Reel fun testing

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

I’ve had my UP2 fitness tracker for well over a month now and it’s still going strong. The batter life still lasts about 10 days and I haven’t had any trouble with the strap breaking on me. So I decided to put it to some rather unusual testing to see just how accurate its readings are. I took it fishing. Yeah I know I’ve taken it to the local trout stream or farm pond and it’s held up. But I mean fishing as in, big rods, big reels and BIG FISH.

Testing some new gear aboard the Wound Tight

So the family and I, along with some friends, chartered a boat to go fishing for striped bass on the Chesapeake Bay. It turned out to be a gorgeous day for boating and a hot day for fishing!

Ryley, his friend Tanner and Kyle battling three stripers at once!

We went out about mid-day aboard the Wound Tight and within an hour away from the dock we had 5 fish in the boat. During that time we had a triple on the lines with all fish over 37 inches. Talk about some fun!

My wife with her 43 inch citation striper.

This was my wife’s first time out fishing on a boat and her first time fishing for striper. And wouldn’t you know it beginners luck struck again as she reeled in the largest fish of the day at 43 inches!

Ryley with his personal best 40.5 inch striper!

Ryley had a great time as well. He managed to reel in the second biggest fish of the day at 40.5 inches while his big brother Jacob pulled in a nice healthy 38 incher. They each managed to reel in another fish as we were packing up the gear and released them both safely.

My 39 inch striped bass. Yes I got my UP2 slimy!

But before that happened I was up and worked my arm off reeling in my 39 incher, the arm I was wearing my UP2 on. After my 6 to 7 minutes fight was over I checked my UP app to see if the tracker data was skewed in any way. Turns out the motion, of me reeling the fish in, was negligible. I am sure it captured some of my arm movement as steps but by and large it captured me walking back and forth on the boat and that was about it.

The gang with the catch of the day.

Within two hours of leaving the dock we had our seven fish limits (and threw back three more that we fought trying to reel in the lines to head back) and I had completed one of the most unique tests so far! I can’t wait to get my next item to test. Until then keep taking your kids outdoors…