Your story reminds me of a guy I remembered plugging from the jetty at Hampton Harbor for stripers right before a storm. The fishing was really good with a hook up every other cast. The guy fishing next to me was hitting the blues and stripers good until the bluefish chewed up his leader. His next cast the leader snapped and sent his popper 50 yards out into rough waters. He dove in and actually swam out in the choppy bluefish infested water to retrieve it.
I said to him no lure is worth dying for and he replied back with 'that was my favorite lure of all time and they wouldn't hit nothing but that popper I swear to God.'
Crazy son of a gun.
I was fishing this swampy, mucky pond in Andover. Ihad been kiiling them on the moss mouse. As I was pulling it by a branch sticking out of the water Murphy's law kicked in and the mouse hooked it. I had on 20 # braid so I figure I'll just rip it out. The line broke. So I go in about 20 yards. It was only a little past my knees but I was nervous. The next time I fished there I saw a giant black snake in the same area. It was about 3 feet long.
Believe it or not there's no such thing as water moccasins in MA. They are native to southeastern United States. It could be a northern water snake that people usually refer it to as water moccassin.
What that being said they are still scary as hell waders or no waders on. I wouldn't want to have an encounter with that.