Hatches Feedback

[Guest]

The first issue to Hatches took me 9 months to produce and I put my heart and soul into every page. After spending that much time and effort into the magazine I was anxious to hear what people thought. In the past couple of months I have been blown away by the feedback that I have received, everyone has been very supportive and enthusiastic about the magazine.

 

The past couple of weeks I have been gearing up for the long journey of publishing another issue and I am very interested in knowing your thoughts about the first issue. Many of the emails and orders I receive I don't know if they are FTF members or not so I would like to know your thoughts. You guys know me and many of you have been here on FTF from the beginning and have supported me on this crazy journey to where I am at today. Your opinion is important to me, Hatches would not have been possible without the great group of people that visit this site on a daily basis.

 

For the premiere issue I did my best to have a good balance of articles that covered a wide variety of species and tying styles. Also, for the most part every writer was a registered member of FTF and I thought that was important.

 

So I would like to know what you liked about the magazine and even what you didn't like. I will be the first person to state that I don't know everything about fly tying and I am sure that there are people who feel left out because there wasn't an article in the magazine that they could relate to. Your guys' opinion is important to me and since day one I have always tried to take the approach of creating things that I would personally enjoy. I want to learn from whatever mistakes that were made from the first issue and I want to continue doing the good things in the 2nd issue and beyond. As of right now I am excited about the articles that I have lined up for the 2nd issue and I hope that most people will agree that Hatches was not a "one hit wonder".

 

Thanks again for all of the support.

[philipmadamson 0]

For me one of the most impressive things I found in Hatches was that it was PACKED full of information. Most magazines you get today are Packed full of ads that take up sometimes 50% of the space. I felt like the first edition of Hatches was not like that at all and that is something I feel would continue to make it different and meaningful to people.

 

Just one of my thoughts.

[ILikeFish 0]

I really liked how "diverse" the articles were. Since it's only gonna be out once a year, it could be easy to be forgotten about, or to miss many people if it was geared towards one or two species of fish. but theres so much information I feel like it can easily last me a whole year till the next issue is released. and it seems like theres something for everyone.

 

hope this helps.

 

I also enjoy the beautiful photography and thought the pages were layed out quite well!

[3-Eyed Smelt 0]

Hi,

 

 

 

I will no longer renew my Fly Tyer subscription - after 7 years. In the first issue of Hatches, I was immediately greeted by practical and sound fly tying advice, how to's, and patterns. Noone was rehashing or renaming techniques or patterns just to get out an issue (which Fly Tyer has been doing.) I enjoyed the historical perspective and an emphasis on complex tasks as well.

 

 

 

A great magazine. I don't know how I can pre-order for the next issue? Please let me know.

 

 

 

Nice work.

 

 

[WYKnot 0]

I liked the format and quality photography. I particularly enjoyed the historical piece on Orvis-Marbury flies, Mike Boyer and Lee Schechter did a great job showing relevance and lineage from these early fly tiers.

[Chase Creek 0]

I was very impressed by the wide range of "how-to" articles. If tying article is worth it's salt, it will make you want to try something you haven't tried before - for me it was the one on married wings.

That issue also had a very good mixture of articles geared toward both the beginner and advanced tyer, no mean feat. The article that come to mind is the one on dubbing - great for the beginner, and for the experienced tyer. I've been tying for 40 years +/- and learned a couple of things from that one.

Think someone brought this up before - liked the way the articles weren't continued all over the magazine (continued on page...)

I read EVERY article, and I don't usually do that with FlyTyer magazine. Truely something for everyone. Sincerely hope you can continue with this effort.

[Twofingerz 0]

if at all possible i would change the way it is bound.

staples tear through and eventually the cover or the centerfold pages will come loose. unless of course you wind up putting i nice centerfold poster/pic in there for us to mount..LOL

 

i liked the idea of having an article like the one on dubbing..not everyone (meaning me) has a good grasp on the basics. so a "beginners article" is quite helpful. then eventually one would be able to move on to some of the more adavced stuff that is in the other great step by steps.

[Harold Ray 0]

The past couple of weeks I have been gearing up for the long journey of publishing another issue and I am very interested in knowing your thoughts about the first issue.

 

Will,

 

Hatches is superb; I love the whole thing and see nothing wrong with it. It is possible, I guess, that there might be something, but if so, it is so minor I didn't recognize it. I hope the publication continues because, in my opinion, it is a total winner; after all, I bought six (6) copies.

 

In a future issue, I would love to see an article on Czech Nymphing, the flies and the technique. That is becoming a more widely used fishing method. Nymphs and scuds, although not the most beautiful of insects or insect stages, are beautiful and very interesting to me and a real pleasure to tie. Kev Compton also does a great job with them as does Steve Korbay, the owner of Fly Tying Specialties, and a new member here.

