Well that was humbling...

[RexW]

The forced isolation due to the virus outbreak gave me a chance to work on some of the MCI exam casting skills during the past year. I haven't been working on the actual exam requirements, just working on learning the various casting skills such as curve cast, cast around an obstacle, increasing the length of line that I can pick up and cast, etc. Just trying to become a better caster.

Yesterday, I pulled up the FFI MCI exam and read through the exam requirements for each of the tasks. The first task is just false casting. OK, the line length is 50 feet which is not trivial, but I can pick up and cast 50 feet without a concern. To be honest, I've pretty much ignored this task as not a big deal. I was wrong and my first attempt was ugly. Very ugly.

I tend to spend most of my casting time focused on putting a fly where I want it using either a PULD cast or the minimum number of false casts possible if I can not do it with a PULD cast. Learning to get a fly back in the water quickly has proven very useful when fishing. So, that's what I focus on. I have not done any serious false casting practice in years and it showed.

The MCI exam requires 6 false casts at 50 feet. On the first attempt, the pick up and first false cast were fine and then it went down hill quickly with each false cast looking worse than the prior. The later loops started tailing. Looks like it is time for me to shorten the length of the cast and relearn how to false cast consistently and then work back up to a 50 foot cast.

Something as simple as practicing false casting task proved to be a humbling experience. Oh well, there is always something else to learn.

[John Waters]

May I suggest you have a chat with Jarmo, who posted a video in the tracking.. tracking..tracking thread under the Fly casting forum. A lot of discussion about the MCI task to false cast 50 feet with a targeted loop shape. It all comes down to speed and the power applied to generate that.

John

[Paul Arden]

Hi Rex, start with 5’ of flyline out the tip. False cast that half a dozen times. Lay it down and add a foot. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Picking up from 50’ means just over 30’ of flyline being false cast. It’s really important to make it look neat, effortless and consistent. It’s not just task one, it appears throughout the test. It’s worth spending a lot of time on this exercise. What you are aiming for is for someone to watch you do this and think to themselves “I’d like to learn that!”

An additional way of practising this is to throw at targets using the world championships rules. Target casting involves consistent loops tracking, body alignment, trajectories and false casting. I introduce this game nowadays to all my students, no matter what level of ability. For me this is one of the cornerstones of fly casting training.

Cheers, Paul

[George C]

Just a thought from one with similar struggles. With a PUALD the trajectory is up back and down forward. With false casting the trajectory is horizontal. I found I had all sorts of problems false casting well until I adjusted my front and back targets accordingly. The thread on the 180 principle helped me a lot.

[Paul Arden]

This is true George, but the longer the line pickup the lower the back target. By the time you’re picking up from 50’ that line is going to be straightening around the horizontal. This is also an excellent one foot at a time drill, starting from a short length of line, maybe even just the leader.

I like this because it eliminates the pickup to 10 o’clock teaching you often hear. You lift to the fly and then backcast. The angle tells you where your backcast target should be and the length of the lift and angle varies according to the length of line on the water. It’s an excellent exercise!

Many problems can be fixed going from short to long. A curve cast is a really good example. I’ve seen people trying to learn the curve cast around a target 30’ away! Far easier to stick it at 10’, master that, and then take a step back. It’s more practical too because the fish aren’t always 30’ away!

Cheers, Paul

[jarmo]

As John stated, I am actively exploring this task, so I can share some experiences. My starting point: 50' was not an issue, but loops were too large and not smooth.

These are some of the things I have learned. (As usual, YMMV.)

• Flying solo, video is a must. Looking at backcasts may help, but it is not a substitute: for example, I can not see tailing tendencies from caster's perspective.
• Video took the entire experience to a new level: it became enjoyable. Grinding and guesswork was replaced by an analytical approach. (My stance is closed, so no tracking issues, and all problems can be seen in video from the side.) This is also excellent practice for error identification in teaching.
• Paul's pickup method was highly significant. (See Tracking... thread.)
• Paul's and Lasse's suggestion of adding 1' at a time was an excellent start. Up to around 40-45' it worked "automatically."
• After 45' it gets interesting for me. This is now the best part, where I explore a combination of a number of things: timing, arc size and stroke length, trajectory, drift, weight transfer, delayed rotation, power timing.
• When some components click, backcasts are now tight at around 55'. I have a decent idea of what I want; I am currently designing a practice schedule for ingraining one component at a time.

Have fun and stay safe!

[Paul Arden]

Great post Jarmo! Hey one thing while I think about it, I’ve come across quite a few people who think (for some obscure reason) that using the minimum length leader permitted is an advantage ie 7’6”. Every foot you decrease your leader by, you increase the length of fly line that you need carry by the same amount. Would you rather carry leader or flyline?! Besides I would never use a 7’6 leader for anything!

Cheers, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

Agree with Paul here, but have also seen the opposite, where people show up with very long leaders and short belly lines, and then its about straigtening a very long leader where its not helping..

Cheers
Lasse

[RexW]

Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it.

Dropping down to casting 40 feet of line made a big difference in my loops. So, there is definitely a big difference in the skill required to add those additional 10 feet of line. I agree with the advice you've given, I plan to go back to a short line and focus on getting the technique right before adding additional line. I think it may take a couple of readings to understand everything in the Tracking thread. Lot of good information in it.

Thanks again for the help. There are not too many places where you can say your "loops are ugly" and have people understand what your talking about and offer useful assistance.

[carlz]

So also read through the MCI rules again. "line length is measured from the casters front foot to the fly." so a 9' rod and 8ft leader means you are aerializing 33ft of fly line. Recognizing that made the tasks a lot easier.