The task

Teach a beginner caster the Pickup and Laydown Cast. An examiner must act as a student during this task.

Required performance standards

General performance standards apply to every task — narrow loops (≤ 4 ft, measured 3–4 ft back from the nose), a straight fly leg, loops similar front and back and approximately in-plane, a line and leader that unroll completely, no ticking, and slow to medium line speed. See the exam overview for the full list.

• A) Address the purpose of the cast.
• B) Teach the Pickup and Laydown Cast in a stepwise manner.
• C) Address the initial and final line layouts.

How to pass it

• Intent: to show you can teach the Pickup and Laydown at beginner level.
• Open with why the cast exists — getting a fly out onto the water from a laid-out or hanging line.
• Teach it in clear steps: pick the line up, pause, lay it down. One instruction per step.
• Say where the line starts (initial layout) and where it should finish (final layout, straight towards the target).
• An examiner is your student, so check understanding and invite questions rather than lecturing.

Drills

• Teach it to a real beginner, then watch them do it unaided.
• Write your step sequence down and cut it to five steps or fewer.
• Rehearse with an examiner-style student who deliberately makes a beginner mistake.