FFF Two-Handed Casting Instructor

Performance Test

The FFF Two-Handed Casting Instructor Performance Test will be conducted on moving or still water. Tasks noted as left bank or right bank will be performed as if from that bank. Casts will be performed from the left and right shoulders; an off-shoulder (cack-handed) cast may be substituted. All other tasks not specifically noted as right or left casts, may be caster’s choice of bank or rod hand.

The rod will not exceed 15 feet in length, 10 wt. in size. The floating line weight will be no greater than an AFFTA rated 10wt. two-handed line. The candidate is required to perform all the floating line tasks with one rod. A second rod may be used for the sink-tip tasks.

Two lines are required:

A floating line of the casters choice, providing it will qualify as required.

For the sink-tip tasks, the candidate may choose to use either a full sinking type (class) 2 line, or a sink-tip line that has a minimum of 15 feet of sinking tip that weighs 150 grains or more, and is rated type (class) 6 or greater.

The floating line will have a leader no shorter than 10 feet and no longer than 15 feet. The sink-tip line has no leader length requirement.

The candidate must perform all of the casts with ease and proficiency. The casts are expected to be formed smoothly with well-formed D-loops (or V-loops), straight anchor placements and have well-formed narrow forward loops that unroll completely, straightening the leader unless otherwise asked for. Narrow loops are defined as being 3 feet or less between the top and bottom legs, measured approximately 6-10 feet back from the leading edge of the loop. Verbal descriptions are to be clear and simple, providing concise instruction. The candidate has up to three attempts for each performance task. If the candidate fails 6 or more tasks during the performance test, or fails more than 2 tasks within any required cast, the test is failed.

The candidate’s floating line is to be qualified to a distance of 80 feet prior to the start of the test. Distance will be measured from foot to target. Shooting the line to reach 80 feet is not permitted. It is expected that a candidate be able to qualify his or her line in 5 or less casts; if the line fails to reach this requirement after repeated attempts, it will be disallowed and the test terminated. Upon the line qualifying (80 feet, foot to target), a holding mark will be approved at this length. It is recommended that the candidate have a known visible holding mark established at the 80-foot qualifying distance prior to the test for their reference. In order to assure a line has ample length to qualify, it is suggested to use a head length (the working line from rod tip to leader) of 60 feet or longer.

To accommodate an extreme situation or adverse conditions, the THCI-examiner may grant a 10% reduction in the performance criteria.

Distance equivalences: 70 feet = 21.3 meters, 80 feet = 24.4 meters, 100 feet = 30.5 meters

Candidate’s Rod length and weight: _______, Line size: _______, Leader length: ______.

Overhead Casts

(must be performed over water)
Expectations for the overhead casts: Parallel narrow loops equal in size front and back; good timing; no tailing loops unless asked for; no ticking or the fly hitting the ground or water; first back cast needs to have a good loop size and shape. Wide loops must be 6 feet or greater in width. Demonstration must match explanation.

1. ___ Demonstrate 3-4 false casts at 70’, with narrow loops forward and back. Right hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate 3-4 false casts at 70’, with narrow loops forward and back. Left hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Explain and demonstrate loop size. Demonstrate wide loops followed by narrow loops in 3-4 false casts at 70’.

4. ___ Demonstrate a tailing loop on command. Explain more than one way a tailing loop can be formed.

5. ___ Demonstrate an Overhead Cast with a change of direction cast (30 degrees or greater), no false casts.

6. ___ Demonstrate an Overhead Cast shooting line to 100’.

Roll Casts

(may be performed from left or right bank)
Expectations for the dead line roll casts: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely; no open or non-loops. The D-loop should be dragged into position slowly and come to a complete stop; not done as a switch cast with a dynamic, thrown D-loop.

1. ___ Demonstrate a dead line Roll Cast at 70’. Right hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate a dead line Roll Cast at 70’. Left hand up or off-shoulder.

Switch Casts

(may be performed from left or right bank)
Expectations for the switch casts: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely; casts are to be performed with good timing and smooth, correctly placed anchors. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation.

1. ___ Explain and demonstrate a Switch Cast at 80’ without shooting line, with D-loops. Right hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Explain and demonstrate a Switch Cast at 80’ without shooting line, with V-loops. Right hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Demonstrate a Switch Cast at 80’ without shooting line with D-loops. Left hand up or off-shoulder.

4. ___ Demonstrate a Switch Cast at 80’ without shooting line with V-loops. Left hand up or off-shoulder.

