My friends are always trying to get me, a pure trout man, well almost pure, to hit the beaches with them. Because my oldest daughter lives in Wynthrop we go to Boston on a regular basis. My wife also likes the sea shore while I, prefering the mountains and streams, end up splitting vacation time to cover both. A couple of times I saw a line of fishermen on a beach and so gravitated toward them. Turns out I knew a couple of them (from the shows). "What are you after," I asked? "Blues," came the reply.
There was a comotion in the water a little while later, seagulls and terns were dive bombing and the guys were lining back up in a tighter formation.
Suddenly as a wave was about to break I couldn't believe my eyes. It was a wave that seemed to be made up entirely of fish. Wave after wave. Seemingly 10's of thousands of fish! Guys cast their lines into this melee and had immediate hook ups, then backed away, dragging the fish ashore! For some reason it reminded me of the snaggers that used to populate the banks of the Salmon River in Pulaski NY. Although it was actioned filled for a while until the fish moved on and I was repeatedly offered a rod, I just did not see the sport of it. There was no unknown involved. Everyone caught fish, every cast they caught a fish and if one missed the fly another would hit it immediately.
Okay guys, what am I missing? What's the big deal with salt water fishing. I am refering to fishing from shore or wading a bit , or a boat near shore and not big game fishing Hemingway style.