A friend of mine is a crime scene investigator for the state police.  Whether his job has made him a good observer of things or whether his ability to notice things led to his job (or both) is subject to debate. but whenever he and I go fishing, he observes/notices things that I totally overlook.  Whereas I might be lucky to notice the crawdads in the river, he'll be waaaay beyond that and be counting the eggs on them.  He pulls out hellgramites out from under rocks where I never even knew they existed.   He is a better fisherman than I am and it's one (of many) reasons why.  I have to say that observing and attributing meaning to things is probably the most important trait a good fisherman can possess.  Maybe some of his skills will eventually rub off on me.

good piont ;D