Welcome to Week XLV of 'Fishing Parkland Shorelines'. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert. In the following weeks I'll attempt to give those anglers who love to fish but just don't have access a boat, a look at some of the options in the Yorkton area where you can fish from shore, and hopefully catch some fish.
The Internet has to be among the best tools available to today's fisherman.
Sure we get away from technology by the act of fishing, and that is one of the great allures of the past time. There are no emails to answer, no blogs to read, or videos to peruse.
And, if you are smart you turn off the cell phone and give yourself over completely to the sun and the breeze and the water lapping at the shore. You let yourself revel in the escapism of tossing a shiny spoon to the water with at least some level of expectation a fish will strike, and if it doesn't the rest of the experience away from asphalt, concrete and daily labours is enough.
But there is ice on the water and evenings spent far from a fishing hole in March.
And that's where the Internet becomes a tool of fantasy and dreams revolving around our passion of fishing.
In my case I usually start with a destination in mind, a website dedicated to a line of lures perhaps, or one dedicated to books on fishing.
It just never stops there. Sites invariably link to other sights, and in what becomes a cyber treasure hunt, you are off, going from one site to the next, learning tidbits here and there along the way.
It was on one of these merry cyber jaunts I came to find the ezine version of Catch Magazine.
For those unfamiliar with the term, an ezine is essentially an online magazine, complete with stories, photographs and ads, and the added online capacity of videos.
In this case Catch Magazine (www.catchmagazine.net) is dedicated to trout fishing, and it is as good a magazine resource as I have found. The articles are top notch and the photography is a step above the common. There is art in the photos which greatly enhances the natural attraction of the fish and fishing.
So I wanted to know more about Catch, and contacted them with a few questions, and ezine rep Brian O'Keefe was good enough to reply.
It turns out Catch has been around for only five years.
"A little over five years including start up planning and platform construction," explained O'Keefe.
Asked why they started Catch, O'Keefe said it was a way to share incredible images with a broad audience.
"Catch Magazine is a great place to show videos by Todd Moen and some of my photography, but we also really like giving new photographers a place to show their work and also have the old pros show work that is either classic or new to most people," he said.
O'Keefe said the art of the photographs help set them apart.
"There are quite a few fly fishing paper magazines, Internet blogs, websites and social media sites," he said. "We prefer exciting and creative photography and videos with some text, but not with long, wordy articles. There are so many quality books and magazines with great writing, so we concentrate on photos and video. We do not do 'how to' articles, product reviews and fly tackle industry news. There are so many, very good ways to read about our sport, so we show the sport. That is our niche."
And being online was also a niche they chose to concentrate on.
"A paper magazine was never in the discussion," said O'Keefe. "Todd (Moen) has very advanced web/software/design skills. A paper magazine, dedicated to photography would be very expensive to produce and ship. We have readers in 150 countries, so that kind of paper magazine distribution is mind-boggling. Videos are only available in an on-line magazine, obviously, and using links for contacting contributors, outfitters and advertisers is a nice feature."
While the world seems headed online, it is still relatively new in the sense of magazines, and generating paying advertising, so I asked how has it worked in terms of attracting readers/selling subs etc?
"That is a great question," said O'Keefe.
"Many people have embraced the Internet and consider it to be a great tool. Those people also embrace Catch Magazine and can navigate easily and appreciate our unique functions.
"However, there are people who dislike the Internet and do not trust it. They tend to be over 60 and/or technology challenged. We cannot do much about that, but it does affect our full potential.
"Generally speaking, because of social media sharing, the ease of which a link can be added to an e-mail, we get great word of mouth assistance from individuals, fly shops, fly clubs, blogs, Facebook, etc."
So being new in terms of an ezine, in a world still adapting to such things online, is it harder to attract the best to a webzine? "Our contributors have come from over 20 countries," said O'Keefe. "They appreciate the global distribution we provide. Our readers are from all over the world, so many have not seen the best from American photographers, just as the best Asian, European, Â鶹ÊÓƵ African, etc, photographers have not had very much exposure in the US.
"We get a lot of content that could be called 'the best of' and we appreciate unique and creative photography that may not have a home in editorial styled fly fishing magazines.
"There are several photographers who do not participate in web magazines, and if they are happy with print, that's great. We like print, too."
I always think we read publications to gain knowledge, so what element of fishing does Catch offer readers the greatest insights?
"We really have a lot of variety, in destinations, species and styles of photography," said O'Keefe. "Since we are an 'art and entertainment' magazine, our features are not limited to subject matter, as long as they are artistic and well shot.
"Readers will see, through dynamic and bold photography, what certain locations really look like. Many print articles have a lot of text and a few photos (although that is changing, I believe) and we are the opposite. I like to show readers the whole story: weather, landscape, water type/clarity, the fish, the accommodations, food, guides, wildlife, etc. We have the luxury of dedicating a lot of space to each feature, so a photo essay on Bolivia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Montana, Norway, etc, will give the reader a lot of visual information."
Catch, while being an ezine still has a subscription fee, one well worth investing. O'Keefe said their subscriber list is growing steadily.
"Yes, we have never had a day go by without a new subscriber," he said. "We still have a ways to go, before we feel comfortable, but there are a lot of people who I talk to who want to subscribe, they are just busy and have not got around to it. The $12 a year, for six-issues is very inexpensive, and hardly anyone balks at that.
"The biggest hurdle is for people to 'just do it', and/or being unfamiliar with PayPal or user name/password scenarios. We try to make it as easy as possible and have the subscription process form in several languages.
"Still, some computer users will mess up something and get frustrated, but they can contact us and we will walk them through it. It is normally an easy fix. One thing readers should do is clear their cache and refresh, with every issue. Magazines need that, as your computer wants to remember the last issue."
Ahead O'Keefe said he sees Catch staying the course in terms of its original objectives.
"Both Todd and I like our original theme - 'a cross between a coffee table book and a film festival'," he said. Photo sharing is a global pastime, thanks to phones with cameras, simple point and shoot digital cameras, easy e-mail attachments, etc.
"We are just taking photo sharing to a high level.
"We have had a few complaints from people that we have too many international destinations. Well, in a global sport, in a global magazine, every destination is someone's home water. What U.S. fly fishermen sometimes forget is that there is a tradition of fly fishing in the UK (United Kingdom), Iceland, Croatia, Slovenia, Russia, Â鶹ÊÓƵ Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, Spain, etc, etc, with old and historic fly clubs, wonderful fly tiers, casters and guides and outfitters.
"Catch Magazine is just as much at home in Sweden and Switzerland as it is in Florida and Idaho. We are a community of like minded people, who fly fish. We are a collection of fly anglers, young and old, male and female, who appreciate the beauty of the sport.
"Through beautiful photography and award winning video, we show the challenges, excitement and fun that keeps us fishing our local ponds and dreaming of far off exotic destinations (but remember, someone's home tarpon are your steelhead). As anglers we have it pretty good. If a person can find the time to fish in clean water, in nice surroundings (Denver carp have their own beauty!) and have safe, legal access (Utah take note), then life is pretty good.
"OK, I diverged. Plans!! More great videos. More great photo essays."
More of what Catch is offering is good news for fishermen. Check it out, subscribe, and join the dream the photographs conjure.
