BASS Times musings

Got my BASS Times for the month. I love the day when BASS Times comes in. I’m excited to pour over it and see the stories that the gang down in Celebration have been working on.

I have a method for going through the pub. I scan through first for the big photographs. BASS Times usually comes to me at work, so I rarely ever have the time to read it right away. Still I love to flip through and see the pictures, before I put it away to read later.

When I get the time (eating a sandwich at my desk, etc) to read it I am almost always delighted to read of some regular, All-American angler out there going about his life, doing his best to provide three squares for his kids but at the same time doing something good for this sport. I love the stories about the Federation Nation and what they do for their communities and fisheries. And I also like to look through the Federation and Weekend Series results in the back of the mag….I’m just interested in how many fish people are catching in different parts of the country.

I tell you all of this because I consume most of my news media on the internet. I love the speed at which I can find an answer to a question about fishing online. I enjoy the vibrant online communities where anglers from all over the country discuss what’s going on in their neck of the woods.

Yet, I still love fishing magazines. There’s something about holding the paper in your hand and being able to bring an incredible photograph closer to your face to examine some detail. It’s just different when you’re not looking at an image filtered through electronics.

I even like to look at the ads. Let’s face it – when you see an ad on the internet your mind might register what you are seeing and then, if you’re really interested, you might click through to find more information. Which is a great and wonderful thing about the internet. But when you see an ad in a print publication that really grabs your attention you tend to study it. Again, maybe you bring the magazine closer to get a better look.

I really did that with an ad in BASS Times for the Plano Flipsider tacklet box ad that KVD in which KVD is featured. Then the magazine sat on my desk, open to that page, and I glanced over at it once in while. It made me wish I was spending that gorgeous fall day out on the water instead of sitting behingf a desk.

So I tell you all this because even though I am in internet fiend, I still think magazines and newspapers are important.

Do you? I would be really interested to hear your (honest and candid) thoughts.