Fly fishing success begins with competent casting. For that reason, one of our main educational goals is to facilitate fly casting instruction. Through the FFI Casting Instructor Certification Program (CICP), the Equipment Loaner program, and various media offerings, the Council enables its partner clubs to provide this instruction to their membership and the public at large.
The FFI Gulf Coast Council has two Casting Chairs, Jeff Ferguson (Lake Charles) and Dr. Tom Dempsey (Mobile), both Master Certified Instructors. If you have questions regarding fly casting programs in the Council, please feel free to contact either of them. Check the Contacts page for emails and phone numbers.
Gulf Coast Council Casting Instructors
For anyone, club or group that needs casting instruction in our region, we have a good number of Certified Casting Instructors (CIs) and Master Casting Instructors (MCIs) that can assist.
Link to the GCC list of CIs and MCIs
The Loop
The Loop: The Journal for Fly Casting Professionals is a quarterly publication of FFI Casting Instructor Certification Program (CICP). Previously a printed newsletter, The Loop is now a digital magazine, a medium through which the talents, knowledge, and ideas of our fly casting professionals can be shared.
Many of the world’s most notable and informed casting instructors have written for The Loop, which makes it a wealth of information for those who wish to learn the basics of fly casting. And, it is an invaluable resource for fly casters who want to learn to teach fly casting and fly fishing.
The Loop is published electronically and it is available to all FFI members. Members receive notice by email. New and older editions can be read online or downloaded to your computer as a pdf file. Click on The Loop image below to be taken to the Fly Fishers International website where you will have access to over 70 issues!
FFI Casting Instructor Certification Program (CICP)
The CICP was developed in 1992 to enhance the overall level of instruction in fly casting by increasing instructor knowledge, casting proficiency, and teaching ability. A secondary goal was to create a common understanding of casting terminology and casting mechanics that would serve the fly casting community, internationally and in North America.
Among the objectives of the program were to: establish high and consistent standards for casting instructors, establish and maintain communication networks for certified instructors, and facilitate the exchange of ideas between instructors worldwide.
These objectives are met by conducting teaching workshops, administrating testing that is fair and accesses the candidate’s knowledge of casting, teaching ability and casting proficiency. The FFI Casting Board of Governors has developed the CICP program and continues to monitor it for improvements and advancements in the sport.
There are three categories of the FFI Certified Casting Instructor program:
– Casting Instructor (CI)
– Master Certified Casting Instructor (MCI)
– Two-handed Casting Instructor Program (THCI)
Master Instructors play a key role as they instruct and mentor candidates for the CI program. MCIs also teach and mentor CI instructors to become Master Casting Instructors.
Becoming an FFI Certified Instructor
There are a number of resources on the FFI website regarding requirements for becoming a CI. After you have reviewed these, and if you have further interest, please feel free to contact either of our Casting Directors, Jeff Ferguson or Tom Dempsey.
