here are sum quotes from some wily old salts i've garnered along the weigh~~~

the best time/tides to fish?
"forget about all that crap! if there's water there, high or low, then fish it"

"find the bait, and you will find rhe fish and they don't care about the conditions!"

"if they are there at night, they'll be there during the day"

"don't believe that BS about too sandy, too much weed, to rough! the BIG fish aren't affected by that sheet! find the structure and give them your offering"

which lure works best for such&such condition?
"the lure that's on the end of yer line. it's all about the wiggle/vibration. they don't see with their eyes, they feel it with their stripes~~ first"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEELS! you want big ifsh? use eeeeeeeels!!"

One of the biggest fish I ever had on and lost came on the 5th of July in Gansett on a full moon, 2:00 AM, dead low tide in a spot I never figured would hold a fish that big.

10 minute wrestling match and my homemade black joined swimmer came back with 2 times on a 3X 3/0 VMC treble straightened and a metal lip bent straight down.:drool:

Funny you should mention.........went back last pm, 3 hours, 1 big hit, brief run, and this is what I got back........those are 6X VMC 3/0's, not just straightened front and back, but the front hook is also crushed. Some kind of impressive jaw strength to do that.

Doesn't mean much in my case (a big blue could do that as well as a bass), but certainly shows what a fun time the late fall is to fish........anything is possible.

probably a snapping turtle