Jam.....e One special thing that I always do is check the stomach of all first legal keepers. You can tell a lot by this process. Feeding for instance bugs, worms, flies, hard shell bugs, etc. etc. Your catch will tell you feeding times morn. or eve. depending on decomposition process. With gathering of info, you can share with all on board for a successful day for all. I will also buy a Coast Guard topo map ($15.00) of bays and coastal areas of my local waters. I then plot all the above mentioned in your last post. Time, wind, bait, tide, water temps. weather, ang GPS. details of the catches size, wgt. and type of seaweed soft = slow waters, hard seaweed=fast waters. Each plant will tell you about the bottom, sand, rocky and plant life. I have caught many fish on tiny crabs(free) and barnacles/small clams. Who needs sand shrimp? A coffee can of small crabs will do if you crack the top of the shell and let the membrane ooze out drives fish CRAZY by way of suction. I mention to BASS sturgeon master how to turn ANY fish by strumming the line with rod tip in or out of the water. Oh! by the way ever see. COOKED crab at the supermarket WHOLE!!! not cracked and clean to sell. Restaurants cook crab whole THEN cracked & cleaned to serve. All you got to do is observe. Enough for now. Tony