I'm very new to fishing and fishing boats.  Now that I have admitted that, I hope this doesn't sound too stupid a situation.  Hubby bought a 30 year old 16' bass tracker.  It looked terrible so upon recommendation of the boat trader he washed it off with an acid spray.  It looked much better but was left looking chalky.  That was fine by us but our non-fishing neighbor came over and brought his polish to show us how shiny it would make the boat.  Well, he didn't do just a couple of inches but shined up at least a square foot of the boat.  Can you see where I'm going?  It looked really bad and not knowing much about aluminum fishing boats we started polishing up the rest of the boat.  A long lost buddy, who knows fishing, saw the boat today and commented that the shiny hull will scare away the fish.  I suspect he is right and am thinking of painting or somehow dulling the hull.  So the question is: Does a shiny boat scare off the fish and if so, what's the best and easiest way to "de shine" the boat again?  Your opinions are appreciated and will be needed if I need to convince Hubby that the extra work of dulling the hull will be worth it.

I'm interested in hearing some other opinions as well but here's my thoughts. I don't think it will affect anything but I suppose it's a possibility in very shallow, clear water. If you are deeper than, maybe, 6-8 ft or if the water has any color to it, it isn't going to matter. My other thought is that it's very difficult to keep aluminum polished up like that, so it's probably going to oxidize and haze over by itself pretty soon anyway.

I wouldn't put too much work/thought into it any time soon. Go and enjoy that thing, fish and see what happens.

Oh, and welcome to BassResource!

Easiest/best way to "de-shine" it is to use it. It won't stay that way long, and the fish won't care either way. Go fish and have fun!

Hello Jan and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

There is always an opinion to be had and mine is that your shiny boat will not adversely affect fishing success.

As already noted above, regular use (or storage outside) will de-glaze that ride soon enough any way.

Good Luck

A-Jay

Thanks, everyone.  We took the boat out this morning and I caught my first ever small mouth bass.  And it was legal!  .  thanks again. We had fun.

Would love to see pics of the polished craft. I love the look of polished aluminum. 

On 5/28/2016 at 3:07 PM, Jan said:

Thanks, everyone.  We took the boat out this morning and I caught my first ever small mouth bass.  And it was legal!  .  thanks again. We had fun.

Guess it didn't scare off all the fish. Personally I don't think it matters if it shined or was painted black the fish is looking at the bait imho. Congrats on the fish.

16 hours ago, GetJigginWithIt said:

Would love to see pics of the polished craft. I love the look of polished aluminum. 

Yeah I agree.

I have watched several YouTube videos of guys polishing up old aluminum boats and they look awesome. 

It's not going to scare anything away. If it did, guys in fiberglass bass boats would be screwed. If you want to keep it looking shiny, there are sealers out there that will help. I can't vouch for them as I haven't used them before though. 

Here's the shiny boat shortly after it was polished.

Nice

Does look nice.  Back in the early 60's I bought a used 17' Grumman canoe and polished it like that, being a young teenager, proud of his new boat and not a lot of anything else to do.  Several years later, when it was really needing it again, thinking about all that work it took, I painted it a flat, OD green, and it's still green.

22 hours ago, Jan said:

Here's the shiny boat shortly after it was polished.

The only thing it's going to scare away is other fishermen who are blinded by the reflecting light! 

On 6/23/2016 at 7:54 PM, Jan said:

Here's the shiny boat shortly after it was polished.

That's one sharp lookin' boat.  I'd be proud to fish out of it, and I wouldn't worry about it scaring anything away, either.  Just keep fishing with it.  It'll get dirty again in no time.

My boat has the opposite problem.  Any more algae, and sludge on it and it will completely blend into the surroundings.

As already posted, continued use will quickly remove any unwanted shine.  Until then, take solace in knowing every speed boat pilot within a 30 mile radius (that isn't a complete idiot) will see and steer clear of your boat.

Good looking boat!  May it help you and your husband catch many fish.