THE MISSION ISSUE 50

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I S S U E • 5 0

This magazine started out as an idea over a beer. After getting to know co-founders Conrad Botes and Brendan “Bod” Body, we got chatting about fly fishing magazines. Most, we concurred, were deeply boring and formulaic, so we started mulling over the idea of doing our own.

We had zero business sense between us (some might argue that’s still the case) and our business model to give the magazine away for free in print and online was (possibly still is) highly questionable. We launched Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2017) in December 2016. The response was huge and the validation enough to make us believe we were onto something. We then did all the stuff we probably should have done at the start: set up a website, open a bank account, sort out business admin in general.

From that ass-backwards start, it’s been a ridiculous whirlwind of fun, cool shit, epic adventures and of course a sprinkling of stress and rapid ageing brought on by deadlines and print bills. We’ve covered some of the most amazing places in Africa (and elsewhere in the world) and been to a few of them ourselves when the invites came, and piggy banks permitted. We have interviewed so many wonderful people, from the fly fishing legends we grew up hearing about to hard-charging youngsters, curious innovators and low-key DIY aesthetes.

We’ve attracted tens of thousands of readers from all over the world and many of the best brands in fly fishing and the outdoors have chosen to come along for the ride. We have survived a plague, the rand-dollar exchange rate and the general economic hardship involved with printing a magazine and giving it away to the world as a gift.

If you’ve ever read the mag, whistled gently through your nose at anything we have created, shared it with friends, bought some merch, signed up for our mailers or simply been inspired to grab your rod and go fishing, know that we appreciate you.

Thanks for reading.

Tudor (aka The Editor)