I miss TC at the helm of the fisherman (NE), his bass and other fishing articles were great. But I still enjoy getting THE FISHERMAN weekly and will continue to read it cover to cover. When I see it amongst the catalogs and daily bills, it brings a smile to my face and is the first thing I like to flip through. My biggest gripe with the fisherman is the lack of any way to research past articles from years back. Here is a service I would pay for but can’t get. Some of that stuff was priceless and great info.
OTW is clearly a big step up in that it targets our backyard and provides some hard-core details from guys in the know. I think I most enjoy the area-by-area coverage in the summer months from folks who live and fish there. (Cape, MV, ACK, Eliz Island, ect) . I also like almost all the regular features about fishing. While I also like hearing about individuals who have done great things in fishing, I am not one for hero worship. I think these if done too often tend to put certain guys on a pedestal and it can get a little over done. But those are still fun to get some insight into their character. Lastly the plug building articles are a good winter theme. The cooking (recipes, we have tried a bunch and some are damn good!), trouble shooting tips, and plug of the month features are both fun and interesting to read.
As far as Ads, I like them. Between the fisherman and OTW I have the "yellow pages" of boating and fishing in my truck, office and bathroom at all times
. I almost always have a copy of OTW when I go back and forth on the ferry. I can't tell you how many other fisherman strike up a conversation when they see with that under your arm...."You fish the island?" is generally how it starts and I have gotten some pretty good tips from tourists on the way home who hit big the night before and gave me the dump on where when and how…. all from a magazine under my arm.
Lastly, the TV show you guys are doing is first rate. Yes, too many TV ads there too but it drove me to buy a TIVO so now I never miss a show and skip thru the ads within a few seconds. I imagine the cost to compile a TV show is pretty substantial.
(slightly OT
) The only time I got upset with both magazines is when a so called "rec" fisherman "who has no comm interests whatsoever..."(yeahright), uses it as their own personal soap-box to lecture all of us other rec sb fisherman on how we should feel towards comm sb fishing. Enough already, give it a rest.
Considering fuel looks to go well over $3/gal at the dock this year, the cost of the both papers is well worth it. (just don't raise the rate again next year
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