Aaaaaaa your a Maineiac
Excellent. I'll tell you what I've found over the years...maybe others can chime in with their experiences also.
Maine has a ~13' tidal surge which makes some pretty deep water on a high tide...that's alot. Maine is a tough place to figure out and I think that's alot to do with it.. Down here in Ma I would tell you to go at the last few hours of the incoming...but for some reason I've never had good success up there using this as a starting point. Don't rightly know why but all the fish I've ever caught up there have been at or around low tide...maybe it's because the structure (mostly rock) is more defined with the low water....maybe it pools the fish more into one area and makes it easier to catch them. I dunno.
I've found this from York all the way up to the Damariscotta and Boothbay region. I always find bait at a low tide...macks chasing anchovies...or just a school of spearing. Never once have I been able to locate bait in any of the areas I've fished at a high tide cycle. Granted I don't fish the beaches up there just the rocks. Even plugging on the boat into the rocks to areas such as Nubble etc it's always been best at low tide.
Jigs work and yea a nice pork rind on the back with give it some nice smell and action that calls them in. Tins work really good, especially when the !@#&tail sized blues are running around the harbors up there. Poppers in the summer on a warm night before sundown...my favorite tide is low around 7:30 just before dark...I've always been able to pick a bunch of fish out at that tide cycle...even plugs as big as 7". A40 metal lips work well, although that plug is almost as big as some of the fish you'll catch
