Welcome to our
About Us/History Page

Who are we, how did we get together, what binds us, and why are we so successful as a group?

Those are the questions.

These answers will attempt to explain it all.

     To begin with we are a very highly diversified group with individuals spanning a wide variety of life styles and personalities. We are students still preparing for our futures, we are 30 something and raising families, we are older folks with grand children and some are retired. We are professional people, we are blue collar workers, we are self employed, we are between jobs and seeking better positions. We have years of experience fishing, we are novices just beginning to learn. We are TEXANS! Some native, some transplanted, but Texans, all. We don't all live right at the waters edge, either. We live all over the state...some from Dallas, some from San Antonio, and many other places. We welcome an occasional visitor from out of state, too.

  For all our similarities, common interests, and even our differences, one word pretty well sums up, or, defines us as a group. That word is FAMILY. We are, by most definitions of the word, a family.

  Each of us contributes his/her humor, personality, wisdom, experience, perspective and thoughts to the group. One of the keys to our success is that we all like and respect each other. We celebrate each others good fortune and we circle the wagons in hard times when one of us has a need. We support each other emotionally, spiritually, socially and just about any way that could be imagined.

  There is a bottomless well, here, of knowledge on most any topic.

Do you have a question about fishing..landscaping...auto repair, legal advice, etc? Just post a question and you will get your answer from someone with knowledge on your subject. There have even been instances where one helped another find a better job. Fishing is our common interest but we seem to all thrive on the overall wisdom and experience of the group, on any subject.

  This web site was born of need. All of those that have been around since the beginning were active on other sites, which, like most, are used by folks from all over the country, and, indeed, the world. It became clear at one point that we, as Texans needed our own site. Since Texas has far and away more coast line than any other state, it only stands to reason that there would be more saltwater fishermen and women from Texas than any other state. Just about the time this was all coming to light, a gentleman named Monty Weeks not only saw the need but also had the vision and the farsightedness, not to mention the computer skills, to build a site for us. A place where we could hang out and talk about fishing or auto racing or even golf if we wanted to. He didn't throw up a lot of rules and censorship...he only requires that we post with respect and an awareness that this is a family site. He made it happen and seemingly over night, the word spread and us Texans began to find our way to the newly created www.2coolfishing.com and the Totally Texas Message Board. Monty's limitless efforts, patience, kindness, and generosity have been the glue that has held us all together. A hard working family man and fisherman he understands us and instinctually knows what we need. He gives generously of his time and resources to see that things run smoothly.

  After a very brief period of finding our groove and getting the feel of things this site began to take on a personality unique to the internet, a personality formed by the coming together of all the individual personalities. Most of us were familiar with each other, more or less, from other sites and it didn't take long for us to click and establish the initial bond.

  Soon, others began to drift over and check us out. As the word got around more and more Texans looking for a site to which they could better relate came over and became part of us. Now the snowball effect is at work and we are growing leaps and bounds.

  While this site was still in it's infancy a wonderful thing happened. One of the guys posted up that he was going to be fishing at a particular spot on a certain day and any one interested in joining him was more than welcome. It turned out to be the very first "gathering" and was the inspiration for the development of what has evolved into a full blown social get together which have grown in attendance from a hand full of guys sitting on the tailgates of their trucks to a full family adventure. Food, fishing, visiting and just barrels of fun. The kids are great and the wives/husbands of the members always seem to have a great time and enjoy meeting the gang. It is a sure bet that no one ever envisioned that these gatherings would evolve as they have. One of the best features, one that has contributed mightily to the success we enjoy is that we meet and get to know each other and fish together and form solid, permanent friendships. It is much more rewarding to associate on the internet with a person you know, a friend, than it is an abstraction, a faceless personality. Pretty nearly every month we have a gathering some place up or down the coast and fish and hang out together. Wealso get together as individuals and fish or enjoy other forms of entertainment. It is just about the greatest way there is to meet people that share some of your interests.

  As in any family, we are all richer for the presence of the other members. We thrive on new folks stopping by and introducing themselves. New people add new  dimension, perspective, humor and knowledge to the group. It's how we stay fresh and vital and we depend upon continued growth to remain interesting. We are very proud of what we have achieved and look forward to meeting new folks.

About Our Mascot

You may have already noticed our mascot at the top of the home page. Obviously, it's a sheepshead and you'll have also noticed that it's sporting a gold tooth and a "Lone Ranger" mask. This is how it all came about.

Early on, and soon after we were well defined as a group we became aware of the need for a mascot. Something that would represent the heart and spirit of the group. Several ideas were tossed into the hat for consideration and then one of the members came up with a sheepshead. It evolved into the sheeps head with the gold tooth and the mask, which, we all agreed was a perfect symbol for the heart, spirit, and attitude of this group.

It seems to say, with just a picture, that we take our fishing seriously, but also, that we don't take ourselves too seriously, that we are high spirited and fun loving, with just enough of an attitude to demonstrate our playful nature but stopping way short of being "in your face".

We played with the design and formatting and what you see is the result. We have T-shirts, caps, flags for your vehicle or boat, bumper stickers, and jackets...in the yellow-gold color with our mascot proudly displayed on them. Certain members of our group generously donate their time and effort to have these periodically made available to us at reasonable costs. They don't make a dime, we pay only for the shirt, cap, etc.

Come and join us, won't you?

by Jack Moncrief, aka Walking Jack