Hello, Blog Readers!
Time passes way too fast, doesn't it?! In the blink of an eye, it's already one day before Christmas! A couple days before new year! Thus, I'm here to wish you all a wonderful holiday season! Happy holidays, folks! Time is valuable; therefore, make sure to spend your holiday season with the ones you love. :)
Now, let's talk a little bit about the Blog :)
1. 2015 Blog Recap
2015 was certainly a tumultuous year for the Extreme Philly Fishing Blog. The year started great; however, update rates on the Blog went down as soon the YouTube Channel went up (back in April). Regardless, I used all the time that I could to bring you folks my fishing reports -- one by one!
Differently than previous years, where I had one big post for a whole month's fishing sessions, I decided to write every session individually this year. This way, the overall level of organization on the Blog went up. The search engine on the main page also became more effective. To make things even more effective, I added "tags" on all my posts, so that readers could find posts here in an easier fashion. The list of tags is located on the right side of the Blog's main page.
To make everyone's lives easier, I devised a new setup for fishing posts; in other words, I divided every fishing session in five parts: video, goals, setup, summary, and photos. On one hand, the posts became much more organized, informative, and effective. YouTube videos were incorporated to them as well. On the other hand, they also became more time consuming -- to a point that I could no longer fill everyone of those sections out!
Summarizing...I did what I could in 2015 with the little time that I had in my hands. This is the part that hurts me the most -- I had my ambitions and my plans for this year, not to mention a handful of cool projects and educational posts for the Blog! I wanted to work more on the "Different Places to Fish around Philly and NJ" tab. I wanted to run more events and promote more community engagement. However, I just did not have enough time to do so.
Truth be told -- it just sucks when you have so many cool ideas, but you can't incorporate them due to lack of availability. As you guys may or may not be aware of, unfortunately, I do have two jobs and a house to sustain. For now, fishing is a hobby and it will remain a hobby; though, hopefully I will be able to make a living out of fishing one of these days! That is certainly my dream.
In this type of society, you can have dreams and aspirations, but you won't be able to survive without money. That is the downside of our capitalistic world, where human greed dominates all. This is the type of society where individuals have to sometimes throw away their dreams and aspirations and live in misery by doing something that they hate. Thankfully, I don't hate any of my jobs! But would I rather do what I love the most for a living? Absolutely.
Anyways...for now, fishing sessions will still come out; however, each report will be incomplete. :( I am currently on September 8th, and I plan to catch up with the Blog little by little! Some sessions will remain empty for now (i.e. goals, summary, and setup), but the video and photos sections will be there!
2. A word of thanks to my Sponsors, Benefactors, and Patrons.
I would like to use this section of this post to thank all of my supporters out there. There are different ways of supporting my work, including the following:
A. Become my Patron on Patreon (Note that there are amazing rewards there). This website is subscription based. You can check my page by clicking on the hyperlink above. I have just added a full access to my fishing photo database for only $5 a month, where you can see which Species are in which bodies of water! All photos are dated as well, so you can also know what time of the year the fish was caught at. :) Additionally, one of the goals on my Patreon page is to "revive" the Blog once I hit $500 per month! Thus, you would be contributing to that goal as well.
B. Donate via Pay-Pal through the Blog (button on the right). That is a one time donation, which is very well appreciated! All the money will go towards fishing (i.e. transportation, fishing tackle, equipment cost, etc)
C. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel and watch my contents. Extra props to all my subscribers there and extra props to everyone who supports me on YouTube! My YouTube Channel is my main source of income for fishing at the moment; thus, it's extremely important to me! :)
I would like to take this moment to thank everyone who donated to Extreme Philly Fishing this year, giving emphasis to the following individuals for their unique contributions:
-- Rob Z.: Thank you very much for your support, old friend! I still have that "net video" from the Fish-A-Thon saved on my computer. Can you believe that? It's been 3 years already! I hope everything has been well with you; I hope you have found many rare coins out there. :) If we cross paths again, we will make sure to schedule a fishing trip!
-- Jay D.: Since we met, back in the days, we have been through quite a lot, haven't we? Many things happened in my life and many things happened in your life! Thankfully, it seems that you are going for the better. I am very happy for you! Your support here on the Blog is well appreciate.
-- Tanasit S.: Thank you very much for going out of your way and helping Extreme Philly Fishing! Your monthly subscription on Patreon is golden! And, as we have discussed just recently, I will make sure to take you fishing one of these days.
-- Brodie-Man: Many many thanks to you, Brodie-man! The GoPro Hero 4 that you contributed to Extreme Philly Fishing is being put to good use! I don't have words for your generosity. Know that a lot of people are benefiting from your support -- all YouTube subs included. And I will make sure to schedule that ice fishing trip next year!
I can't say thank you enough for your support!
Additionally, I would like to say a big "thank you" to my biggest sponsors this year:
Fellas -- thank you very much for all the support for 2015!
Hopefully 2016 is going to be a year filled with more Extreme Philly Fishing. :)
Once again -- Happy Holidays, Blog Readers!
Best of luck to all of us,
Long Days and Pleasant Nights,
Sincerely,
Leo S.
