Congrats on the retirement. I pulled the trigger 6 years ago, and have enjoyed it. As far as finding time to fish after retire ment; the high water last year hurt me. I only made it out on the water 72 times.
Depending on what I see on my electronics,I usually throw about 10 cranks, and if nothing switch to a Ned, then a spinner, then a different color crank. If nothing, I move on to a different location or type of structure. It tends to work for me. I should say that I have grown less patient in my senior years.