 

How have sales of Hatches been going? Are they up to or above expectations? Just as you like to know what we think, we like to make sure everything is going well here, both the finances and the sales.

 

Ray

[Guest]

Twofingerz,

 

I wanted to get the first issue "perfect bound" but I honestly ran out of $$$. It would have cost about 25% more then it did with the staples. It is at the top of the list of things I want to change...

 

Ray,

 

Sales are good but I still have a long way to go to even think about breaking even but I am optimistic that the good things will continue. I plan on having a booth at 4 or 5 shows starting in January so hopefully that will help increase the awareness for the magazine. The big challenge is trying to get the magazine into fly shops. I'm starting to get it into a few shops but I have a long way to go before I have it in as many shops as I would like.

[Twofingerz 0]

i pop in my local shop every saturday. i will take my copy in with me this weekend.

[flykid 0]

Great job on the magazine Will! I LOVE fly tying magazines and this was perfect. I learned a lot of things and I really like the way it is set up. How long will you still be selling the first issue? I want to get one to frame and the copy I bought is already falling apart from use! I will bring it in to my local fly shop and show them if you want.

[Dart 0]

This magazine has been a huge asset for me, as before I got Hatches I had tied maybe 20 flies total.

 

It is an invaulable tool, coupled with this forum, for ANYONE looking for information on fly tying. Before I got Hatches, I was pounding my head away on a single pattern. I saw John's article on "Tie for Show or Tie to Throw," and it opened a whole new world to me. I decided that I wanted to tie these beauties, and since his tutorial was so well written and photographed, I was made to believe I could accomplish this task.

 

I had seen these flies before, but never had anyone SHOWN me how to tie them. I started to itch for more materials and it prompted me to contact John McLain. I've been in contact with John McCoy through PMs and the advise they have given me is priceless. I'll continue to use their advise to improve my fly tying, but without being spurred by the magazine, I would have never contacted them.

 

All of the other tutorials were inspiring as well, but I had to start somewhere, right?! There seems to be a vault of information here, may as well put it in print. And Will, I don't view this as a "magazine," but a "book." It will always have a spot in my collection as a reference material.

 

Sorry for the rambling, but all of that to say... I love the magazine and it has opened doors for me that brought my tying to an entirely new level. I'm looking forward to the rest of the adventure!

 

Jeff

 

[panfisherteen 0]

i like hatches,simply because it has many patterns and the how to tie it section as well.good photography,and its multi species as well.its a great magazine

[Snowmass Angler 0]

I love the magazine first off.

Second I really DONT like flies for salt water or flies for bass.

I know a lot of people get the opportunity to fish in the salt but I would wager most of us do not.

I like ALL kinds of TROUT flies, I'm silly over them, Catskill, wet flies, dry flies, emergers, traditional, classic, snelled, whatever, you name it, I love it.

I don't fish for bass with a fly rod therefore I always pass up the articles that are related to bass flies/fishing. It doesn't interest me. I don't like the way the flies look and I don't enjoy seeing picture of bass. I'm a trout man, pure and simple. I like bass, don't get me wrong, I just don't want them in my literature. I only enjoy reading about trout and trout fishing.

I think filling valuable pages with saltwater flies that 90% of the viewers will never tie is a waste.

I think bass bugs are ugly.

Still, you have the classic salmon flies and my most favorite of all WET FLIES. I love married wings, I love the way they look, I love tying them.

More of that PLEASE.

Leave the bass bugs to other, more inferior magazines!

SNOWMASS

[Harold Ray 0]

I think filling valuable pages with saltwater flies that 90% of the viewers will never tie is a waste.

I think bass bugs are ugly.

 

Wrong on both counts!!!

 

I fish for trout at Mountain Home, Arkansas on the White and North Fork Rivers, bass, perch, bluegills and whatever else bites on Texas lakes, rivers and streams, and on the flats, in the surf and on the Gulf of Mexico from kayaks for redfish, sea trout, shark and you name it with flyrods and flies.

 

There are thousands of flyfishing Texans who fish saltwater every day. Many are learning of FlyTyingForum, and some are buying Hatches. It takes time to spread the word, and if some of all is not included, people who don't fish for trout will never be interested.

 

Many I know here wouldn't waste time on a trout when there are BIG fish to catch. Try a ten to forty pound redfish on a fly, a six or seven pound sea trout or a sailfish on a homemade fly on your flyrod. Personally, I like them all, but for a site like FlyTyingForum.com, I think we have to be inclusive, not exclusive. I don't believe I've ever met a fly I didn't love!

 

Ray