To understand the CCCF, you have to go back to the
origins on December 11, 1999, when a group of internet-connected fishing friends, 12 in
number, decided to meet one another for a day of fun at Surfside beach near the small
seaport of Freeport, Texas. We had a little surf casting seminar led by one of our
founding members, Surfrat (AKA John Choate).
Well, we met, took some pictures, formed some
friendships...and even learned a little about distance casting.
We also decided to start our own little
organization, and Surfrat proposed the name. The decision was unanimous...heck, we
haven't even agreed on having anyone in charge of the whole thing yet...we really are
confused.
Later that month, our original webmaster Sam Lucas
set up a web site for the group. From those 12 initial members, the site has grown
in a little over 2 years to over 1,000 members and receives over 950,000 requests
each month. The site has been named a "Yahoo Cool Site", a "Surfer
Pick", and the number one fishing site by Fishhoo.
One of the most popular areas of the site is the
message board, and it was on this board that JawsBites (AKA Avik Bonnerje) threw out the
suggestion that we have our first fun tournament in February 2000. Imagine our
surprise when we had 60 entries and a great response to our request for prize
donations! Everyone left with at least something for their attendance, and a bunch
of folks left with some great new tackle...even though the fish didn't cooperate very
much. Our second tournament in October fared a little better in the catchin'
department, and some great prizes were won by a variety of entrants. Since then we
have had several "fun" tournaments...and some nice prizes and cash have been
given out.
The CCCF has a stated goal...to have fun with the
sport we all enjoy and to share what knowledge we have. We have no political agenda,
except that we are tolerant of all people who enjoy fishing as we do. Our web site
is closely monitored to insure that it is "family friendly" and contains no foul
language.
We don't have any dues or rules other than to
refrain from offending other members. We do expect all of our members to
contribute their thoughts and ideas to the group, and to share experiences and enjoy the
fellowship of fishing with their fellow CCCF'ers.
Our members are, however, generous. On
numerous occasions individual members have stepped up to the plate whenever we need
"seed money" for a worthwhile project. In fact, we even sponsored a
"Kid's Fishing Derby" for Big Brothers and Sisters of Houston...and every child
got to take home a new rod and reel and a tackle box stuffed with goodies!
New members are being added daily! Currently,
our members are primarily concentrated on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, but we have
members from as far away as Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia and most of the
coast states within the U.S.. We even have a member from land-locked Kansas (HA/KS
AKA Henry), who recently came for a visit and ended up fishing every day with
different members of the CCCF! Membership is open to all!
Of course, since our group is internet-based, all of
our members have internet access. With the fast growth of the net and the many free
service providers available, expectations are that the CCCF will continue to grow at a
phenomenal rate in the future.
We are currently planning several get-togethers,
including fun tournaments, cleanup days, and just plain old fishing trips.
