by Mike Carey, January 02, 2007

Hello and welcome to my annual "year in review". Once a year I take a few minutes to talk about where we’ve come and where we are going.

This year saw a continuation of last year’s growth in readership and reports posted. Our milestones to report: total visits went over one million for the first time in this site history. The exact number is (drum roll) 1,058,053. Reports posted in 2006: 2,469. Those report numbers are up from last year’s 1,764 - wow!

Aaron and I didn’t add much new to the site this year. But that’s because we have in the works our next "version" of WL.com. According to Aaron, this version should be done sometime in early spring. We will be adding a new look which will actually open the site up and organize it in a more logical fashion. In addition there will be more opportunities for readers to interact with one another and help grow our sense of community. There will be some other cool features which I am keeping under wraps for now - sorry for the secrecy but we have to work out the kinks first! Needless to say, this next WL.com I hope will meet and exceed the needs of the readers for years to come. So keep your eyes open and check in often!

As always, I’d like to thank the people behind the scenes. First, Aaron Borg for his technical skill and forward thinking. He’s keeping the site moving forward more than I could ever have hoped for. Thanks to our Featured Writers, Bruce Middleton, Uncle Wes, and John Kruse. They continue to offer the readers great material and inside reports on fishing opportunities in Washington. Also thanks to Bob Johansen for his many guest articles, as well as the other readers who have contributed to the TackleBox Tales section. I really enjoy and appreciate the contributions to this section! I should mention, the Featured Writers do this gratis (something I’d like to change given more resources). Thanks to George Penzenik for his help in searching out new sponsors for WL.com. Aaron and I really don’t have the time to do this and it is a necessary part of running a growing web site.

I’d like to especially thank the readers who donated money to WashingtonLakes.com in 2006:

Patrick Campbell - Member
Bruce Nelson - Member
Hiroshi Myoraku - Member
Steve Marsh - Member
Steven Stapelman (donation from spouse Julie)- Member
Bill Green - Charter Member
Doug Wilson - Member
Ron Russell - Member
Robert Luck - Member
Blake Nelson - Member

These readers have contributed money at a critical time to help WL.com continue it’s growth and develop the new site format. Aaron and I are very grateful for their support. We hope more readers will decide to contribute and help us grow and upgrade the site.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2007 with lots of good fishing and good times ahead. We will continue to provide you with Washington’s best lake fishing resource on the web.

Mike