Written-Exam on HookedLee

CI written exam practice questions

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

The FFI CI Study Guide ends with Appendix D — review questions, and the closest thing to a published syllabus for the written (paper) exam. These are its Sample Questions by Topic, all 33 of them, one card each: six on loop control, six on line control, five on roll casts, three on accuracy, five on distance and seven on the teaching tasks.

Each card gives the answer the guide supports, in the terms the guide uses, and says where it comes from. Where the guide gives a number or a limit, the answer carries it; where it does not, the answer says what the outcome depends on instead of inventing a figure.

Two things worth knowing before you use them:

These are FFI’s own published sample questions, not stolen exam papers. The real written exam’s 35 questions are not published. The study guide is explicit that mastering its material is the preparation: “If you have mastered the material in this guide, you should know the answers to the written exam.”
The written exam covers casting mechanics, fly tackle, knots, teaching and fishing knowledge. The questions here lean on mechanics and teaching because that is what Appendix D samples; read the paper exam page for the syllabus, test-day sequence and retake rules.

Search a word, filter by topic tag, or read a topic straight through — cards are ordered by topic and then by the order the appendix lists them.

What are the rod tip paths that produce a narrow loop, wide loop and tailing loop?

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

A narrow loop comes from a relatively straight rod tip path, a wide loop from a convex (domed) path, and a tailing loop from a concave path that dips downward during the casting stroke.

The rod tip path during the casting stroke determines what the fly leg of the loop will look like. Match the casting arc to how much the rod bends, and the tip travels straight — that is the narrow loop you want most of the time.

Narrow loop — straight. The casting arc matches the rod bend, so the tip path is a straight line and the fly leg is straight.
Wide loop — convex. The casting arc is too wide for the bend, so the tip wanders up and over in a dome shape and the fly leg curves upward.
Tailing loop — concave. The casting arc is too narrow for the bend, or force was applied unevenly, so the tip path rises during the stop, dips, and rises again. The fly leg dips and crosses the rod leg.

Read the fly leg and you know which path you made: straight, curve up, curve down.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), Bruce Richards’ Five Essentials and Task 16 loop shapes; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

Name two actions that result in a tailing loop.

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

Two caster actions produce a tailing loop: improper (uneven) force application, and a casting arc that is too narrow for the bend in the rod.

Improper (uneven) force application. The guide calls this one of the two most common causes. Accelerate the rod slowly early in the stroke and much faster later to catch up, and the rod tip dips and rises at some point in the stroke, producing a concave rod tip path.
A casting arc too narrow for the rod bend. The energy needed for the cast is applied over too short a distance, so the rod tip path goes concave. The fix is widening the casting arc — reducing energy instead leaves too little rod and line speed to make the cast.

Both are concave rod tip path faults. For a straight tip path, force has to be applied smoothly, with the rod accelerating at about the same rate from the beginning of the stroke to the end. Creep can contribute: drag during the pause that narrows your arc leaves you applying power over too short a distance. Practise by reading the fly leg after every cast.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), Task 3 and the Five Essentials, plus the tailing loop task; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How does the path of the rod tip relate to the size of the loop?

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

The rod tip path during the casting stroke determines the shape of the fly leg, and the fly leg shape is the loop size you see. Straight tip path, narrow loop; convex tip path, wide loop; concave tip path, tailing loop.

To keep the tip path straight, the size of the casting arc must vary with how much the rod bends. Bend little and the arc is narrow; bend a lot and the arc is wide. The tip path is the result you steer, and the arc is the control you adjust.

Read the fly leg, adjust the arc

Straight fly leg. The arc matched the rod bend. Keep it.
Fly leg curving upward. The arc is too wide for the bend — narrow the arc to straighten the tip path, or bend the rod more to match it.
Fly leg curving downward. The arc is too narrow for the bend — widen the arc. This is the tailing loop.

You do not have to judge arc width in degrees mid-cast. Watch the loop, then change the arc until the fly leg comes back straight.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), the first and second Gammel Essentials; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

How does the 180-degree principle apply to overhead casting?

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

In overhead casting, the 180-degree principle means the fly line and the intended rod tip path are closely aligned, both laterally and vertically, with the target at the start of each casting stroke.

Get that alignment right and all the energy of the cast goes to moving the line in one direction. Get it wrong and part of the energy is spent pulling the line into alignment with the tip path, so the cast is less efficient — and the line’s momentum curves the fly leg instead of leaving it straight. Slack is the related fault: keep it to an absolute minimum, and start with the line as straight as you can.

What that looks like overhead

The back cast tip path continues straight into the forward cast tip path: forward and back are 180° apart, high, low, right or left.
On the pickup and laydown cast, the tip path runs 10:30 to 1:00 and back, a typical fishing trajectory.
Tracking errors show up as a lateral 180 violation and curve the fly leg sideways.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), the mechanics chapter (aligning the tip path with the target) and the PULD task notes; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

If the casting arc is too wide for the bend of the rod, which loop shape results?

