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99% of my fishing is done at night so these few things have made most nights more productive for me, if they haven't made it more productive, they have at least given me the ability to be in the best position to have success.
I would have to say chart plotter and more reliable/longer lasting outboard motor and better more powerful electric trolling motors are the three things that have aided me most.
the chart plotter allows me to cover the same exact drift over and over, it allows me to mark spots more accurately, I still use land marks to a degree but the chart plotter allows me to fish when visibility is less than great and anticipate turns and changes in the bottom to keep the boat in the best position to find fish without spooking them or running over where they are instead of casting to them... it also allows for and additional amount of safety coming back into the river, on a big moon tide, both jetties can disappear, have a "snail trail" to follow as I return makes reentry a whole lot less spooky
gone is the constant tinkering with the motor to be sure it gets me where I'm going and back home, even though I still run a 2 stroke, oil injection and synthetic oil has all but taken away the smoke trail, because they are more reliable, I'm able to travel greater distance without the fear of a break down...
Most of what I do relies heavily of shallow water stealth fishing, the electric motor ( My first one was a Ted Williams in 1974 it sported 14lbs of thrust)) is my mainstay and I put more hours on them in a season than I do ,my outboard.. there was a time when I only got a single season or two at best out of them, now, with salt water models available and larger thrust ratings, I pretty much give them up only when something better comes along, my current 24volt 80lbs of thrust Electric allows me to make adjustment to wind and tide with out changing my game plan, and on some nights that is a game changer.
as an add on, I'll say Radar for small boats, my eyes are not quite as good as they once were, adding a small boat radar allows me to see things that I just couldn't see before ( kayaks come to mind) I even use it on one section of beach to see fisherman wading the beach, because we fish the same water, I am able to pick them out as the wade the bars away from the shore line, this give me time to alter my coarse so I do not interfere with their night, It's a good set of electric "eyes" to give me a heads up on what is around me, I wish I had got one years ago..
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