Yeah, I keep my sub up to date. They'll honestly rotate the theme of their bi-monthly dead tree issue to try and cover the most relevant national outdoor season, without neglecting the other outdoorsmen. Their current staff lineup - David E. Petzal, Bill Heavey, Joe Cermele, Phil Bourjailly - keep me amused and informed. I look forward to the latest issue, and scamper off to the latrine to read Petzal's skull-rattling rants and bits of wisdom, and Heavey's latest suburban faux pas first. (Yes, truth be told, I do have a wood magazine rack next to the bowl, and I get my best reading done in there. I could earn a PhD online if I applied myself and had a good wifi connection and steady supply of Charmin.) [rant] Compared to Outdoor Life and the other outhouse time-passers I get, F&S seems to be the best well-balanced, and they don't try to kill you with a thousand instructions of finesse. They tell good stories of real outdoor exploits, of themselves and others. I'm an angler, and I don't want to know about the latest rubber whirlygig that someone is shilling, the newest Japanese Frankenbait someone glued together from slicing and dicing ten others in his garage, how to tune the bill on the latest Kevin Van Dam hardbait he's endorsing for money, or which of a thousand knots to tie on whatever corporate-sponsored wiggle-tail while determining presentation based on temperature, water clarity, depth, and all that. Stick your Carolina and Texas rigging, wacky rigging, and a dozen other presentations up your tuckus. Gimme a Mepps Comet, or a good Worden's Rooster Tail and get the hell out of my way. F&S is still the common's man outdoor magazine.[/rant]
And, for the record, I do have several endorsements and am on the pro staff of a handful of manufacturers and outfitters who would not only fire me, but possibly sneak up on my house and kill my cats if they knew how I voiced my opinon. So let's keep this among ourselves.