Good topic, and some good answers.
RIJimmy's is right on the money.
Some of the best I've known, fit that Ghost Fishermen profile.
Most of them pay a heavy price. Marriage goes in the crapper, jobs come and go, (quit, or get fired). Health isn't always the greatest, especially as they age. I know of one guy waiting on his second hip and first knee replacement, years spent stumbling around on the sand in waders, hauling multiple large up over the burm. He fished for the $, so if you ever ran into him, you got the same answer, it sucks, no fish.
The real deal guys forgo sleep, food and drink, they have studied the waters and the sands, the bait, the time of todes and moons. They know what beach to be on, and when to be there, they know excatly how long it takes to get form one spot to the next, they can beat the fish there, and they know when to leave a bar on an incoming tide, even if it means leaving fish.... only to move to the next place the fish will be.
Also, 99 percent of them would never be caught dead gabbing about it, in a coffee shop, tackle shop, or especially online
