I'd like to sincerely thank all the folks who have helped us over the years. Seems pretty amazing to me, but CharkBait is now almost 20 years old (will be in 2017). What started out as a private boater fishing report blog and shared information website hosted through (my gosh time does fly) AOL. The little business grew into something quite a bit larger.

Our clients supported us through their good will, thru business, also through friendship. I've had the wonderful opportunity to fish with many of our clients over the years, have been invited to fish on others boats, and the friendships have lasted over many years. Same for those folks I've never met in person, just by phone conversation, or should I say conversations which have been revisited yearly in preparation for fishing trips. I think often about meeting up with clients when I was first starting out, getting together at a school I'd worked at or a nearby restaurant to deliver reels, accessories or rods. Then when I finally got our first small warehouse (barn I called it) I'd open up once a month for folks to come over and grab their goods. We had fishermen from San Diego to Santa Barbara diving to Huntington Beach to visit me in the little barn - maybe 300 sq feet full of tackle. When I opened our Huntington Beach shop in July/August 2001 I was still working my "day job" and kept doing so for a few years so that I could afford to hire a couple people to assist. Tom Harman was my second hire, and he's still putting up with me now so many years later. Leeana in the office has been putting up with me for almost a decade now. We've benefited from great clients and also wonderful folks who have worked here, most for several year stints before moving on with lives which took them down different paths. Twenty years...darn amazing. Heck, I had a certain amount of hair on the top of my head back then... Many of the folks visiting our site are like family to me, they were around when I finally got married, gained a son thru that marriage, and within a couple years added son#2 (with the birth making our Pic of the Week - maybe not jackpot sized but still a keeper).

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks, and there's so much to be thankful for - our clients are at the core of that - Thank You! You've made my meager life much fuller, and you've allowed me opportunities to go fishing! You've helped provide employment for a dozen plus people here, each a gem. Best wishes to you and yours and my most sincere thanks.

Sincerely,
Mark Smith