Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: Fly Fishing Magazines - Review
I used to subscribe to about every flyfishing magazine under the sun. Fly Fisherman, American Angler, Fly Rod and Reel, Eastern FlyFishing and on and on. Now I hardly subscribe to any... I do like reading good stories, but grew tired of all the same ol "how to's" and product marketing hype alot of magazines seem anchored by. Anyone have a favorite mag they eagerly anticipate receiving in the mail?
Like you boz, I was a subscriber to every magazine under the sun! but that quickly changed after a year of having been subscribed and not really getting anything out of them. I guess my favorate magazine was fly rod and reel. The pictures were very good and it kind of appeared to me of being more about fly fishing and less about other things.
I guess my least favorate magazine I had been subscribed to was Fly Tyer. Lots of great patterns and instructions, but all of them were very realistic and complex patterns. I am by no means a good enough fly tyer for most of the patterns in that magazine.
I've gotten away from buying the printed media unless there's an article I want to have in my archive of fishing related "stuff". Newer media is the future IMO. thisisfly.com has a lot of stuff going for them. The potential for interactive content, ease of finding them, free, etc... The old printed media still has a place- if good writers can be found (Zane Grey style) they'll stay competitive. If not, well... oh well...
For traditional mags that sometimes find their way into my shopping bag- sometimes FlyFisherman (though less and less so as they've lost focus on tips and tactics), and Gray's, The Drake, and Hatches is worth looking at. Gray's Sporting Journal and The Drake are about the only ones with anything semifresh though.
Joined: Feb 14, 2007 Posts: 20 Location: Lincoln Maine
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:54 pm Post subject:
My favorites are usually last months issues that my friends just finished with. Fly Tyer is probably my favorite. Occasionally I'll see a neat way to tie up a few flies and that will get me going on the vice for a bit, and thats really where I need the inspiration....not on the stream. I come up with plenty of entertaining moments there without a magazine guiding me through the day. Most rags that cover "tactics" are producing little more than a vague idea or a story anyhow. They make a good read, but I rarely even have the proper setting/conditions to even try their idea(s) out. Plus I have often found my own tactics, which I enjoy thoroughly, that may produce just as well or better than theirs. I'd much rather save my money and buy some sweet books.
Joined: May 15, 2003 Posts: 791 Location: Portland, Maine
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:01 am Post subject: magazine
funny i thought i was going to get a bunch of them ... cuz people would show up at my door selling magazine subscriptions to the magazines of my choice .. i chose a few fly fishing magazine but they never showed up ... guess it was a scam?
with that said .. i also think that my family got me a legit subscriptions from fly fisherman magazine for christmas or something ... i must say, the one thing i do like is that when checking the mail and seeing a ton of BILLS it is nice to see a big steelhead or whatever on the cover of a fly fishing magazine ... after that, here is the natural progression of most print material in my house ... my "library" is in the bathroom .. if the magazine makes it to my bathroom, it will get much attention .. several reads per day actually ... if the magazine does not make it to the bathroom, unfortuantely its value is diminished greatly ... it will get covered with junk mail, the news paper and other such stuff that is one small step away from the trash ... and eventually that is where it will end up ...... as george carlin says, everything is in a constant state of movement towards the trash ..... everything .........
now - there is one magazine that has branded itself in a way that is inline with my interests and i would like to get this magazine delivered and i am one step away from actually doing it .... the DRAKE magazine is something i would like to get .... i just wish it could be delivered directly next to my toilet (and i say that in the best way) ..... although i would hate to suggest the following ... how long is it until there is a company that makes a CHEAP laptop called "The Toilet Top" .. doesn't do anything more than access the internet and resides in the bathroom full time positioned right above the toilet paper and easy access for the whole family to use while business is getting done on the toilet .... a product such as this, could really be the death of all print ............... and, to be honest, i have been bringing my laptop to the bathroom with me more and more these days ....
Austin- like you and Ahab Fly Tyer was my favorite too...good stuff.
Most fishing stories I read now are from books instead of mags...
But I like the move towards interactive content like you see in the pages here in www.FliesandFins.com. This is fly I read and enjoy...I can relate to most of those stories better than something like Grays Journal, but I enjoy reading both.
jeremy good point about getting something other than bills in the mail. Nobody looks forward to reading a mortgage statement
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