Appendix A — Horizontal casting drill

*Casting arcs may vary depending on the rod/fly line combination and the amount of force applied to the cast.

Stretch out a tape to 70’. Make sure the tape is perpendicular to the wind.

Place a central cone at 35’ and then a cone at 28’ and one at 42’.

Stand away from the tape with the wind at your back and place your rod at right angles to the tape with the rod tip about 1’ over the tape and your casting arm (not your body) even with the 35’ cone. This will be your casting position for this exercise.
Pull fly line off the reel and cast your yarn to the 70’ mark, with the line parallel to the tape.
Hold the rod so the tip is about a foot or so above the grass and pin the line to the cork with the rod hand palm up and the reel parallel to the ground. Bring your rod tip so it is just above the 42’ cone. Remove any slack.
Using appropriate acceleration and a firm stop, make a cast in the opposite direction and stop your rod tip at the 28’ cone. Your line and leader should have landed almost parallel to the tape. You have created a narrow loop due to a straight-line rod tip path.
Now, taking care to remove any slack, make a cast with the rod tip beginning at 28’ and stopping at 42’. Let the line rest. You again have a narrow loop, the line landing close to the tape.
To demonstrate what is happening, stand at the 35’ cone, pinch the line to the cork and with the rod straight hold the line outside the tip with your line hand so it is taut. Now place your rod tip right on the 42’ cone.
Holding the line tight with your line hand begin slowly moving the rod towards the 28’ cone. Pull with your line hand to progressively bend the rod to keep the tip moving straight along the tape. As you approach the 35’ cone the rod should be close to its maximum bend. As the rod passes the 35’ cone, let the rod progressively straighten out until it is fully straight when it reaches the 28’ cone. (Left handed casters should start with the rod tip at the 28’ cone and move it to the 42’ cone to avoid having to cross their arms).
You have created a straight-line path (SLP) of the rod tip with the correct arc for the bend of the rod (Essentials #1 & #2). This exercise allows you to really see the SLP, bend of the rod and casting arc.

Now place two more cones; one cone at about 46’ and one cone at 24’. Move them 2 or so feet away from the tape in the direction of the caster. Now repeat the drill using the same amount of force and no slack. This time when you cast, start and stop your rod tip at the 2 new cones. You will notice that your loop became much wider, and the line landed on your side of the tape.

You have a casting arc of approximately 110 degrees (too wide for the amount of bend in the rod). The line is no longer parallel to the tape. You have demonstrated a dome, rainbow, or a windshield wiper rod tip path, which creates a big or wide loop.

Using the same slow motion technique you used to demonstrate the narrow straight-line rod tip path, now show the domed shape rod tip path in slow motion.

Now place 2 cones at 40’ and 30’. Repeat the same exercise. You will now have the line crossing over itself - a tailing loop. You now have a casting arc of maybe 65 degrees (too small for the amount of bend in the rod). To illustrate this dip in the rod tip path, simply repeat the slowmotion demonstration beginning at the 30’ cone. This time as you begin to demonstrate the stroke in slow motion, simply pull the rod tip down below the tape and then let it go back up to the tape. You have created a dipped rod tip path or, in FFI vocabulary, a “concave rod tip path”. This will always result in a tailing loop. To help remember that a concave rod tip path causes a tailing loop just think, “Only a CAVE man throws a tailing loop.”