Before you read further, please understand none of the following will be related to fishing. If you're dealing with stress or grief, I would urge you not to continue as I have some difficult news to share for those of you who have been with us. Whether you're a long time or new customer, have frequented our site or physical store, or even just people aware of our presence from other means.

Last Sunday, our family and business experienced a tragic loss. After a hard fight with pancreatic cancer my dad Mark, the Chark of Charkbait, passed away peacefully in his sleep. We're a small family business including my mom, brother and myself along with the best crew of people who have been with us for many years. Blake, Dave, Max, Richard, Timmy and Tommy have been keeping this place running day to day and their support means the world to us. It wasn't always this way, it started out with just my dad in his garage and a dream of reaching the broader audience of saltwater fishermen not just here in California but across the country, though sometimes that meant passing a brown paper bag full of jigs in the parking lot of the school he worked at the the time. After working in consumer electronics obtaining an important spot in companies like JVC and Sansui along with a decade of teaching, he was looking for looking for something more fulfilling pairing his life long hobby with the experience of both of his prior careers. It was not an easy start, in many ways the fishing industry was decades behind at that point but it held something that others didn't, a cottage industry with a vibrant community of people and vendors who get together for the same purpose. What began as a simple forum turned into a thriving online business less than a decade later.

At that point he was looking for more in his life and he took the first international vacation. Inspired by a historical fascination and his father, Gerald A. Smith who was a superintendent of 36 years and founder of the San Bernardino County Museum, who traveled to the Soviet Union to document educational practices, he went to Russia then Ukraine. There he met my mom after talking to her for a while on a dating site aiming to save some money on a tour guide for his visit, she showed him around several cities as a guide and he fell in love. After many visits and a year later we were on our plane heading to Huntington Beach. At that point his focus shifted from the business to us causing it to suffer, a sacrifice he made which I could never hope to repay. Without which I would not end up the person I am today and one I will be eternally grateful for. One that brought me ever closer to him as a son, followed by friend and colleague who he spent almost every day at work with. For those of you who remember the 2006-2019 era of the website, you know it was dated and his sacrifice for us was the reason why.

I worked at CharkBait part time on the weekends starting around 2010, or as I remember it 7th grade, not necessarily of my own volition at first but the work and community grew on me. Interacting with so many great people helped me come out of the shell I grew after coming here and starting school a week after landing. By the time I was in college aiming for a computer engineering degree, I was in love with the work and the fishing we did together, aiming to update the site for him. That's not how it turned out, my focus shifted to the business and after our old site finally gave out and crashed I had already finished the replacement and wanted to run it instead of finishing the 4 classes I needed to graduate. At that point I became instrumental in the business, my mom joined us and my dad satisfied his ultimate dream of a sustainable family run business. After a few years of that working old man hours and enjoying a 6-Day Red Rooster III trip with my mom and brother, it was time for him to retire and enjoy a different side of life, the transition was not easy but it happened over the last two years. His retirement started January 1st of this year, and his diagnosis came 8 days later on his birthday. It was devastating, I thought I could finally see him enjoy more of his life, not yet knowing that the time he enjoyed most was the time he spent with us.

We were hopeful, but it was a terminal diagnosis nonetheless. The following week started with more tests and the installation of a chemo port, but he could not start it without a pancreatic biopsy which ended up scheduled after a lung, intestinal, liver biopsy, 5 weeks and 20lbs. Two rounds of that and he decided to go on hospice care at home instead. For the last 5 months he enjoyed a relatively normal life pain free, he was surrounded by family, he got to do things he wanted to do and he passed knowing his family was well taken care of and his legacy would continue on.

This new chapter will be hard but we are better prepared for it than most. Our business and industry is thriving, fishing is good and the support we've received from friends, family, customers and vendors has been overwhelmingly thoughtful. CharkBait will continue on as a family business, at least until I kick the bucket myself. Thank you for the support and your patronage, I will strive to provide the best service and support I can.