THROUGH THE DECADES

I’m sure that many younger readers wouldn’t be aware of the significance of Fishing World’s incredible contribution and influence on the evolution of recreational fishing in Australia over the last half century. Just like Fisho I’m a child of the 1960’s and have been either a reader or contributor to the magazine for most of my life. Fisho’s founder Ron Calcutt was a true visionary who started producing the Australian Angler on his kitchen table in 1969, which later became the Australian Angler’s Fishing World in December 1976 and finally just Fishing World in the early 1990s. Calcutt started the magazine originally to support the fledgling sportfishing movement which was a pretty big gamble as back in those days, fishing to most Australians was about catching food for the table or weighing in as big a bag of dead fish at a competition as they could catch. Over the last half century sportfishing and catch & release angling has boomed as interest in bag limit catch & kill competitions have steadily declined.

So why is still going strong after half a century while so many other magazines have regrettably fallen by the wayside. There in Jim Harnwell and Scott Thomas have faithfully followed the course set by Calcutt and have continued to fight to support recreational fishing in this country. A recent great example has been ongoing support and reporting of the recent Stop the Lockout campaign successfully waged in NSW. Another key to ongoing success in recent years has been the continuing development of the magazines online presence through its website and regular e-newsletter and updates on social media. The following is a rundown of the journey through the decades.