Have you ever wanted to become an FFF casting instructor?
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Have you ever thought about becoming an FFF certified casting instructor? Well if you did this is a good way to get started. John Breslin (FFF Master casting instructor and member of the FFF Casting Board of Governors) and my self (FFF Master casting instructor and member of the FFF guide asso. Board of Governors) will be holding a CCI training class this May 21 – May 23 at Moose tracks adventures (http://www.moosetrackadventures.com/) in Ely Minnesota . The class will be 3 days; this will be a very intense course with about 10 to 12 hours of instruction a day. The students in last year class call it the CCI boot camp and said they had brain overload at the end of the weekend. The weekend will include all meals, lodging and instruction both class room and casting.
John and I did this class last year and had ten students attend. Out of the ten, six have taken their CCI test and we have had 5 pass. If you are interested please let us know because the space is limited. For question please email me and I will be happy to answer any question that you have.
Dave
Both these guys are top shelf teachers…
None too purty to look at though – Ha!
Ely is a great fishing town too!!
Sounds like a good class. Id like to take the test, but the closet place that i see it being offered is Arkansas. I think the FFF needs to make it available in more areas for people to take.
Sounds like a good class. Id like to take the test, but the closet place that i see it being offered is Arkansas. I think the FFF needs to make it available in more areas for people to take.
You just need 1 Board of Governors or 2 Master Casting Instructors to give you the test and workshop.
If you’re really interested I would look on the FFF website and see if there are any near you.
JT wrote:
“Sounds like a good class. Id like to take the test, but the closet place that i see it being offered is Arkansas. I think the FFF needs to make it available in more areas for people to take.”
JT
It would be nice if people did not have to travel to take the test but that is not the real world. All the examiners that I know and me included have to travel at our own expense to give tests. We do not get paid to give tests and as I said we have to pay for our travel. last year I traveled over 6,000 mile and stay in hotels for 15 nights at my own expense. We do it because we believe in the program and want to see it get better and love what we do. I do not want this to sound bad but people need to comment themselves a little if they want to become certified.
DaveBrad, what do you understand about the true internal workings of fly casting? Can you explain to me what causes a tailing loop and can you correct this fault? Can you demonstrate wide open loops tight loops and tailing loops on command as though you were showing a student and explain how you created those different loops? Can you explain to a client how to better deal with the wind or a big heavy fly or a sink tip line? Its one thing to be able to DO this, its another thing to be able to explain, demonstrate and teach this.
I was a fly fisherman with 35 years of experience in an incredibly diverse range of fisheries and with an awful lot of teaching under my belt. I have lived and breathed the sport all those years. I would say I am a very experienced fly fisherman who THOUGHT he knew a bit about teaching casting and the mechanics of casting. I can’t tell you how humbled I was the first time I encountered a couple of FFF MCCI’s, I mean really humbled (Chuck Easterling, Lasse Karlson, and Soon Lee) – but not intentionally by them, by the realisation of how little I really understood the pure nuts and bolts of fly casting – not the urban mythology of fly casting as passed on by the ‘club expert’, just the facts.
Anyone who fly fishes and has aspirations to teach or is in a situation where they are constantly engaged with people who fly fish – whether its in a capacity as a fly shop assistant or guide, or club casting instructor, should at least achieve a CCI level of instruction. It is priceless.
The one thing you will learn is to deal with not knowing something.
Morsie
Peter Morse MCCI
Well Dave since you brought it up, while I’m open to travelling by car for something like this, I still believe the fff could setup tests more regionally. I know several fff instructors and one particular master caster in my city.
Why can’t the fff have a midatlantic testing when the region meets? It would certainly be easier for you and others who travel to take give the tests.
The fff could have signups for regions and then if no one signs up, they obviously wouldn’t have to give the test.
I think the program is great, but I still believe there is a more efficient way to give the tests.
Brad, what do you understand about the true internal workings of fly casting? Can you explain to me what causes a tailing loop and can you correct this fault? Can you demonstrate wide open loops tight loops and tailing loops on command as though you were showing a student and explain how you created those different loops? Can you explain to a client how to better deal with the wind or a big heavy fly or a sink tip line? Its one thing to be able to DO this, its another thing to be able to explain, demonstrate and teach this.
I was a fly fisherman with 35 years of experience in an incredibly diverse range of fisheries and with an awful lot of teaching under my belt. I have lived and breathed the sport all those years. I would say I am a very experienced fly fisherman who THOUGHT he knew a bit about teaching casting and the mechanics of casting. I can’t tell you how humbled I was the first time I encountered a couple of FFF MCCI’s, I mean really humbled (Chuck Easterling, Lasse Karlson, and Soon Lee) – but not intentionally by them, by the realisation of how little I really understood the pure nuts and bolts of fly casting – not the urban mythology of fly casting as passed on by the ‘club expert’, just the facts.
Anyone who fly fishes and has aspirations to teach or is in a situation where they are constantly engaged with people who fly fish – whether its in a capacity as a fly shop assistant or guide, or club casting instructor, should at least achieve a CCI level of instruction. It is priceless.
The one thing you will learn is to deal with not knowing something.
Morsie
Peter Morse MCCI
There are plenty of things I know nothing about it is true Peter…
I can understand where you are coming from. I feel a bit of sanctimony in your answer however.
Maybe you read me wrong. I am humble and confident at the same time. I always respect the process and personally I am always the student though I am often called upon to be a teacher.
To directly answer your question about my depth of understanding of the physics of the fly-cast as well as the psychology and physiology of the caster plus how the student/teacher interaction processes out…well that would be banal.
Seems like you are calling me out or testing me. Really?
Do you care or do you think I’m a braggart?
Ask around – I have many fly fishing clients and many close angling associates who can testify about what kind of caster, student, teacher I really am.
