Confidence- I can’t stress this enough!  If you don’t think a fish is going to eat your fly every second it’s in the water then you will be missing a tone of fish.  If you are not confident then you are not going to be presenting the fly as effective as you should.  If you don’t believe that a fish is going to eat the fly at every second, then that bump or rise or hesitation will result in a missed opportunity.

Adaptability- Your go to method of fishing is going to catch you the most fish because you are more confident and proficient, but what if it’s not working, or worse, only catching a fish or two? I say worse because if you catch one or two fish you are probably going to stick with it, when another method could be more productive.

Fish all of the water- Fish fast shallow riffles, small pockets, banks, and heavy pocket water.  Fish hold in fast riffles in surprisingly skinny water.  Most people walk right by.  They also hold in small pockets, along the banks, and heavy pocket water.  Most people don’t fish these areas and opt for the nice pool or run.  The reason is they are hard to fish, especially if you are fishing with an indicator.

Set, fight and net efficiently- Set the hook on everything. Don’t think about whether it was a rock or not. You should be thinking three or four moves ahead…like a chess game. This gives you perfect positioning on a fresh set of untouched pockets. Fight the fish with a high rod angle and apply pressure, and get it to the net quickly.