Masters exam

The new MCI appears more straightforward than the last but whether or not it is easier depends on the examiners. My understanding was that previously hauling was not allowed in the accuracy test and because now they are allowed I believe that this part of the test should be easier than before.

I would say that the quality of students is expected to be variable but that the quality of the examiners should be consistently high and assuring that is much more difficult than testing students! In my experience there is a significant difference between the examination skills of a person who teaches a lot and one who teaches occasionally.

There is no substitute or better confidence builder for a prospective Master than to get out there and teach and many people as possible as many different casting and fishing methods as possible. Only then will they be able to demonstrate how to relieve a student’s tension or frustration during instruction and encourage their students to perform best. That is what we get paid to do!

Best wishes,

Ally Gowans

See my web sites http://www.letsflyfish.com and http://www.flyfish-scotland.com

2009 Spey Casting and Salmon Fishing Schools at The Kenmore Hotel March 20/22, April 17/19 and June 12/14. Trout fly fishing and fly casting school "Tackling Trout" at The Kenmore Hotel May 15/16/17, 2009.See my web sites for more details of schools.

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As someone who is studying for my Master's Certification, I must say that I give some kudos to trying to standardize the questioning. I have no concerns over the casting, as you can either complete them or not (there is ample warning as to what is expected and you should know whether or not you can.) However, I have been concerned over the questions.

In speaking with some people that took the test in years past, some of them a long long time ago, they all posed one troubling point. In the Master's Exam, there wasn't any limit or suggestion as to what could or should be asked. Many felt that some of the examiner's used to time to show their own knowledge, by asking very obscure or tedious questions. Some even went as far as to say that instructors seemed to take pride in knowing something and asking a question that the applicant didn't know. This gave me a little concern, as I have been an instructor in everything from firearms to hostage negotiations and never took this approah to teaching; in fact, just the opposite. I am pleased to see that steps have been taken to make sure that areas are covered fairly and with enough emphasis to determine whether or not someone has more than a "basic" knowledge to be given a Master's Certification.

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The Casting Board of Governors have taken this to heart. Great effort has been made in the recent past to make these exams fair while not diminishing the standards..... even increasing them to the degree that the questions and tasks on the performance part of the exam reflect modern teaching methods and casting skills which are becoming more prevalent. (Reasons for now including the basics of Spey casting and casting with the non-dominent hand.)

I know that our MCCI Testing Committee under Chairman Dusty Sprague spent untold hours going over each casting task before submitting its recommendations to the Board. The Board then discussed them and agreed to some minor modifications before coming up with the final version.

On oral exams there will always be differences in the way the questions are put forth by different examiners. No two of us do this in exactly the same way. This speaks to individual STYLES of testing. As Ally said, there will always be differences in the testing skills of different examiners. This is one of the reasons for our Continued Education Committee.

Testing problems of past years led to the formation of the CANDIDATES' BILL OF RIGHTS. All candidates should read this before taking the exam. Our CBOG members take this seriously.

We anticipated some new problems when we made the decision to have the Masters exams given by two CBOG's or by one CBOG and two MCCI's. In large measure, those problems were avoided by our protocal which places a CBOG as the lead examiner for teams of three. We are carefully addressing the problems which do remain as they appear as we seek to streamline the process. This has already lead to discussion as to qualifying MCCI's prior to having them participate in the examination process. The reason for this is that many MCCI's don't have the opportunity to attend our CBOG meetings and so are not always in tune with the CBOG deliberations on this important topic.

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