Examining Magazines

[brucerducer]

I was in the Big Book store yesterday, and their magazine racks had about 7 or 8 different Fly Fishing Magazines.

They really did not impress me very much. I was impressed however with the articles in Fly Tyer Magazine.

I mean, I don't mean to trash them all, but seriously, some of the articles just were not all that useful.

Fly Tyer had some traditional patterns and some innovations to offer.
they had more variety. I recall that someone here had recommended Fly Tyer to a newcomer.

Also, 2 days ago I was checking out some Fly Fishing / Tying books, and found that ...whats---his---name, Klausmeyer, the editor of Fly Tyer, has a couple of books to his credit and they were good.

Just my opinion, but I thought I would discuss the magazine a lttle because Fly Tyer seems to be keeping abreast of American interests in the hobby of Fly Tying.

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[s fontinalis]

Klausmeyer has Classic Freshwater streamers, a book about rangeley streamers, how to tie them and it contains a bunch of cool patterns. One thing the disappointed me about that book was the quality of the finish on some the flies contributed to the book...some are just plain awful, at least in my opinion. If i'd tied those flies, i wouldnt be happy to see them in print as they were finished - poor heads, some poor material placement etc.

I'm far from a perfect tyer, but i believe there should be some vetting of quality when it comes to publications. That book is hard to find now for under $30 (i was lucky and got one) as its out of print.

This is the cover of the book

 

[recriger]

I've purchased a couple Fly Tyer mags and enjoyed them. My only issue is that a lot of the patterns in the one I have are rather exotic. Perhaps not exactly exotic, but a bit too much for a newb tyer like me. Plus when 90% of the fish near me are smallies and cats:ranting3:, I don't need too many different patterns.

I tend to spend more time looking for web sites that have instructions that allow me to duplicate the pattern for myself.

The fish in my area aren't too picky anyhow.

 

[Guest1]

I subscribed to Fly Tyer for years. I never tossed out a single issue. I have them archived in my tying room. I really ought to start taking it again. Find some fun patterns in every issue.

 

[dean_mt]

Agreed Bruce. 90% of the content in the glossy fishing rags is recycled material, and not very informative, unique or even helpful.

The one fishing mag that I honestly enjoy is The Drake. If you see that one give it shot. The writing is good, topics are interesting and it's quite entertaining as well.

 

[moucheur2003]

I subscribed for a long time too. Eventually I let my subscription lapse because it was becoming increasingly hard to imagine situations where the exotic new patterns they were highlighting were likely to work better than old stand-bys.

I wold like to see them publish more articles on tips and techniques for developing broadly applicable skills -- say, how to set doubled quill wings or how to solve problems in spinning and stacking deer hair -- and less on some next-creative-genius-wannabe's new nymph patterns inspired by superhero costumes.

 

[Rip Tide]

At one time or other I subscribed to all 4 of the American Angler magazines. American Angler, Saltwater Fly Fishing, Warm Water Fly Fishing, and Fly Tyer.
For some reason, whichever one happened to have Art Scheck as it's editor was my favorite at the time.

I've got hundreds of old fly fishing magazines. Once in a while I'll read the early issues of Fly Fisherman, but mostly they just take up space.

 

[stenacron]

90% of the content in the glossy fishing rags is recycled material, and not very informative, unique or even helpful.

90% is a low-ball estimate IMO!

In all seriousness, not much has evolved in - fishing tactics, stream dynamics, trout behavior, or aquatic insects - since the glory days of angling literature... so anything that falls under these categories is almost definitely a re-polishing of old findings.

If you're a gear junkie there's always the latest-and-greatest gadgets to read up on.

I don't subscribe to any, but I always take a peek inside; Fly Fisherman, Fly Tyer, The Drake, and/or American Angler when I see them on the stands... if something catches my eye I'll pick it up... Gotta read something on the crapper.

 

[dean_mt]

Yeah, they are mostly vehicles for advertisers to sell more "better" stuff! The gear reviews are for all intents, paid for by the company that makes the gear. So I take any "recommendation" with a grain of salt.

And one of my favorite streams was "discovered" and exposed by one of the glossies a couple years ago in one of those "how to get there" articles. "Get away from the crowded Montana rivers by going to this one that the 'locals' fish..." Great, thanks for that. Ugh.

