This post wasn't on the April forum for long so I am redoing:
I think the "euke" thread has sparked some intersting debate and thought. We all have to realize that salt water is everyone's resource.
We all go through stages in fishing. First there's the "what the hell do I do?" stage, trying to catch at least "some" fish. When we figure it all out there's the "I have to catch a million fish and impress ourselves and others" stage. I admit that I have been guilty in both counts. The early stages make you less tolerant of people in "your" spot. When you can't catch many fish you "need" the spot and when you want to catch "millions" of fish you "need" the spot probably even more. When you finally go fishing to relax, enjoy the world you live in, reduce your blood pressure and leave the toils of the day behind, that "spot" loses much of its importance.
We all have to realize that the resource is limited by the access we are denied by virtue of all the no parking signs and no tresspassing signs we see in our faces. How have you felt when you show up in a new season to a location you have fished for years only to find a new sign? It kind of makes you wish you purchased that AK47 preban doesn't it?
I actually enjoy watching people cathc fish with only a bit of envy. I guess that's why I can guide. When you reach your spot and find someone there who can't cast very well do you go up to them, show them a few casting tips, show them how to fish the drift, tell them which tide seems to be most productive? We're all in this together.
What about when we go to New Jersey or anywhere else? I certainly don't want to be regarded as a second class fisherman and told to go back to the Cape. Granted, the wader is at a disadvantage with the lack of areas to fish. That's why we need to work on the problem together.
Otherwise, I don't see the attitude of resentment towards other people in "our" spots as being too philosophically different from a posted or no parking sign.
Good fishing this season.