I stood on the south jetty of the Barnegat inlet casting a Diamond Jig with a red tail hoping to catch some of the small Bluefish that had been calling the inlet home for a couple of weeks.

It was the middle of May and just warm enough to take off my jacket.

The waves rolling through the inlet were large and created a kind of ghostly yet beautiful image as they moved

almost silently through the fog that blanketed the area.

After casting for a while with no results I decided to take a little break.

I sat down on one of the benches near the end of the railed section of the jetty and picked up the cup of coffee

that I had been nursing for quite some time.

At that moment I realized how quiet the world seemed.

The only sound were the waves crashing onto the rocks as they emerged from the fog.

As I sat ther I thought to myself that this was absolutly perfect.

It was one of those moments that all anglers love when you feel completely at peace with the world.

It was then that I happened to glance to my left toward the lighthouse and noticed a man walking slowly

in my direction.

As he got closer I could see he was an elderly man carrying a fishing ploe and a small tackle box.

His face was weathered as if he had spent much of his life outdoors though it seemed obvious that he was a kind and friendly man.

He spoke as he approached me and said "son this is not a good sign, you are not fishing"

I smiled at being called son, at fourty eight years old no one had called me that in quite some time.

I told him that I had been casting for a while with no luck and simply took a coffee break.

We talked for a bit about fishing in general and the fact that he had been fishing the area for many years.

It was then that he revealed to me his age. This very interesting gentelman was ninety one years old.

I was a bit shocked and said "sir God bless you, I hope I am still fishing at ninety one"

He replied "son I hope you are too"

I smiled again at being called son and asked him why he still made the long walk all the way out onto the jetty.

He looked at me for a moment and stated simply " to catch fish "

We both cracked a little smile and I gave him a nod to acknowledge that I completely understood.

We then gave each other lots of elbow room as courteous anglers will do and went to work casting our metal lures.

After a while the fog burned off and the sun came out. A few more fisherman came out to give the inlet a try.

I packed up my gear having had no luck that morning and looked over toward the old man.

We gave each other a wave and I headed off toward the parking lot.

When I got to my car it dawned on me that aside from the long walk out to the jetty, this very old man even had to drive himself there.

I shook my head slightly and smiled yet again as I realized that I still completely understood why this ninety one year old man would still go through all of this.

The answer is perfect it is one that all anglers understand. The answer is simple. To Catch Fish.