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This is Sam on the beach at access 5, during a
happier time. Cancer has taken him from us
long before a man such as himself deserved to go. He was a fisherman, a veteran, a
friend to
SO many, and most importantly to Sam, a family man.
I met Sam on the beach at Surfside's access road 5 back in December of 1999, along with
10 others. We had all talked via a fishing message board on Gary Koerner's
surfcam (the
original Surfside cam) website, and arranged for a bit of a show & tell on
surfcasting for
some of the folks who were new to it, or just wanted to learn from those having more
experience. We met, did the casting lessons and discussed leaders, etc., and even
went
over to the bay by the old condo's and did a little fishing. It was during this
fishing stint that
TStubb performed the first of what has become sort of a CCCF tradition, the kayak
roll
(something which Sam later sort of perfected!). Sam informed us that he hosted websites,
and would put the pictures out on a site for us to look at, there was some mainly joking
discussion of forming a group and the name was arrived at, and the CCCF was born.
Sam's easy manner and ready friendship played a tremendous part in making the CCCF
what it has become over the past few years. He operated this website at his own
expense
(usually at a loss, especially when you consider the time he spent working on the site)
out of
his love for fishing and the friendships he made via the CCCF. He will be
missed by each
of us in our own ways and for our own reasons, but I believe that we will honor his memory
best by continuing something which became quite dear to him ... the CCCF.
Thank you Sam, for all you gave to us of yourself and your time.
Beachbum
Below is what Sam had to say about himself on his
original profile page.
Back when I was about 10-12 years old, I tried to
fish just about every day in a small pond
near our house. My Dad...who is also a great inspiration and a great friend...sometimes
took time off from his very busy schedule to fish with me, and even took me camping when
he
could. Not long ago he braved a terrific rip current to fish Surfside with me...no small
feat
fighting those waves for an 80 year old! Those early days instilled a love of
fishing in me that
just never left.
I started fishing in this area way back in 1970...both wade fishing and bay/offshore
fishing.
Being young and stupid, I thought nothing of going out 30-40 miles in my 18' Lamar deep-V.
After a few years, I started fishing Lake Sam Rayburn and forgot all about salt until
three
years ago...when it called me back.
Since then, I have fished the surf at both Galveston and Surfside, a lot of the Galveston
Bay complex, Christmas bay, San Luis Pass, Port Mansfield, and Padre Island National
Seashore...and I have a whole lot to learn about all of those areas.
My biggest trout was back in the 70's when I caught a 9 lb 6 oz fish off Galveston's South
Jetty. One morning in October 2000 I picked up a 10 fish limit of all 23" trout at
Surfside.
I work as the owner/webmaster of LawyersCenter.com so I can usually schedule a fishing
trip with a little bit of notice. I prefer fishing during the week when there's less
pressure...and
the wife of 35 years likes me at home on the weekends...but I can make exceptions.
I'm about 6'2", 200#, with thinning hair and a scraggly old mustache. Hey, I'm also
older
than dirt at 58. I have three sons in their twenties...one married with a fantastic son.
The
other two are still at home but getting antsy...
I have met quite a few of the CCCFers, and from what I've seen so far it is a great
group of people that I'm proud to be associated with.
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