This morning me and my buddy Jim fished one of our favorite local spots. There were no other anglers around except for a few football players doing drills in the sand. We had an idea where some fish were going to be, given we have been tracking them the last few weeks. It is all about getting enough water on the flat so they could get up and over onto the secondary sand crab flats. We fanned out, Jim sat in the honey hole, I went north looking for signs of life. On the way back, I see Jim’s rod bent, so I scurry back to take his pic. The flat had filled in. He landed a beautiful bean and had her on the sand. I took a few pics and began to fish. He waved me in and said there was a mystery pod, working very shallow, right at the edge of the waves, to fish right there and not to cast to far. I saw some dimpling on the surface which indicated fish but never saw a back, fin or tail. I changed my fly from grey to pink. Made a soft cast as the wave began to push water over the flat and continued to strip the fly until it hit dry sand. On the second cast just before the fly was a foot from coming out of the water a bean rushed and ate, she shook her head as to say WTF! I saw the whole take, it was sweet. Just as Jim predicted, she ate right on the doorstep. I landed her in short order, we high-fived, Jim took a nice pic and off she went back with her friends…
Moral of the story, it is always refreshing to fish with a buddy that doesn’t have an ego, willing to call ya in when the fish were working right in front of him. He wished my fish on me. I wouldn’t have gotten a fish this morning if Jim didn’t show his experience and sportsmanship. I didn’t have to write this, but I feel it is important because this used to be a normal occurrence. Something changed. I see anglers today, that only care about how many they caught and will throw over your back to catch them. If you hook a fish they run right up to where you are and start casting before you even land your fish. That wasn’t the case this morning. I will take one fish, out of kindness, to forty. It should be fun not competitive. Thanks Jim! Tight lines and have fun out there…
-Qman
flies, sand & surf 
Nice report, Al. John Geirach once said of anglers, There are those in your party, and then there are those other assholes. Or something to that effect. So true.
– Kevin
Hey Kevin:
Me and Jim are like minded and always try to help other anglers catch more fish, it’s just good Karma. I get just as much of a kick watching someone catch their first bean than catching one myself. Its all good!
Al. your wisdom again shines through. Your observations are spot on as anglers both, fly and gear, surf or boat, are impacted by those with little regard for their fellow anglers. Just this morning, I had someone do as you describe, literally casting within feet of my fly line, when there were miles of sand to either side. Again just yesterday, we observed a close fly fishing friend at Catalina have another vessel push by dangerously only a few away. It should be fun, and it should be safe. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Glenn:
As Thelonius Monk once said, Space is the place…LOL
Indeed, indeed!
Great report Al. But matching shirts? I’m a little worried. Ha ha
i know crazy right? I think the bean thought I was Jim? LOL