Advice for a rookie

Hey all, I finally picked up a boat last season after searching for about 5 years. (Ain't many scullers in my part of the desert!) I sculled a handful of times last year and had some success which was great! I have a few questions on how to improve my skills this year. Hunting bigger open water I couldn't seem to get closer than about 60 yards or so. I felt like my approach speed was good but does a very slow approach help with getting tighter on birds in bigger open water at all?? I also was thinking that it could be the difference is the deck of my boat being a dry sheen versus the shine of water, i'm contemplating making a hose system with a small hand pump that I can keep the deck of my boat wet while i'm hunting to match the shine of the water. Has anyone done that?? Chime in with advice or thoughts!