Saltwater Outpost - SWO 2.0...and a half-5/31/07 update

Side Story
Do You Need a Fishing "Mancation"?

It was about six months ago on a Sunday morning, as �Spanish Fly� ended and some fresh water bass pro came on kissing a crappie or something, that I overheard a newly coined man term. The kitchen�s diminuitive 7-inch TV radio was on as I poured my second cup of coffee. That's when I overheard The Today Show�s weekend anchor talking about �Mancations.� My ears perked up for two reasons. One, the term �Mancation� sounded ridiculous. Two was that I realized I myself could already be a Mancationer.

Though I hesitate to refer to my annual fishing trip with the boys to the Florida Keys in such obtuse vernacular, it seems to me this type of escape-now with a Madison Avenue-friendly title of its own-ought to be a staple of any grown man�s life.

Update from the editor-May 31, 2007

Some of you may be wondering what is happening with SWO. More than it seems, I can assure you. After endless months of intensive work including site design and development, logo design and creation, t-shirt design and printing, writing, travelling, fishing (less than I'd like actually), photographing and more, we have continued to identify much needed areas of improvement. We also identified many of our own strengths and other weaknesses. One weakness has been identifying genuinely high-powered site development staff. The other is that without the site being fully operational (yes, that is a thinly veiled Death Star reference-I couldn't help it) all our other goals for the show, the retail products and more have been severely limited.

Filip Olszewski is the original designer of the site but as he would tell you-he is a masterful artist but only an adventurous developer; at least when referenced against this site-one that is technically demanding to render properly so users derive its full intended benefit. So we heartily set out to find the next developer. After weeks of porposals and consideration, we selected one. Off they went. And nothing much happened. Then some progress was made-but it stagnated. So we terminated them (metaphysically speaking). I am now very close to beginning a new relationship with a third developer and as the saying goes, I am hoping "the third time is a charm".

So for those of you (especially Capt Vin Calabro of New York, Captain Jim of Florida and Rusty_Amspec of Texas) that are bearing with us, I wouldn't question your sanity if you did abandon hope. But I am glad you haven't. I promisee to keep at it until the site is as fun and useful as I have planned it to be.

I'll keep you all informed as we progress again. Thank you endlessly for the loyalty and faith.

SWO has already reached a few milestones and now stands at its most recent crossroads. We are now welcoming�several new registered members each day. We finished April, our first full month, with over 9000 page views. So the first order of business is to say Thank You to all of you have visited the site and registered as our charter members. We greatly appreciate your loyalty and contribution to the site.

Filip and I have worked hard to realize our plan for Salt Water Outpost. In additon to good content, the plan includes a robust and fun social networking element, an inviting reports and forum function and a quick, nimble user experience. Right now, the site has yet to fully realize these things. It loads slowly at times, the video feature�is sometimes glitchy and there are coloration,�mapping (or ease-of-navigation) issues and�other minor things that have been quite a challenge to resolve. Some are a hindrance to you, the user.

As a result, we have selected�an advanced�engineer who is in the process of�massive upgrade, redesign�and retooling of some of the site's most important elements. Work has already begun�and will be complete by 5/21/07. The news site will debut the same day and downtime will be 1-2 hours. When you see the change,�as always, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and suggestions. The process of improving adding to SWO will always be ongoing. I can be pm'd through one of my two profiles�'Aceshigh' or 'AVFish' or via email at: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it �

Finally, please say hi to 'Rusty_Amspec' and 'Karen Ann Charters'. Both are registered members and have been desiganted as SWO's first forum moderators. Thanks to both of them for their reports and time spent as important resources for SWO!!

Few things can replace a talk on the docks or over the radio. But SWO is certainly the place for those times before, after and any time in between fishing trips.

Salt Water Outpost

The staff of Salt Water Outpost worked hard over the last year to make the site useful, attractive, interactive and technically superior. That effort included filming shows, writing articles and designing what we think is the most inviting salt water fishing site, visually and functionally, available today. We hope it becomes your home away from the water.

Built by Fishermen

SWO was created because a bunch of passionate fishermen and women needed a different place to go. It had to be a place we could check out and report on fishing in our local waters but also anywhere else we might travel to fish or meet up with our fishing friends. We wanted to develop a year-round destination to meet up between fishing trips, check out and post fishing pictures and connect with all our other fishing buddies and captains-in one great spot. We built it all around a social networking element and found we had a nice formula.

What You'll Find at SWO

Since you�re here, all that may interest you as much as it does us. So here are just a few great things you'll find on Salt Water Outpost:

-Set up a network of fishing buddies of your own by easily connecting with other SWO members.
-Fishing reports-look for your local region and post or read recent fishing reports. Add photos on the fly.
-Your own �Profile�-set up your own member profile with pictures and info and easily connect to other members. Maintain an album of all your trips, frineds and catches.
-Local Tide Reports-quick and easy tides for your next day out on the water.
-Member Photos gallery-easily view and rate pictures submitted by thousands of other members. Sorted by top rated, recently added, type of fish, location and more.
-Gear-new product reviews and SWO gear you can buy right here at the Outpost.
-There may be a few other surprises so poke around the site and see what you find.

As you find things you like (or don�t) or if you just have ideas for the site, please drop us a quick note. We will read it and usually respond the same day but never more than 24 hours.

Upcoming on Salt Water Outpost

What comes next for an SWO member? We are working with marine-related companies to secure discounts for members. The site will continue to expand and has a phased plan to market to a wide group of users for you to interact with. Reports and forums will increase in number and flourish with the site, new retail products will soon be added and the new sport fishing show �Ventura Saltwater� debuts in May (check out the show's trailer in the SWO Video section). Articles from SWO staff writers from all over the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico will be updated in rotations each month, to keep new info on the site for you. Experienced regional moderators will keep the conversations lively, fun and informative. SWO is proud to have terrific writers from some of the top sport fishing regions in the country including; Captain Vinnie Calabro from New York, Capt Troy Crane of North Carolina and line and spearfishing expert Steve Shalaby in South Florida.

We are glad you've joined us. Please register for the site, login and check it all out.