Yes, there is a Santa Claus
But no, no matter the ruddy cheeks and bright smile, I'm not that jolly old fellow. To honor the debut of a special photo "button" on the home page I felt I had to write a blog this evening and welcome any of you who happen to click on by. I also wanted to reconcile yesterday's political piece to the archives.

Just in case you don't know, I've partnered up with Chad Woods here at SFR to bring you the best daily fishing site on the internet. For the last 10 years Chad has done an incredible job of building SportfishingReport.com into the place most of us go to check what the sport fleet is doing and also to check out the reports from the lakes, etc. that usually don't pop up elsewhere until a week later, if ever.

This summer, right before I left Western Outdoor News, SportfishingReport.com hit 1.2 million page views for a 30-day period. Nobody else on the West Coast that's not a chat room comes close.

We've got some great things in store for our viewers going into 2011 and it's going to be what you want. And we know what you want, because every one of our pages is tagged and we see where you go and what you are interested in. Number one is getting the info on who caught what so you can catch it yourself.

For instance, we post the reports from the Royal Polaris as soon as they come up and many of you choose to check them out here, since you're already in the site. I saw that Jim Mitchell got a 207 and a bunch of hookups the first day of fishing on the RP's latest trip and then that Neil Campbell, who not too long ago I was chatting with at bass tournaments, was the hot stick today.

Did you know the quickest way to get that kind of info is to get an iPhone and download the SportfishingReport.com app for $4.99. I know, it's pricey, but what other app brings you all the latest counts, trip openings, radio clips, audio reports and photos the minute someone in the fishing industry touches a keyboard or picks up a phone?

We're adding more. For instance, my old buddy Phil Desautels is posting his daily fish counts from the Smith River this season as he plays the part of crash test dummy as we develop the model for letting guides access the site. Just click guide on the nav bar on the top or our site and you can watch the progress. We're working with Accurate Reels to give you access to the latest developments and product achievements as they happen as part of another model to give you access to the local innovators as the cool stuff happens. You won't need to check a million sites. Just drop by SFR and visit. I'll be here -- when I'm not on the water or out in the field, but even then I will do my best to stay in touch.

Feel free to contact me at rich@sportfishingreport.com with any questions or comments.

Meanwhile, get hooked up.

CAPTIONNeil Campbell and the RP crew heft the bass pro's favorite fish -- a giant yellowfin tuna.