Does anyone else think fishing time can be so precious that it makes it so hard to put your rod down for a few minutes while your on the water and take a break to have a look whats on the water and see what the fish may be taking?

I certainly do..

I was on a stillwater tonight, yes, midsummer, hot and still, fish were slow, just the odd rise here and there though loads of buzzers, caddis and smaller flies hatching. Other fisherman were by the look of it trying various tactics with no joy. I put my rod down and had a good look close to the surface for what the occasional fish might be taking.

Caddis emergers seemed to be an option despite the quantity of hatched buzzer shucks, and by the end of the session I ended up with 5 fish and did'nt see another fish landed by anyone else, a few caenis were about later as well. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here as although it was a good evenings sport, I don't necessarily think I had it right anyway, cause if I did I'd have had a lot more than 5 fish. But the important thing is I put my rod down and focussed on the water to see what the fish might have been taking and it worked, to an extent at least.

I suppose if you spend the 10 minutes fishing and catch a fish you may remember it for the next 10 minutes, but of you spend 10 minutes watching flies and you witness an emerger you will remember it for 10 years...at least I will...Happy days!!