What is a Surf Fisherman?
By: Dr. William A. Muller

It is a challenge and it’s a war. It is a war not against the fish, which we pursue with such ardent effort. No, it’s a war against ourselves and the battle is renewed every night.

The challenge is to discover ourselves: What are we made of? What skills can we develop?
What satisfaction can be achieved by catching fish while employing the most difficult angling approach? To be surf fisherman takes determination, pride, skill and a penchant for self-abuse that  borders on masochism. Pride you say? Yes, pride. Pride in yourself and pride for the sport that you love. Self-abuse you say?
Yes. The willingness to let your body be abused by the surf,  to  learn to function in the damp cold ink of night, to give up sleep, to relentlessly stalk the   beach and still arrive for work on time and alert, and to learn to frequently be alone and to like it.

Even when we fish with a buddy we are really alone. A couple hundred feet of crashing surf and a lashing wind make most communication difficult if not impossible.

Since it is not an easy sport, a beginning fisherman cannot expect that he will become proficient easily. There are many negative variables to be eliminated, for there are far more unfavorable conditions and unproductive places than there are good fishing spots and conducive conditions.

But a man must have a pride to stick with it during the lean times. He must piece together data; he must try and then try harder.

There will be help. Regulars will notice a guy who works the beach night after night. They will respect this and they will offer assistance, small perhaps at first, but greater as time goes on.

 It is the nature of things. Most of all, a beginner must put his time in. There will be little respect for the guy who values a square meal, the TV set and a warm bed above the thrill of surf fishing.

What is it like to be a surf fisherman? Damn hard! But it’s satisfying.
If the above challenge does not appeal to you …become a boat fisherman.

 

Written for The High Hill Striper Club 1977
By: Dr. William A. Muller

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