sometimes is good stress relief just to go out there and do exactly what you fellas did, experiment, wasn't about the numbers but about the different methodologies you use to come up with them.
I can't say I'm looking forward to those nasty black flies, I noticed the hatch almost two weeks ago and they hatch to everything they can cling to that floats out there on the lake, much different than house flies .
I might suggest you get some dawn soap with bleach in it, scrub your boat while you fish and leave a light film on your boat, just enough where you don't slip and they hate that application, I was put on to it by a Florida fisherman that swears by it. We all need tips here to help one another out to make our experiences more enjoyable. Hope it helps and happy fishing!

Oh, BTW, I thought I was the only one that gets those cluster ***** out there fishing...lol