Page 29 - BusinessWest September 1, 2025

Fishing for Answers
How AI Helped Me Crack the Code on the Boulder River
BY SEAN HOGAN
“AI was helping us
with time-saving
technology, and
machine learning
was helping our
tools become
better day after
day.”
I recall attending a conference around 2016 where one of my
friends and a speaker at the conference brought up artificial intel-
ligence (AI) and machine learning and how they would change the
way we do business.
At the time, I had no clue what he meant by that; I couldn’t imag-
ine computers taking away our day-to-day tasks or improving our
customer service. I was the one with crossed arms in the back of the
room stating that “AI won’t replace my technicians and my support
team.” We talked among our team, and we really didn’t see a fit for
AI, nor did we truly understand what capabilities AI may have in the
future.
Fast-forward 10 years, and I have embraced AI
in the workplace. It started slowly; I used Microsoft
Copilot to help write some policy and procedure
pieces — you know, the tedious docs that no one
wants to write, or read, for that matter. I found AI
extremely helpful for writing.
AI then crept into several software tools in our
tech stack. AI was helping us with time-saving tech-
nology, and machine learning was helping our tools
become better day after day. The next step in our AI
migration was to use ChatGPT to help with social
media advertising — you know, those ads and imag-
es that everyone can tell is AI.
I even use AI to help out in my garden. I upload
pictures of plants and ask for help, and AI can typi-
cally identify the plant. Case in point: I grew a pep-
per plant in my garden, but I had no clue what type of pepper. The
taste test didn’t work out so much; my mouth was on fire for about
an hour. I then took a picture and uploaded the picture to Chat, only
to find that harmless-looking pepper was a thai green chili, which,
according to Chat, is 10 to 20 times hotter that a jalapeno. Next
time, I need to upload the picture before biting the pepper in half.
Eventually, I started hearing people in my circle saying they were
no longer searching in Google, but were now exclusively searching
in ChatGPT. Wait — this can’t be true? Well, not only did I find out
it’s true, but its flat-out better. I have since been using ChatGPT for
my searches. It is excellent for market research, background infor-
mation, advice, and recipes. Yes, recipes — I find myself searching
recipes often, without any advertising pop-ups or other distractions.
This has been my evolution of working with AI. I want to share
a real-life story from my vacation this summer. This one really
impressed me.
During a recent vacation in Montana, I found myself on one of
my favorite stretches of water, the Boulder River, just outside Big
Timber. I’ve fished this area before, but on this day, I hit a wall. Fish
were feeding, but no matter what dry flies I cast, I couldn’t get a sin-
gle strike. Frustration was setting in.
That’s when I turned to something new in my fishing gear:
ChatGPT.
I pulled out my phone and entered details like the river, time of
day, water temperature, and weather conditions into the AI. In sec-
onds, ChatGPT offered several dry fly patterns and presentation tips
I hadn’t tried. It recommended smaller dries, and subtle presenta-
tion adjustments, which made sense — but I wasn’t entirely confi-
dent in choosing the right fly.
I had recently purchased a new fly box filled with various dries,
“Eventually, I started hearing people in my
circle saying they were no longer searching
in Google, but were now exclusively
searching in ChatGPT.”
many of which I didn’t recognize. So I took a photo of the box and
uploaded it to ChatGPT. Amazingly, it identified the specific flies in
the compartments and told me exactly which one to use.
Taking that advice, I tied on a small dry fly and stacked it behind
a larger, more visible fly for better tracking. The results were imme-
diate. Within a few casts, I was landing fish — more than a few, in
fact.
It was an eye-opener. While I usually stick to nymphing (sub-
surface flies), this experience boosted my confidence with dry flies.
Even more, it showed how AI can be a valuable tool on the river,
especially when traditional tactics fall short.
Next time you’re out fishing and feel stumped, consider using a
bit of tech. You might be surprised what a virtual fishing buddy can
help you catch.
AI is still new — and I need to expand my view and come up with
more real-life scenarios where AI can help. BW
Sean Hogan is president of Hogan Technology Inc.
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