Excellent, excellent, excellent. In the Army, when we crossed outside the wire on patrol we used to "lay dog". Simply, stop, look and listen. Acquaint ourselves with the sounds, smells and sights around us, making it easier to pick out the stuff that wasn't quite right.

I use the same thing when approaching fishing water. As I aproach the water I'm always looking for the web of a friendly spider. Insects trapped in the web will let you know whats been hatching and about how long ago. Then, I just sit down. When I still smoked, I'd sit there long enough to have a couple of cigarettes and just watch the water. Are they rising and if so how and where. If they aren't rising, where would I be if I were a trout trying to conserve energy, and maybe take a snack if it came past my nose.

Seems a reasonable approach to me.

REE

PS. Need to practice the accuracy casting.