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A former neighbor of mine fished the same stretch of beach all of his life (he's in his 40's) and I swear he doesn't know any of his spots because when I went with him, he literally just parked and watched his friend fish. Friend didn't hook up so he moved further and fished with a crowd of about 8 people already going. He literally just follows the crowds. Since I was a guest I couldn't say anything to the guy but his karma caught him and he got skunked while I repeatedly hooked up along with the friend he watched before 20 feet away.
I have to avoid the inlet during the summer due to all the types of people mentioned above. Also, the attitudes of many people are terrible. Got many dirty looks by the surf rats because I beat them to their spots on the beach a good half hour before they showed up (I scout my spots at low tide during the day, sorry these forums taught me well!) and having only the time to fish on the weekends already makes me fall into the "weekend warrior" category in their minds even though I don't fish from dusk to dawn. If I could fish every day, I would. Knowing the fishing hierarchy we have, I move out of respect, say "good evening" to not cause a cardiac, and keep to myself. People who just read that, remember that sentence and protocol, it will save you a beating and you might just hear a friendly grunt which is the most you'll get out of a rat unless you know them (it's a good thing).
Although, I am an absolute menace when it comes to people who chase lights, birds, and crowds. My light gets used very often even if I'm not hooked up, for some reason the birds come to me (I might just look like a potato chip since I wear my dirty yellow raincoat regardless of the weather (save for it being hotter than hell), and hooking into fish away from the crowd they formed making their heads turn since they get bored easily. One time I hooked a fish, released it, the crowd came to me. I moved (this is on the beach on foot, no vehicle) further down, hooked up again, they followed me again. Must have been a good 3 or 4 times. I never said a word but eventually they lost patience and gave up. Started to form up in the parking lot and talked up a storm. Once some of the people who followed me saw me, they stopped talking and gave me the stink eye....I wasn't aware my passion was a contest.
Still my most hated maneuver is when there is a school of fish feeding you get the group of insert the blank's on a boat that drive right on top of the school causing the fish to scatter and kill the bite while asking how big do the fish need to be to keep and how many are allowed to be kept.
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