The issue of California Fly Fisher that you now hold in your hands is its last.
There are two reasons why the magazine is ceasing publication. First, the economics of magazine publishing in the internet era has made it increasingly difficult for a physical print publication to maintain financial viability. This isn’t to say that a change in price, format, or other aspects wouldn’t also change the fortunes of California Fly Fisher. At least two relatively recent publishing models could likely ensure a longer life. But to attain sustainability, implementation of either of these models, or another model entirely, will require energy and passion — basically, a willingness to put in the effort to make the model work.
Energy, passion, effort — this gets to the second and frankly more important reason why California Fly Fisher is ceasing publication: to put it bluntly, mortality is no longer an abstract idea for me. I launched the magazine in 1992, when I was 37. Thirty-one years have passed, and the finality that once seemed impossibly distant is now much closer. A wise elder told me long ago, “Do it while you can still walk.” There are a lot of “its” I want to do but won’t and increasingly can’t if I retain my roles as publisher and editor, and especially if I personally make the effort to bring California Fly Fisher successfully into the media environment of the twenty-first century.
Right now you’re maybe reading between the lines and thinking to yourself that California Fly Fisher perhaps isn’t done and that a resurrection could be in the cards, in another form and in someone else’s hands. Yes, that’s possible. We’ll see what happens over the next few months. If nothing satisfactory occurs, though, please know that I recognize that each subscription is an obligation and that I will fulfill that obligation, likely through a refund, I hope by the end of the year. (If you can do without a refund, please drop me a note at calflyfisher@sbcglobal.net.)
Please know, too, that the decision to stop was not easy. There surely is no finer life than one that revolves around a creative enterprise, the outdoors, and thoughtful, interesting people. But it is time to pass the torch or pull the plug.
As for those thoughtful, interesting people who make magazine publishing a pleasure, a huge thank-you goes to Bud Bynack, an insightful copy and developmental editor who shared the goal of providing stories that were not only intelligible, but hung together logically and, most importantly, would keep one reading from the first word to the last. The overall quality of the magazine’s writing is very much a result of his ministrations.
And thanks, too, to Seth Norman and Ken Hanley, who early on were critical to making California Fly Fisher, in the words of Nick Lyons, a “happy, maverick” publication. They brought a sensibility and soul, a lack of pretense, that has keeled the magazine across the span of three decades.
Thank you as well to everyone who contributed something that found its way into print. Each story, illustration, and image was purchased because we thought your work had value for our readers. And thanks especially to those readers, the thousands and thousands of individuals like you who, over the years, opened their wallets and bought the magazine. Our job was to do the best that we could for them, for you. I like to think we did so.
Finally, thank you to the wholesalers and retailers who sold California Fly Fisher, and to the advertisers, whose confidence and investment kept the magazine’s price affordable. I like to think we did well by you, too.
Thirty-one years. One hundred and eighty-seven issues. Not bad for a pair of crossed fingers and a roll of the dice back in the summer of ’92.
Looking forward to meeting you on the water or the road….
Richard Anderson
Ex-Publisher and Ex-Editor