I’m asking this for myself, but also cuz I think the thread might help many others. What is the one thing that you learned over the course of your fly fishing career that did the most to help you catch more fish. OK, two or three things are also an acceptable answer.
This question is prompted by another post – a newbie who had really become frustrated at not catching anything. He got a lot of responses urging him to stay with it until things clicked. Well, what made it click for you??
when I learned how to mend effectively I started catching many many more fish.
stealth
Long leaders - helps prevent drag ie your fly takes much longer to start dragging.
Plus all of the above!!
Not paying attention to all the stuff I read in books and instead watching other fishermen.
Ironically the idea came to me after reading Chapter 10, Water Types and How To Read Them in Ray Bergman’s “Trout”.
OK, so maybe I did pay attention to Ray!
Slow down and have patience. Instead of rushing to the water and casting right away learned to slow down, look at the water and see what is happening. Better to wait, look and learn before I start waving that stick around and scare the trout right at my feet.
Taking the time to study the water a bit before tossing a fly in. And sitting back and watching other people fish. Alot can be learned from watching and listening.
Rocky
the best thing that really help me is…
the moon phases… 3/4 moon to no moon… fishing is great…
full moon fishing is slow… but I can see alot better
Leonard
Lisenring or high stick nymphing technique.
jed
Mostly taking time to look and listen before rushing in.
Sometimes you’ll only get one shot, one cast, one chance, … Do it right the first time. 
For me it was cating to specific fish just as if I were hunting, not just shotgunning likely looking water.
Bill
Casting practice. Then slowing down to pay close attention to the surroundings and observation.
And then putting these three things into actual practice…
Jeremy.
Like everyone else has said watching. I find that I learn the most when I don’t actually fish. Sometimes I will stay at a spot and just watch how fish behave for an hour before I go and get my gear. Watching stripers in surf is amazing. They ride in on waves and crash the beach that was dry land a second before or sometimes stalk there way in and set up and feed right in the beach break just waiting for the next tastey morsel to be swept by.
Fishing is so much more enjoyable when you take your time.
Again, observing. The FIRST thing I do before stringing a rod is to walk around, checking out water type/clarity & fish, insect & minnow activity.
Mike
less tree’s 
TNT :twisted:
Brad
Telepathy!
I get into the head of my quary, using mental
telepathy and plant an image of my fly in his
little pea sized brain. It’s not really that
unfair as I still have to get the fly into his
zone of vision.G Warm regards, Jim
I will probably get bashed for this but, here is my honest opinion:
If all that you see on TV and read in books pertaining to fly fishing is mostly dry fly fishing, most new people feel that is fly fishing and they attempt to start by dry fly fishing which, in my own opinion, is the hardest technique to learn. I think most new people should concentrate on nymph fishing first until they get the hang of mending line, getting the fly to have a natural drift, get better at casting, etc. I just feel if you jump into fly fishing with dry flies first, you will struggle with the catching part due to bad casts, unnatural drifts, etc. I know that a lot of fly fisherman do not think you should be concerned with the catching part, but, to a lot of new people, if they are not catching they feel they are failing at fly fishing. Many new people I run into and start talking about trying fly fishing always claim they have thought about it but don’t think they can master the “waving of the fly rod” overhead like they see on TV. I explain the process of false casting to remove water from the fly and then they understand why all the “waving of the fly rod”.
For those of you getting ready to bash me please understand that I know that a lot of fly fisherman consider dry fly fishing as the only true fly fishing and nymph fishing is not considered fly fishing, so, you need not explain that to me. For me and my enjoyment of this sport, I prefer nymph fishing over dry fly fishing and while I am at it, I am a “numbers” fly fisherman. “Numbers” are my way of knowing that I have mastered a technique and “numbers” are the measurment stick I use to see if I have learned anything. Without numbers I am just “waving a big stick” in the river.
It was a magazine article on indicator nymphing. If the indicator is not moving more slowly than the surface current, you’re fly isn’t on the bottom.
Read the water and general conditions
Try and spot the fish first - cast to a specific target when possible.
Stick and move, don’t pound one section of water over and over.