Personally I am always looking for a way to better my understanding and enjoyment and stewardship of the sport.
One of the most memorable scenes in Caddyshack happens when Judge Smails asks Ty what his golf score is…Ty answers something to the effect – Oh I don’t keep score…
The Judge gets kind of red and jowly over this and snorts back…Well how do you measure yourself against other golfers then?
Ty smiles and says, as he looks down at the Judge…By Height.
😉
So I guess I am still wondering about this entire FFF process. I’m definitely interested to learn more. The question I pose to Dave and others in the ranks is one I have often heard from other guides as well.
I am hoping to have a more general discussion rather a personally focused one.
Thanks
Brad
I think that may have take Peters answer wrong, I do not think he was trying to test you but was trying to show you some of the benefits of the program. The program will help teach you some different ways that you may help your clients when you see a problem. I think he was also trying to point out that none of us has all the answers and that he learned that as many of us do when we get around other instructors. The program is about sharing casting and teaching knowledge. Now to answer some of your other question. Yes there is a fee for taking the test and there is an annual renewal fee, these fee help to administer the program. As you already know that I believe in the program that is why I volunteer so much time to it. I do not make any money off the program. Now will it help your guiding, that is some thing I can not answer. I know that it has helped me help my clients to become better fly fisherman. Will you get more business because you are an FFF certified casting instructor, I also can not answer that because I was a certified casting instructor before we open our business. The one thing I can say is that it will not hurt. I hope that this answered some of your questions, if not the next time we see each other we can talk about it. I have an Idea why don’t we talk about it as you row me down the river :D.
DaveBrad you did read me wrong. What I’m describing is my own journey through this thing and I’m asking you to ask yourself if you understand and know those basics just as I had to when I thought I knew a lot and found out I really didn’t. Perhaps the hardest part of the whole thing is confronting what you don’t know when you think you’re pretty good. I had to work with MCCI’s here who are much younger than me and have a fraction of the experience I have, but they had the determination to become MCCI’s and as a consequence were far better casters than me – but I had to deal with that. I always found a lot of reasons based on this stuff (ego) to not do it and those reasons tended to overshadow any reasons for doing it. I had to move that balance. It reminds me of some Bob Dylan words “Swallow your pride, you will not die, its not poison”.
JT, I’m in Australia, its the same size as the US with 5 MCCI’s and about 20 CCI’s. We all live many hundreds of miles apart but manage to get together several times a year. If you want this thing enough you’ll find ways of getting around and mixing with instructors. Our guys also travel to the US to mix with instructors because they feel its important. When I was last there I travelled from Idaho to San Francisco to spend time at the Golden Gate casting ponds with several MCCI,s and they travelled several hours to spend time with me and I was a CCI studying to be an MCCI at that stage. Get yourself to Yellowstone for the Conclave, mix with other instructors at every opportunity, become all ears and above all get Bill Gammels DVD of the 5 essentials. That’s at the core of it all. The effort is worth it.
Morsie
Now fellows those are the kind of answers that inspire.
THANKS
I agree that it is up to the individual to get what they are looking for out of experiences.
Now fellows those are the kind of answers that inspire.
THANKS
I agree that it is up to the individual to get what they are looking for out of experiences.
CCI status is the first thing I look for when trying to select a guide. I suppose everyone is looking for something different when they book a guide, but invariably, I am looking for someone that will help take my skills to the next level. I will certainly acknowledge that there are many excellent non-CCI guides. However, I have had such good learning experiences with CCI guides that I am very reluctant to consider a non-CCI guide when I will be fishing salt or some other type of big water. Such environments require different skills from what I use on my usual trips to remote creeks.
I have a very good understanding of casting dynamics. However, putting those dynamics in action, and self diagnosing my casting flaw de jour, is sometimes more difficult. With CCI guides, I know the guide will be able to communicate the quick tip that can make for a much better day (probably for both of us).
I would like to become certified. I plan to look into the process during the SE Conclave this year.
Hey Brad,
I have my CCI and guide full time, Colorado in the summer and central Florida during the school year (still a full time college student).
The main reason I got the CCI is because I wanted to learn how to teach more effectively.
Zach, I had planned to come this year but this new book has eaten into all my writing and earning time and until its out I’m on bread and water. I’ll aim for 2011 with all the very best intentions of being there.
Morsie
Dave
I have considered getting a certification on and off for most of my guiding career. Basically I’m ignorant and lazy and not prone to being a joiner of anything in general.
But I can say that this FFF caster certification keeps interesting me…
What can you say to a fella who is in my boots – a professional guide, huge ego used to giving instruction but not shy about seeking betterment…basically a guy who understands the casting dynamics across the range who is mainly self-taught in personal style yet called upon day in and day out to tactifully help anglers be better casters whether they know they need it or not.
Basically what I am asking is this – what can this course do for me to make me a better guide #1 and a better angler #2?
I’m skeptical but open minded.
The joining up for a fee to be called a certified whatever has always hung me up. Is this a one time fee or is it something I’ll get a hook for every year?
Thanks in advance
Brad
Well I felt exactly the same as you. I’d been a fairly high [profile guide/instructor for 27 years or so before I sat my FFF CI. I don’t think sitting the test did me an ounce of good. I think that studying for it did me the world of good and financially and credibly having it has generated casting lessons I wouldn’t have got without it. While I humbly submit that my 27 years or more of teaching casting sufficient qualification for anyone in today’s “qualified” world you get more business with the cert than without. Just being a smart businessman will make you take another route than just believing others should take you at your word. Most absolutely unfortunately, the world just doesn’t work that way anymore. 🙁 but absolutely, fortunately having the FFF endorsement can over-ride that!
You can judge a man by the size of things which annoy him.
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