yes think your right there tony quality has def gone down since mr harrell went trouble is you ave got young lads doing it now and they think its a boys club i for one aint renewing when my subs is up that goes for AT as well thats a joke..noticed the paper quality has gone as well it used to be nice and glossy now you darn’t hold the pages to hard or you get your fingerprints all over it are you listening jon!

They need to get Mr Harrell back ASAP if they want the magazine to survive its going downhill faster than pole fishing the only question is which will go first pole fishing or match fishing

To qualify my comments, here, I haven’t had time to get past the fist couple of proper articles this month. I don’t know that is has gone downhill, as the articles are now offering a different slant and I do like reading angles from different contributors, but I do feel that the mag has been dumbed down possibly to make it more accessible to more (younger?) anglers. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old fart, but I’m disappointed to see dumbing down right across the board these days and unfortunately it’s all in the name of so called progress.

I agree that Dave Harrell was an excellent editor and found a great format for which he has already been correctly applauded by so many, but I think Dave (by his own admission) had taken MF as far as he cound have without affecting other things in his life and it was time for a change, both for Dave and the mag.

As for the initial comments regarding the “this month at MF HQ” and “caught on camera”, I agree (the grumpy old fart in me again!), and hope that the current editorial board can take such comments in a positive light and make suitable adjustments. However, I’m inclined to believe that like “snide rumours”, “sconezone” and similar items, they will have a finite lifespan before it becomes difficult to maintain the entertainment factor and I’d be surprised if they survive for long. In the meantime, I’m happy to accept that Alex and Gary have made a pretty positive start overall and need to have a couple of space savers until they find the final tweaks to make the successful recipe to succeed Dave and truly move Match Fishing forward.

I love the mag, its never going to be perfect and they cannot possibly please all the people all of the time. Findlay, Scothorne, Ringer, Raison, Masson etc what more could you ask for?
I never felt that Dave was that bothered with the commercial scene and this reflected in his editorial which constantly banged the drum for rivers and ignored that the reality for many is holes in the ground.
Some say its all been written before but once again I disagree, venues are constantly evolving and methods/baits need to be updated.

Without seeing this months issue I think by and large the mag is better than under Dave Harrell, where it had got tired and (as JohnH has said) came across as anti commercials. Made me laugh that we still had river articles all through the closed season! And the same editorial every April banging on about the river closed season, cut and pasted!

Give it a bit of time if you don’t like it, things take a while to settle down after a change, don’t write it off after three issues under a new Ed!

Personally I think it’s a better magazine since Alex took over, or perhaps that is because I have more of an interest in Commercial Fisheries than I do reading about Rivers and Canals? Early days as others have said, so lets give em a chance before slating it off !

The only section I dislike in the MF mag is the captioned photo page as it has no direct appeal and does nothing for me, the page would be better filled with a tackle review or a tasty recipe for christmas carp 😀

its easy to knock the mag but if you think about it, its got to take some hard work to get a mag that everyones gunna love,
might aswell try platting fog ! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
i personally think they do a pretty decent job !!!!
there are bits in it i dont like,, but i dont read em,, simples,, 😎
its only like tight lines,,1 week in about 5 or 6 we get an episode focused on match fishing,,
for me the other episodes are absolute garbage cos i have no interest in the other angling discaplines,, but it dont mean they dont put out a decent show !!!
and not everyone loves match fishing so its a case of catering for all !!!
if theres something you dont like or something you’d like to see,,
email them,,
emailed em on a couple of occasions reguarding old series or features and always got a prompt and educated reply! 😉

i think threads like this say alot more about the readers than they do about the editors !!!

good work match and pole fishing mag teams,, keep up the good work !!!

Thanks for the comments guys,

It is difficult to please everyone as some like a good long read whereas others prefer much shorter tips type features. we have tried to make the features shorter and punchier so that we can put more of them in there to try and make the mag busier.

We have such a large audience to appeal to that it is difficult to cover everything but it is something that we are working hard on to try and give a good spread of features. we do have lots of excellent ideas to come and as with every major staffing change things take time to really settle down.

Regards

Joe

Personally I enjoy reading it.
But, THE SCRIPT FONT NEEDS TO BE BIGGER
please.

Joe it would be much more fun if you went in both barrels and slagged everyone off LOL

i think the adverts need a good shake up!
i mean if the mag has to be half adverts could we at least change them occasionally?

Ive been a subscriber for years now, i love the magazine in general,some of the features are great and have always been.I hate the caption page and the ‘whats been good and bad for us’ page…otherwise the mag doesnt seem to have changed much still good articles and things to learn…after working all day nothing picks me up better than a lay in the bath with me new matchfishing and pole fishing mags

I like the mag but last month after id finished reading it and had nothing else to read i got an old copy out from the 80s it was much better in them days not all how to do more story based.

It’s a cracking read anywhere 😀

i think you have to give the lads time it was a big loss when dave went but i’m sure the boys are finding there feet .i wonder how many reader know how much work goes into each copy i’ve been on features sometime the fish don’t play ball and it has to be done again,i’ve seen joe running around getting anglers for features before deadlines as i have with jon and polefishing soits not as easy as you think 😉 😉 😉

@bully100 wrote:

I like the mag but last month after id finished reading it and had nothing else to read i got an old copy out from the 80s it was much better in them days not all how to do more story based.

Yes.

Then a journal, now a comic.

just read the lastest copy took me less than a couple of hours as i skipped pages and pages of adverts some good articles some boring stuff but im sure they will get it right in the end just hope i dont lose intrest in it before they do.

Thoroughly enjoyed this months issue.
Well done Joe and Alex.
Was big fan of Dave – but you’ve kept the standard in a different style so a big up fro me.
PS- thanks for changing the red font in drennan cup results to pink as can now read much easier!
Considering a few of us ‘moaned’ about this only last month – thats a good example of a team and mag that listens to anglers comments.
So thank you for listening. 🙂

It is still a good read, and the boys are doing a great job!!

every one has there own opinions ,i think its better since dave left ,keep up the good work lads

In my opinion (for what its worth) Dave Harrell did a cracking job, but by the same token Alex and Joe are as well only in a different way, and if the last two issues are anything to go by the future is/will be very bright!, maybe there are a few too many ads but we must also remember everybody has got to eat, so I think we will have to grin and bear it! keep going lads, I for one am really enjoying it. 🙂

Personnaly I prefer the return to an emphasis on commercials as this is where i fish; though I acknowledge that this is not for everyone. I think trying to winkle out real gems of tips is a real art – after all the anglers are still usually competing at the venues used and I doubt that the commissions for DHP will be so lucrative as to offset potential loss of winnings! Without recalling specifics I think some recent articles have included a couple of gems which I can use in the future so well worth buying in my opinion.

I have discussed the large amount of marketing and non critical product reviews with Dave Harrell in the past – my wife is really into long distance walking and the comparable magazines for this hobby seem to have proportionately less adverts and genuine reviews highlighting pros and cons – perhaps their circulation is very high and they are less reliant on not upsetting regular marketing income (or are the MF gang all down the Range rover shop on the proceeds? lo!). The fishing mags now seem to just state that something is available in the quick reviews, only offering an opinion in the used and abused articles which I think is fair enough.

Good luck with the mags chaps, CK

me for one i love it. i think alex is doing a good job there and long may he rain. it is a hard job to take over from some one that as bin there for years ( i,e Dave Harrell ) but give alex a chance he know so much about fishing and with joe there to help they will come good for the ones that are nocking it .