Nice post and sorry to hear about your electronics troubles . I use to throw a buoy tied with weight out when I caught a fish,then work that area strong for additional fish ( every has heard of schooling fish- hang out in a group. I once did this at Sandy Ponds Myself and partner caught about 25 bass off the area within 10 yards of the buoy. We stayed there for three /four hours. Culling fish. Our final 5 were about 19 pounds, we won the tournament. Now days you can just hit a weight point on sonar but sometimes electronics fail, hint don't use buoys that are noticeable from distance( draws a crowd) I've used duck decoys and dark buoys.