water moccasins

Question
i was sometime back last year hunting for crawdads at night in a creek near where i was staying, and during the time that i was hunting i happened to run into a water moccasin which did somewhat give chase as at first the damn thing seemed to be just trying to get around me but then upon my getting back in the water and when i came within proximity of where it was hiding it jumped out at me and was attempting to bite me. my question would be is there anything that you know of that i might be able to do in the future to scare off moccasins. i have heard that carrying a pole or having a dog with you can scare them off, but i'm a little bit reluctant to believe that as it just doesn't make sense to me why a moccasin would be afraid of either. and then my girlfriend recently suggested trying snake repellant. please let me know what you know if anything at all on the topic of scaring off moccasins as i greatly enjoy catching crawdads, which i catch for the purpose of providing food to my pet turtle, and i dont exactly like the idea of having to tolerate snakes and the risk of being bitten, so that would be my reason for seeking out a way to scare them off if possible.  

Answer
Moccasins are known to "stand their ground" and even to be outright aggressive.  I'd recommend investing in a good snake stick to move them out of your way.  OR perhaps finding another source for crawdads.  I know of no working snake repellents...  Sorry.