5. ___ Explain and demonstrate a slack anchor point with the piled anchor

6. ___ Explain and demonstrate the relationship between length of line carried and casting stroke length.

Single Spey

Expectations for the Single Spey Cast: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely; casts are to be performed smoothly with good timing. The anchor point should align with the forward cast, not anchoring behind the caster. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation. To be performed from the bank noted.

1. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 45 degrees from the left bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey with a change of direction of 45 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the left bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 45 degrees from the right bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

4. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey with a change of direction of 45 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the right bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

5. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a direction change of 90 degrees or more.

6. ___ Explain and demonstrate the fly anchoring incorrectly on the downstream side of the forward cast.

7. ___ Explain and demonstrate an anchor point that is too far upstream for the intended forward cast.

8. ___ Explain and demonstrate an improper anchor point with a bloody L.

Double Spey

Expectations for the Double Spey Cast: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely; casts are to be performed smoothly with good timing. The anchor point should align with the forward cast, not anchoring behind the caster. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation. To be performed from the bank noted.

1. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees, from the left bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the left bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees, from the right bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

4. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the right bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

5. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey at 80’ without shooting line, with a direction change of 45 degrees or less.

6. ___ Explain and demonstrate where the anchor point is to be positioned when the lift is completed.

7. ___ Explain and demonstrate an improper anchor point with a bloody L.

8. ___ Explain and demonstrate casting within a minimum backspace (6’).

Snake Roll

Expectations for the Snake Roll Cast: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely, Casts are to be performed smoothly with good timing. The anchor point should align with the forward cast, not anchoring behind the caster. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation. To be performed from the bank noted.

1. ___ Demonstrate a Snake Roll at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees from the left bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate a Snake Roll with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the left bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Demonstrate a Snake Roll at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees from the right bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

4. ___ Demonstrate a Snake Roll with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the right bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

5. ___ Demonstrate a Snake Roll at 80’ without shooting line, with a direction change of 45 degrees or less.

6. ___ Explain and demonstrate a poorly timed forward cast; timing too fast, timing too slow.

7. ___ Explain and demonstrate a curved anchor placement resulting from an improper alignment of the “e” or oval during the cast formation.

Snap T

(Candidate may choose to use a Snap C, after first demonstrating a Snap T.)
Expectations for the Snap T: Narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely casts are to be performed smoothly with good timing. The anchor point should align with the forward cast, not anchoring behind the caster, with no “bloody L”. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation. To be performed from the bank noted.

1. ___ Demonstrate a cast at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees from the left bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

2. ___ Demonstrate a cast with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the left bank, right hand up or off-shoulder.

3. ___ Demonstrate a cast at 80’ without shooting line, with a change of direction of 90 degrees from the right bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

4. ___ Demonstrate a cast with a change of direction of 90 degrees, shooting line to 100’ from the right bank, left hand up or off-shoulder.

5. ___ Demonstrate a cast at 80’ without shooting line, with a direction change of 45 degrees or less.

Underhand Cast

(A Scandinavian technique that emphasizes the use of the bottom hand)
Expectations for the Underhand Cast: The cast will have narrow loops that roll out above the water with the line and leader straightening out completely. Casts are to be performed smoothly with good timing and correctly placed anchors. No tailing, open or non-loops. Demonstration must match explanation.

Note: Length of line used for this task may be shortened to facilitate the demonstration.

1. ___ Explain and demonstrate the Underhand Cast with a 45-degree change of direction. Describe the choice of rod, line, leader and their role in the cast.

Line Management

1. ___ Explain and demonstrate shooting line. When is the proper time to release the line?

2. ___ Explain and demonstrate line control mends, mending upriver and downriver.

Sunk line

The candidate must use either a full sinking type (class) 2 line, or a sink-tip line that has a minimum of 15 feet of sinking tip that weighs 150 grains or more, and is rated type (class) 6 or greater for the following.

1. ___ Explain and demonstrate what is needed to get a sinking line (or sink tip) up to the surface in order to perform a successful cast.

2. ___ Demonstrate a Single Spey, shooting line to 80’ with a sinking line or sink-tip.

3. ___ Demonstrate a Double Spey, shooting line to 80’ with a sinking line or sink-tip.

Teaching Skills/ Fault Correction

Expectations: Candidate must be able to teach or instruct students in various scenarios in a clear organized manner. Candidate must also readily identify casting faults and their appropriate correction.