tip casting drills — the blocking and tackling of fly casting. 15 to 25 percent of every session, at the start; over a week, at least a quarter of the 6 to 8 hours he puts in.
Then review, then one new skill. Ten to fifteen minutes on last week, then ten to fifteen on a new skill; 45 to 60 minutes total, and three 45-minute sessions a week is workable.
One sub-skill. Pick one area and improve it: five minutes of nothing but a mend around a 25 ft cone. No more than two or three things a day.
Tape and cones every session. A tape at least 75 ft and six or seven cones at 20, 30, 45, 50 and 75 ft, so you know where 40 ft is.
Grass every day, water once or twice a month. The exam may be run on water, so roll casting on water is not optional.

Putting it to work

Warm up on tasks 1, 6 and 8, then 20, 30 and 45 ft on each shoulder, 50 ft dominant for the double haul (task 14) and the start of the 75 ft task (task 15).
On a bad day, do not skip: consolidate what you are already good at.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 2, 00:00:33–00:06:48, and lesson 1 part 3, 00:01:29. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

What order should I learn the CI exam tasks in?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Learn the exam in families, not in task order. False casting comes first because everything is built on it, distance last because it cannot be forced.

What the instructor says

Tasks 1, 6 and 8 are false casting. They are the fundamental parts of casting, so learn them first. Keep task 1 clearly vertical — about 20 degrees off vertical is what examiners want, though it is not in the rules.
Then the presentation tasks. Tasks 4 and 5 (reach mends left and right) and task 7 (slack line casts, with and without aerial mends) put a presentation on the end of the false cast.
Then accuracy, extending line as you go from 20 to 30 to 45 ft.
Roll cast any time. It is its own cast, outside the family of the others.
Distance last. Only with good loops, the roll cast and the double haul do you work on it; 50 ft one-handed with 3 ft loops and a double haul means task 15 is no problem at all.

Putting it to work

Stay off the distance cast for the first six, eight or ten weeks, sometimes three or four months: cranking at task 15 early is practicing failure and bad habits.
Do accuracy at 20, then 30, then 45 ft, extending line as you go.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 3, 00:00:59–00:03:57. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

Why do some candidates take years to pass the CI exam?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Candidates who take years run whole tasks instead of the pieces each task is made of. Nothing gets good enough to put together.

What the instructor says

Every task has pieces. Task 1 is the pickup, the transition and then the loops: three basic pieces. The accuracy tasks 12 and 13 may involve 15 or 20 separate skills.
Pieces first, then the whole. Break them down, get each one good, then put them all together. Running task 1, then 2, then 3, then 4 for 45 minutes ends with you at task 15 having learned nothing.
The timeline is a year, not five. A semi-coordinated, semi-intelligent caster with any casting background and a methodical plan should pass in a year to a year and a half.

Putting it to work

Before you pick up the rod, write down the pieces of the task you are working on.
Spend whole sessions on one piece: the pickup alone, the transition alone, the loops alone.
When each piece is repeatable, learn to do them all together, then rehearse the task start to finish without stopping.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 2, 00:03:58. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How do I answer the examiner's questions in the CI exam?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Answer briefly and stop. The examiner wants to see that you know the material, not that you can talk.

What the instructor says

Short, then quiet. Two or three sentences, then let them ask the next question. If you do not know something, say so and ask them; do not throw stuff at a barn door hoping something sticks.
Know the two one-liners. A narrow loop comes from a straight line rod tip path; a tailing loop comes from a dip below it. Then stop and let them ask what causes the dip: creep shortening the casting arc, inappropriate power, or a front and back cast less than 180 degrees apart.
Set the parameters on a hypothetical. Begin with I would assume they are all beginners, and I would assume I have 45 minutes. If the examiner sets the parameters, answer inside theirs.
Diagnose the same way every time. Watch the line, then the rod, then the hand, and correct in the reverse order. With several faults, fix the first error in the sequence; the full method is here.

Putting it to work

For each task, put the questions an examiner could ask on a 3 by 5 card and write the answer as concisely as you can.
Have friends quiz you; many of these questions are in the study guide, and 90 percent of examiners ask them.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 3, 00:06:10–00:06:55, lesson 14 part 1, 00:07:52, and lesson 14 part 2, 00:03:09 and 00:04:48. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

What should I ask the examiner before the teaching tasks?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The wording of tasks 16 to 22 is ambiguous, so ask before you start. What would you like me to do?

