2015 Is a Brand Spanking New Baby – And It’s SCREAMING!
texasflyfishing fly fishing texas #flyfishing
+Shannon Drawe
+Texas Fly Caster
MISSION STATEMENT 2015
HERE WE GO ROUND AND ROUND AGAIN
It’s a new year, and if it’s any better (on the economy front) than 2014, I don’t know if we can stand it. Yeah, there’s a lot to look back at when it comes to fly fishing in 2014, but you know we look both directions be here at TFC.
FRESH IS FRESH AGAIN
Long time readers typically ride out the stories they’ve read before; how to’s, where to’s, when and so forth. Those variables changed over the years, and you can bet they will change again this year. However, there are the fundamentals that never change, and this year is no different, and they will be covered again as if nobody’s seen a well-tied Clouser Minnow, or ever had to deal with a sagging backcast.
You see, here at TFC we walk the razor’s edge between what someone who’s never visited this site knows (80% of the hundreds daily), and all the long-time reader knows after eight years of learning about different fly fishing opportunities here in Texas on TFC. From the fundamentals to the advanced fly fisher, it’s all still here.
There’s no reason why either the new reader, or the old, should expect anything other than fresh information, fresh new information and a detailed coverage of the fundamentals that lead to catching more fish on the fly.
We had a lot of changes in 2014, and 2015 will make last year pale in comparison.
There will be a lot more crossover from fly fishing to the Airstream trailer life, as there will be a lot more time invested in the Airstream to benefit Texas Fly Caster on locations readers may be wondering about. What I am talking about is incredibly intense time in a single location in order to explore the location and all facets of fly fishing it may offer. And we’re talking about an opportunity for readers to “Know Before You Go” to fly fish where I’m parked, and book a trip wherever “there” is. Cool, right?
And when it comes to being outside the normal “range” we typically fly fish here at TFC, that means exploring new means of bringing words and photography to this site. So you can expect more changes to the look of TFC, the content, and the way the content looks at TFC. I will be trying new ways of posting images and stories from more primitive locations, and if you’ve been on this ride awhile you know it can be hit-or-miss.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Expect an ever increasing weight on video to bring you the most detailed, original and accurate information on fly fishing from the North Texas perspective – about various topics related to fly fishing, fly fishing culture and other topics within our sights. Some videos will be released first as part of a Pay-Per-View article, and then later appear on the Texas Fly Caster YouTube Channel for the Texas Fly Caster website. MOST will go straight to YouTube. The geniuses at YouTube haven’t enabled the ability to separate channels for an individual yet, so there will be a lot of other things you witness at the Texas Fly Caster YouTube channel as well. May I suggest to YouTube: 1) Change the name “channel” to “Network,” and, 2) have separation into “Programming” to replace “Channel.” Free advice worth millions.
Expect your subscription (for pay-per-view content) to bring you the most detailed and accurate information to take you straight to where the fish are, how to tie the best flies, and how to put it all together for a great fly fishing experience.
Expect your subscription to also bring you more open and free-wheeling writing. Plenty of people don’t think it’s worth a dime, but feel free to make that 10-cent investment. I’ll refund your dime if you don’t like what you read. Some stories will have “segments” or “parts” in a portion of a story saved for subscribers to read. It’s a way for you to know what I think is the heart of the matter, or a little unusual or too racy for lurker’s free reads.
In short, as usual, expect information and opinion you will not find anywhere else in the fly fishing atmosphere.
PROFIT & LOSS
As long time readers know, the TFC website doesn’t shy from trying new things, and that’s never been more apparent than the move in 2014 to pay-per-view reading for the stories of value. As simple as the idea of paying (as little as 10-cents) for quality content is, implementing the concept last year lead to the loss of a large number of lurking readers that obviously have priorities. Of that number, it also shed a very small number of fly fishers feigning fishing friendships – just to get even more one-on-one information out on the water. That loss is an unexpected profit. Make no mistake; if you are a subscribing member, there are benefits that go well beyond being able to read the printed word. All you have to do is ask.
Of course in 2014 there were also a small number of people I had never before heard from or of, who hurled multiple insults and profanities at me directly (in writing) for converting to Pay-Per-View. The wide net TFC casts has, since the beginning, snagged a few loose screws it seems. Over the eight years, this was nothing new. At least, this time, I know they don’t live nearby (ask me sometime about someone so threatening and off their rocker that I actually carried to go fly fishing places – places he might appear around here – for months!).
AS ALWAYS
As always, I welcome your feedback on the content you see, the content you want to send in for publishing here on the site, comments … whatever you have to say about fly fishing, the website, ideas … people, places things …
MOVING ON
I will be going into greater detail on what you can expect to see – brand new, slightly used and even second hand – here at TFC this year. I am planning on a few stories, in coming weeks, that detail new topics that will be occurring regularly – something like a weekly newspaper column. There will also be some “summing up” of last year’s fly fishing’s ups and downs in a story or two (or three).
As we wrap up the new official statement for what TFC is all about going forward, I want to thank you for reading and showing your interest in the topics covered here at Texas Fly Caster. If you’ve enjoyed the reading, subscribe and read more freewheeling stories about fly fishing and fly fishing Culture on the Skids. This year promises to be one for the book, written here first and made into a feature length …
+Shannon Drawe
+Texas Fly Caster
Category: Complimentary Reading, Culture on the Skids, Life Observed, Paid Reading Content, Writing
Thank you for that. I appreciate it.
I enjoy reading the site Shannon and think it is worth the small fee you charge. Think about what most magazines cost nowadays and you get a heck of a bargain for all the content you provide.