So your catching fish and an internet hero shows up

[BasicPatrick]

So there I was this past weekend...Wendy and I were at a popular south facing beach out for a late afternooon of Blueeeefishing. It's fun...sorry Clammer.

I was fishing a bit to the left of the crowd and making long casts out over one of the lesser bars (to the left of a couple boats..wink wink). It was very slow but I had picked up a couple fish and since no one around was hooking up I decided to stay in the spot, plus Wendy was near me and we were fishing together.

A long comes what at first looked like any another fisherman. I land a fish as he is coming up the beach and he stops short of me and puts on his rubber waders with no belt. He then gets in the water about 25 feet to my right. He is casting an 8 foot rod with a small creek chub popper rigged with no wire or even heavy mono leader. I am throwing a 10 foot rod. He had no shot of reaching where I was casting, none at all.

I hook up again at the end of a decent cast (200 feet or so) and within 5 minutes my new neighbor proceeds to wade out 30 feet directly in front of me. I am waste deep mind you. After a few casts he turns back at me and informs me he is not trying to cut me off or steal my spot and is just trying to get out on the sand bar pointing to where I am hooking up my fish. He explains how the fish will lay up over that bar and how "we who know the spot" will wade out with the dropping tide blah blah blah". He told me the fish were eating squid (hense his blue popper...lol) and a bunch of other info he must have read somewhere. He didn't ask and I didn't tell that I know the location well and have been fishing it for years. I respond "it's afree country"and I am staying where I am.

He proceeds to wade another five feet out and realizes he can not make it to the bar. I begin waiting for him to turn back but nope, he stays there, 25 feet right in front of me. I am waiting and in a bit of shock, so I keep fishing, right over his head. I decided I was not going to move one inch. Wendy was still a bit down the beach and I remember not wanting to get in a situation with this fool with her there.

I hook up again and the fish of course is fighting straight out in front of me. I try and keep it from happening but the fish gets in front of what I now consider a complete idiot. He doesn't move one inch as I land the fish.

The Googan (I am now convinced) turns back to me and announces he is going to try and make the bar again. I respond that I am not moving. He wades around a few different places all in my way and makes it out to the bar with the water only inches from the top of his waders. He hooks up immediately. I keep casting, with my Roberts landing all around him. Of course he spooks the fish off the bar and out of my range. A few times he gave me some dirty looks. One time I had to pull the cast as he was going to get a direct hit.

20 minutes later he starts slowly wading back in. I notice he broke off and am very aggrivated as I have not hooked up since he went out on the bar. I was even more pissed because of his obvious attitude and the manner in which he had been telling me what was going on but he just wasted both of our time by spooking the fish off the bar and out of casting range and was now coming in.

As he wades back in front of me moving very slow. I had to ask the question. "You giving up already?"

"I'm going home to eat dinner. These waders are full of water and I am freezing." The tide should be dropping by now."

I say, "The tide is still coming in."

He replies, "High tide is something o'clock, over an hour ago."

I say, "If you really knew the spot or had turned around when you couln't make it I might have told you that on this wind the tide can be delayed and at 20 knots of wind like we had most of the afternoon we aren't even slack yet. You're just lucky you didnt slip with no belt as you might have got yourself hurt. Have a nice dinner."

He says nothing shaking his head.

I watch him take off the waders and they were indeed filled to the brim. Soaked to the drawers with waders in tow he sloshes off the beach and I just grin and have a private chuckle wondering what web site he belongs to.

Wendy came over and asked my why I didn't hit him with a Kastmaster.

the moral of the story is I just can't win.