It's with mixed emotions that I write to you all today with an announcement on a subject that I personally consider to be a legacy in the fishing world.
For over 15 years, myself and Mike, along with the great support of moderators, vendors, and the community, have run Fish-Hawk.Net as a means to connect anglers from all over. When the site was started, there "no" websites out there that went into any detail about fishing, where to go, what to use, who to connect with, what was happening, what products were hot, or anything like that. At the time, Fish-Hawk was among the very first Internet websites to provide this information to anglers. Now with the passing of time, technology has been made better, information is more accessible, and the number of websites for angling and social media has exploded.
Also with the passing of time, I find myself no longer capable of doing what I feel is needed to be done, to keep Fish-Hawk on top, and keeping up with all the other sites out there. Apart from the fishing aspect, there is a "lot" of work behind the scenes to keep this site running properly, fresh, and relevant in today's technological world. I used to tell people that on top of my regular job and family life, Fish-Hawk was basically run between the hours of 10:00pm and 2:00am. This is the truth. Unfortunately, I can no longer keep this pace up, and need to re-look at aspects of my life that will keep me healthy for my family, focused on more pressing matters that need my attention, and new activities that are less taxing on my body, like my newly found interest in music. (shameless plug for "The StittsVillains", check us out on facebook)
Today, I would like to announce my "retirement" from website administration of Fish-Hawk.
It's both a sad day and a happy one for me. Having spent so much time building something that is enjoyed by so many people is the reason why I continued to do this. The satisfaction of creating such a beast, the support from the fishing community and vendors, along with all the great feedback and comments I've received from regular users has been overwhelming, and I am truly blessed to have been a part of this. Thank you to all of you who continue to be faithful to Fish-Hawk and what it's intended for. Leaving all this behind is the sad part of it all.
On some positive notes, I do believe this is in my own best interest, coincidentally today is my birthday, I still plan to continue fishing (more for pleasure now than trying to get that perfect photo or great story to tell), and I am also very happy to tell you that Fish-Hawk will continue with new ownership and management, hopefully well into the future.
I'm sure you all know these guys already, but Rob Jackson (RJ) and Luke Hay (Fatluke) will be the new partners and owners of Fish-Hawk.Net effective immediately.
RJ has been a member of Fish-Hawk pretty much since it's conception, and was one of the very first people Mike and I fished with back in the early days of Fish-Hawk. Rob has also made some great motion in the fishing industry both as a solo act and the so so half of RJandBirdee's Outdoor Adventures. (Birdee's the better half I'm sure).
Luke has been a member of Fish-Hawk since 2005, was very active when he lived here, moved to Belleville, and has a vast knowledge and experience on the technical aspects needed to maintain a site and keep it running in tip top shape.
I am very happy these 2 fine gentlemen will be continuing the legacy of Fish-Hawk.Net, and truly hope they don't ban me anytime soon. (Payback's a bitch ain't it. lol ) There will be some time we'll spend doing transition of the Administration and Technical details, but all of that should be transparent to you all.
On one final note, I would truly like to thank each and every one of you for your contributions to the site, your support, your devotion, and your loyalty. I would also like to extend a special thank you to my wife for allowing me to do this at all hours of the night, and pretty much never being around during the fishing season. She often referred to herself as a "fishing widow" during the summer. Hawk Talk has been the bread and butter of the site, and it's been through your participation and involvement which has pretty much made the site self sustaining, other than all the behind the scenes technical stuff you never see. I would like to wish the very best to you all, congratulate RJ and Luke in their inheritance, and let you all know that I do indeed accept fishing invitations, so don't be shy.
Thank you for all these years of being part of Fish-Hawk.
Tight lines,
Bobber out!