 

[itchmesir]

I had a subscription to Fly Fisherman magazine... I received like 4 issues... I mentioned it to a rep when he asked me to join last year at a fishing expo... And he just gave me this look and was like "Well your postal person must have been stealing them" and was just very rude about the whole situation... So I have no interest in giving the conglomerate any more of my hard earned cash... Plus there are plenty of really good Ezines out there these days that are FREE

 

[rockriver]

I had a subscription to Fly Fisherman magazine... I received like 4 issues... I mentioned it to a rep when he asked me to join last year at a fishing expo... And he just gave me this look and was like "Well your postal person must have been stealing them" and was just very rude about the whole situation... So I have no interest in giving the conglomerate any more of my hard earned cash... Plus there are plenty of really good Ezines out there these days that are FREE

The only one I received was the same issue that I purchased locally and got the order card from.

 

[planettrout]

I collected FF Magazine for many years and read FF & Tying Journal on a regular basis. I will pick up issues of Fly Tyer if it contains articles of specific interest to me. If the nymph patterns designed by that guy, who seems to have been inspired by superhero costumes, have never been tried...might want to give some a shot. His stuff smokes Trout ...


PT/TB

 

[cw76]

This is my favorite fly fishing mag. Good info, detailed patterns and great pictures/quality. It's based out of Canada, I get mine @ Sportsman's Warehouse:

 

[oarfish]

The Fly Tyer is a must for me, and then it's the California Fly Fisher and Sierra Fisherman, yea it's a west coast thing.

Rick

 

[duker]

I have a subscription to Fly Fusion--it comes "free" with a yearly Trout Unlimited membership in Canada--and it usually has some good articles in it. I also tend to buy a lot of other fly fishing mags, especially Fly Tyer, Fly Fisherman, American Angler, and Northwest Fly Fishing, because we have long cold winters up here and if I can't be out fishing the next best thing is either tying flies or reading about someone else's fishing adventures (also one of the reasons I check out forums like this). My spouse calls my fishing mags "fisherman's porn"--she's a gardener, and I call her gardening mags "house porn".

Scott

 

[stenacron]

90% of the content in the glossy fishing rags is recycled material, and not very informative, unique or even helpful.

Case in point; had to make an ice cream run after dinner tonight, the May/June issue of American Angler is sitting there, so I had to take a look, thinking of this thread...

--Perfect Retrieves for Any Streamer

--Spring Creeks - 7 Secrets of Success

--Tie Better Loop Wing Dry Flies

--British Spiders for U.S. Waters

That last one really killed me... not only is is about 70-80 years past due, but the anchor fly of the article is the Partridge & Orange. Cutting edge stuff indeed. :icon_lol:

 

[Rip Tide]

.

--Perfect Retrieves for Any Streamer

--Spring Creeks - 7 Secrets of Success

--Tie Better Loop Wing Dry Flies

--British Spiders for U.S. Waters

That last one really killed me... not only is is about 70-80 years past due, but the anchor fly of the article is the Partridge & Orange. Cutting edge stuff indeed. :icon_lol:

Compare that to the May,1977 Fly Fisherman that I grabbed at random

---Lessons in Line-Hand Control

---The Anatomy of a Spring Creek, (Ernest Schwiebert)

---Saltwater for Starters, II (Mark Sosin)

---The Study of Spinners

Plus they had way cooler ads back then :icon_mrgr

 

[JoJer]

I like The Drake, too although I know I'm not their target audience. I love the price mark! I always check the back of Flytyer to see if there's a pattern or technique I want.
I was saving all my outdoors mags and bookmarking articles to get back to. But it's just TOO much. I've started donating them to doctors' and hospitals' waiting rooms. All I'm keeping is my North West Fly Fishing. Retirement guide.

 

[silver creek]

I would hate to be an editor for any publication. FF magazines were required reading to keep up with tackle and techniques BTI (Before The Internet). ATI (After The Internet), it is a whole different game.

Think about the articles in that context. The magazines have not changed all that much. It is our instant access to free information that has changed us. We have changed and not the magazines.

That is a blessing for us but a curse for them. Any 12 yo with a computer and Google has 99% of the world's fly fishing knowledge on his desk or lap.

 

[dean_mt]

Case in point; had to make an ice cream run after dinner tonight, the May/June issue of American Angler is sitting there, so I had to take a look, thinking of this thread...

--Perfect Retrieves for Any Streamer

--Spring Creeks - 7 Secrets of Success

--Tie Better Loop Wing Dry Flies

--British Spiders for U.S. Waters

That last one really killed me... not only is is about 70-80 years past due, but the anchor fly of the article is the Partridge & Orange. Cutting edge stuff indeed. :icon_lol:

Ha! I stopped at store this evening on my way home from fishing to get something for dinner. I passed the magazine aisle and looked at that American Angler too. The "cracking the code" of spring creeks was so silly!