Here's a quick question, what do you consider "the old guard"? I'm 26, but I have been fishing for close to 20 years of my life. When I started out way back when, I fished just about as hard as I do now. Believe it or not, I was out all night long with my dad pounding the surf with eels and plugs from May into December. Ask my mom, it lead to my parent's divorce. I started out a little green as we all do, and I made my share of mistakes, but I learned from them. My dad would push me out of the truck with a small bucket of eels, conventional rod in hand, his old waders on me pulled up and cinched tight with an old belt, and drive down the beach until I couldn't see him any more. Before he left, he would tell me to fish until we met in the middle. I was out there learning the jetty rotation, how to fish plugs/jigs/eels/etc..., learning to read the beach, and so on before I sprouted my first short and curly.
Don't get so caught up on the age thing. Pre-judging us "young guys" does nothing more than make you look the fool. I know just as many, if not more, older bad seeds than I do young guys. I'm proud to be a part of the crew I run with. We are the future of this sport. Don't piss us off or cross us the wrong way, we'll be choosing which nursing home you'll be staying in...