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

A casting arc that is too wide for the bend of the rod produces a wide loop.

The size of the casting arc must vary with how much the rod bends. When you rotate the rod butt through more arc than the bend needs, the rod tip keeps travelling up and over after it should have stopped going up — a convex, domed tip path the guide calls a dome, rainbow or windshield-wiper path. The fly leg follows the tip path, so it curves upward and the loop opens out wide. Over-bending the wrist is the classic way to get there: the wrist adds arc the rod bend does not call for.

Fixing it

Narrow the arc until the tip path is straight again. This is the direct fix.
Or increase rod bend — more force — to match the wide arc, but the guide notes that also increases line speed significantly.
Read the fly leg to confirm: an upward curve means too wide, a straight leg means the arc matches the bend.

The written exam pairs this with the opposite fault: too narrow an arc for the bend gives a tailing loop.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), the Second Essential (the casting arc varies with the length of line past the rod tip) and the mechanics chapter’s rule that the arc must match the rod bend; Task 19 overhead faults; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

Comparing a bamboo rod with a fast-action graphite rod, which needs the wider casting arc when false casting similar loops?

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

The bamboo rod needs the wider casting arc.

The Second Essential says the size of the casting arc must vary with the length of line past the rod tip, and the mechanics chapter states the same relationship from the other side: match the arc to the rod bend. A bamboo rod is the more flexible of the two, so for similar loops it bends more under the same line mass and force. More bend needs more arc to keep the rod tip path straight. A fast-action graphite rod resists bending — the bend sits closer to the tip — so less butt rotation is needed to keep the tip path straight.

Seeing it on the lawn

Rig both rods with the same line and false cast about 40 ft.
Straight fly leg on the bamboo comes from a wider arc; straight on the graphite comes from a narrower one.
Force the same arc on both: the bamboo’s arc is now too wide for its bend and it throws a wide loop, the graphite’s arc is too narrow for its bend and it tails.

The guide does not compare the two materials; this follows from matching arc to rod bend.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), the Second Essential (the casting arc varies with the length of line past the rod tip) and the mechanics chapter’s arc-matches-bend rule; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

What is a mend?

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

A mend is manipulating the fly line layout by rod movement after loop formation on a delivery cast. It affects the rod leg of the loop, not the fly leg.

That distinction is what separates a mend from a cast. The cast forms the loop and sends the fly; the mend happens after the stop, when the rod is moved to change how the line lies on the water. A mend does not change where the fly lands — it changes the shape of the line between you and the fly.

You mend so moving water does not grab the line and tow the fly. A mend puts a curve or slack into the layout, so the current has something to feed on before the fly starts dragging.

Mends come in two timings:

Aerial mends — mending before the line and leader land on the water. Most often used in moving water to produce a drag-free drift.
Water mends — mending after the line and leader have landed.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), the Task 4 reach mend definitions; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions.

Why would you slip line, or not slip line, during a reach mend?

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

Slip line when the reach must not steal distance from the cast; do not slip when you want a fixed amount of line and a shorter, precise landing.

No slip. The reach consumes approximately 10 ft of the line’s length and halts the fly’s forward movement, so a 40 ft cast lands short — which is the point. It casts a fixed amount of line. In the guide’s example — a river flowing right to left, target 30 ft away — cast 40 ft and reach right, and the fly lands in the narrow feeding lane above the fish. It is excellent for dry fly presentation at short distances.
With slip. Line slips through the guides during the reach, so the rod reaches without pulling the fly back. You do not have to cast past the target, which would spook fish or snag a grassy bank.

Pull off enough extra line for the fly to still land near 40 ft after slipping; start with 10 extra feet.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), Task 4 — reach mend with and without slip; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (Slipping line, Mends).

What fishing situation would you use a pile cast?

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

Use a pile cast when you want slack line on the water produced by the cast itself — most obviously when fishing downstream, where the heap of line lets the fly drift without drag.

A pile cast is one way to produce a slack line presentation; slack line reduces drag on the fly.
Do not lower the rod tip too quickly after the stop, or the cast becomes a pile mend.
Practise narrow and wide loops — wide loops can produce more slack.
Keep the delivery between roughly 20 ft and 30 ft: aimed too high, the fly lands closer than 20 ft; too flat, and it lands beyond 30 ft.

It is only one option, and it can be problematical in wind, where ticking on the back cast and loss of control are the risks. In wind, a bounce cast or a ‘high stick finish’ puts slack in the line instead.

Source

From the CI Study Guide (2025) (PDF), Task 5 — a cast that produces a slack line presentation; terms from the FFI Fly Casting Definitions (Slack Line Presentations).