A Fish and a Dream

The founding principle when starting Anglers Journal 10 years ago was simple: 'Create the magazine you want to read.'

By William Sisson

May 6, 2024

My guiding tenet from the outset was to create the magazine that my fishing friends and I would want to read. I had been schooled on the authentic voices of editors Frank Woolner and Hal Lyman in Salt Water Sportsman of the 1960s, the first magazine to which I had a subscription. Our goal with Anglers Journal was to gather the best fishing writing, commentary, photography, art and design we could find, and assemble it all in a new magazine.

We set out to create a premium print product, with heavy paper stock, quality printing and heft, one with the same tactile sense that we value in the field. I was hungry for stories about fishing pioneers, hotshots, obsessives and those who fished as if their lives depended upon it. I had grown indifferent to fishing titles that showed perfect people holding perfect fish, not a hair or scale out of place. I wanted more grit, less gloss. I was hungry for a magazine that shows our world as it actually looks, with crooked horizons, unshaven faces, battered hands and straight talk. A mix of youthful wunderkinds and those craggy veterans who were as likely to ignore or growl at a stranger as to say hello.

From the start, Anglers Journal was aimed at those who feel most alive when they are on the water, those for whom fishing is far more than just a pastime. Those who were practically born with a rod in their hands have always been inscrutable to folks who regard fishing as a mere hobby. To comprehend the passion, you must live it, season after season. We happily charted a course to satisfy those looking for an alternative to mainstream coverage.

Our first cover established the tone. Our debut, Winter 2014 issue featured a black-and-white photo of Bruce Borges on the cover. Borges is the real deal, a Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts, lobsterman and light-tackle guide whom I’d met during fishing trips to the island. Magazine covers are important first impressions, and the choice of Borges was far from unanimous inside the company. Why? There was no fish or rod or boat or booming surf in the image.

But we believed that Jody Dole’s portrait of this no-nonsense waterman looking you straight in the eye sent an immediate message that Anglers Journal was different. We were willing to take chances. Nothing pretentious, pompous or snobby. Borges’ weathered face and eyes conveyed a life of hard work on the water. He is as authentic as they come.

Since that first issue, we have profiled a range of icons: Lefty Kreh, Bob Popovics, Joan Wulff, Bouncer Smith, Flip Pallot, Bob Clouser, Jim Harrison, Russell Chatham, R.T. Trosset and others. And we’ve been fortunate to attract a range of talented writers, including Chris Dombrowski, Callan Wink, Noah and Todd Davis, Henry Hughes, David Joy, Zach Harvey, Cathy Newman, Stephen Collector, Chris Chivers, Rick Bass and many others.

We also report on those dedicated fish dogs who live next door, happily catching under the radar — a talented Florida bridge fisherman, a 79-year-old who fishes the flats from a canoe, a third-generation offshore angler who hammers metal bunker spoons into shape in his basement. We’ve published poetry, fiction and stories about artists, veterans, old coots and kids. We’re always looking for stories that will surprise you.

We hunt down images and writing with the power to yank readers from their repose. Your travels and ours have carried us from the farm ponds of the heartland to faraway waters a dozen time zones away — New Zealand to the Seychelles, Patagonia, Iceland, Alaska and elsewhere. Yet always traveling back to the place you recognize as home.

Our coverage cuts across tribes, species and tackle preferences. We created a magazine for anglers who might wrestle with a blue marlin one month and the next follow a mountain stream for native brookies that fit in your palm — each with their own challenges and satisfactions. No fish or pursuit is unworthy if pursued with passion.

Our origin story is the tale of a successful skunk-works project. Everyone involved in the debut issue worked full time on other magazines within Active Interest Media’s Marine Group (AJ’s parent). A key player in our success was creative director Erin Kenney, who retired last year. Erin and I worked together closely for a decade, and I often watched in wonder as this innovative whirlwind turned design dead-ends into compelling layouts.

Many things must come together for a new title to move from concept to reality — the right people, a compelling vision, proper execution and enough investment to weather the many headwinds facing all magazine brands. Internally, we needed the buy-in of key people up and down the food chain, from staffers willing to take on more work to top executives who have to provide the funding. Marine Group president Gary

DeSanctis and then-editorial director George Sass Jr. deserve credit for green-lighting our fresh approach, which we hoped would capture readers in a crowded, competitive category.

Startups, at best, operate on a short leash. When we debuted in 2014, Anglers Journal was named one of the 30 Hottest New Magazine Launches that year by Samir Husni, a magazine analyst known as Mr. Magazine. One of the other new magazines being honored at the same luncheon was already shuttered as the plaques were handed out. Sort of like fishing — you can hook your dream fish and lose it just as quickly.

We have been fortunate to capture our share of awards. AJ has won 10 national awards in the Folio: Eddie & Ozzie contest for magazine excellence, including five for publishing the best full issue in the Sports, Recreation and Outdoor category. We have also won numerous prizes for individual fishing stories in other contests. But the best rewards are the messages and letters we’ve received from hundreds of you, our readers. These treasures eclipse all the plaques and statuary.

I continue to write and edit for Anglers Journal, but in a part-time role as executive editor. Chief editor Charlie Levine has done a wonderful job since taking the helm. And many thanks to my longtime colleague Michael LaBella, who has read every single word ever printed in Anglers Journal. New creative director Steven Jylkka is a talented workmate and longtime friend.

I have reached the age where I can look astern and connect the dots on a fishing life that has spanned 60-plus years. I have also spent more than four decades writing and editing magazines. With that perspective, I can attest that working on Anglers Journal has been the most rewarding period of my employed life. It’s the perfect melding of two loves. And fishing came first.

With that, I raise a glass to our 10th anniversary and offer heartfelt thanks to our contributing writers and freelance photographers, our advertisers and the AIM staff, who continue to play a role in the brand, from interns to chairman and CEO Andy Clurman. Most of all, I clink my glass with you — the most important ones — our readers.