The Old Guard

You can almost hear the surf and smell the air in this photo. John Lambert, my grandfather, a WWII vet, and a Purple Heart recipient twice over, grew up with salt in his veins. Thankfully he passed his passion for surf fishing on to his son, my uncle Derrick, who in turn passed it on to me. 

The photograph above shows my grandfather cleaning his conventional reel along the pounding surf of Block Island. Images like this one from the 'glory days' of surfcasting really strike a chord for many anglers, myself included. It was a different time back then; before the moratorium of the 80's, before mass closures of public access and before $20 wooden plugs. Surf fishing was phenomenal at legendary spots like Block Island's Southwest Point and Cape Cod's Race Point. I'm glad he got to experience a taste of those times.