What the instructor says

There are three modes. Some examiners want just the steps: rod tip down, accelerate to a stop at 2 o’clock, pause (say hi mom), forward cast, follow the rod tip down. Some want you to explain how you would teach each step. Some, and he is in this camp, want a real lesson.
Keep all seven inside 45 minutes. His own demonstrations run four, five or six minutes each; ten minutes on any one teaching task is bad teaching.
Teach real students first. Do not take the test unless you have volunteered teaching; real students show you why a lesson plan matters.
Show, then talk. Do not talk and demonstrate at the same time: say what you are about to do, show it, then describe each step.

Putting it to work

Ask about physical limits, goals and available time before a lesson, and check whether their gear will let them cast.
Know the common fault on the pickup-and-lay-down teaching task (task 17 on this site): going too far back and breaking the wrist on the back cast.
Teach the grass drill and the paintbrush drill before pickup and lay down; they teach smooth acceleration and a forward cast with no rod in hand.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 14 part 1, 00:02:44–00:12:00, and lesson 14 part 2, 00:02:08. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How ready do I need to be on exam day?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Be over-prepared. The stress of three MCI examiners will blow up any spare margin, so you need to pass at 90 percent.

What the instructor says

A good day is not the plan. You cannot be at 80 percent and hope to perform at 90. If you think you will need a good day to pass, you will not have one.
Weather is part of the test. Practice in 30 to 40 mph wind, including the tasks you hate. At a West Yellowstone test in early September (he thinks 2013 or 2014) it was 15 mph, snow and a 36 degree high; the passers had practiced in those conditions, and bluebird-only practice is a recipe for absolute failure.
Wind is a choice. The test says you can change directions any time, so turn and keep the wind off your casting shoulder; he has seen 25 mph on test day.
The order can change. The wind task (task 22 on this site; the video calls it task 21) may start with a headwind or tailwind, and task 8 may come fast, slow, medium rather than slow, medium, fast; practice every order.

Putting it to work

Get a pretest from someone told not to be nice: pretty good is a euphemism for you are really crappy.
Pass the 36-question written test first — 30 correct is the pass mark, so you can miss six. If you fail it you can still take the performance exam that day, though the written has to be retaken within a year.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 1 part 1, 00:01:18 and 00:08:43, lesson 1 part 2, 00:07:24, lesson 1 part 3, 00:06:55 and 00:08:15, and lesson 14 part 2, 00:05:59. See the video library for the series and the CI exam section for the tasks; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

Why does the examiner want my rod tip down at the start?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most examiners read a high rod tip as slack, and it is. With 5 feet out it hardly matters; with 50 or 60 feet you have to get the rod way back before the slack comes out, and by then your fly is hitting the water behind you.

What the instructor says

The exam answer. “There’s slack when you pick it up” is what he wants to hear — and what most examiners read from a high tip.
5 feet versus 50–60 ft. Task 1 is 40 feet, short enough to get away with it, but the low tip is a habit for longer line.
Before every task, lay the line down straight, tip down — the roll cast is the only exception.
Reset cleanly. If a wiggle mend left a mess, roll cast pickup and lay it down.

Putting it to work

Lay the line down straight, rod tip down, before every task except the roll cast.
Try a high tip with 60 feet out and watch the fly land behind you.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 2, 00:03:12. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

What are the three moves that make a wide front loop?

example@example.com (HookedLee) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Task 2 asks for wide loops on both the forward and back casts: several narrow false casts first, then you announce the change (or the examiner calls it), and the next forward cast and everything after it is wide. The video’s title still carries the older framing — narrow back, wide front — but the 2025 form wants both wide. Get the pickup and two or three good loops going first.

What the instructor says

Stop. There is no drift at this stop — the second the rod stops, you rotate.
Rotate. The wrist drifts down until the rod is about 20 degrees off horizontal.
Bounce back up. Come back up rotating first and translating as you come; translating forward and then coming up loses the loop.
Do not pause. Waiting drags the rod back and ticks the fly, which most examiners dislike; bounce instead, the second it hits, like a ball off the ground.
Track first. The tip goes back and forth on a straight line every cast; have someone watch from the front and the back.

Putting it to work

Make a good cast, then stop and rotate a hundred times.
Rotate back up with the line on the ground; add translation last.

Source

From the FFI CI walkthrough series by Dayle Mazzarella (Chapter 3 — FFI Casting Instructor Certification Tasks, Fly Fishing Coach International), lesson 3, 00:02:47. See the video library and the task pages for the exam wording; terms follow the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.