In my job as editor of FISHINGmagic.com and angling writer for several angling journals there is one thing I couldn’t be without – a decent calendar. I need an in-my-face reminder of deadlines, notes of special events and all manner of visual ‘nudges’ to keep me heading in the right direction at the right time. A calendar that is hung on the wall behind and just to the left of my PC monitor is perfect. I can glance up and instantly see all the windows for that month and the little notes I’ve scribbled in various windows to make sure I don’t forget something important – such as the wife’s birthday and anniversary, followed by article deadlines, etc!
Most years I go to my nearest larger newsagents and choose something that has the kind of layout I prefer and hopefully with some nice photography of countryside scenes or wildlife, or, if I’m lucky, scenes of rivers and lakes and maybe an angler featured occasionally. The calendar is something I’m going to be looking at almost every day of the year, so I want something that is good to look at with a theme that interests me.
This year I’ve been lucky. I’ve had a calendar sent to me that is close to being exactly what I look for in a calendar. It is the right size, it is one page per month, each page has its own window (square) for each day of that month (which is big enough to make a few notes) and the theme is fishing. The layout is such that when the calendar is opened up vertically the dates are on the lower page and the photograph on the upper page. Each month the photograph and text is devoted to a species that it is appropriate to catch that month. The scenes are of an angler fishing a different lake or river with an inset close-up shot of the species he is fishing for.
Not only that, but each month has notes about the species; where and when it is caught, and a sensible tip to help you catch it. This text has been laid over almost half of the photograph and it is the only thing I can complain about. I think the text would have been better in a smaller size, tucked away in one corner, and then it wouldn’t have obscured so much of the superb pictures. On the lower date page there is a column with brief details of the tackle and tactics needed to catch the species of the month.
On the inside cover there is a calendar for the whole of 2000 and 2001. And on the next page is the British Record Fish List, giving species, weight, captor, date and location. On the same page are some useful contact addresses.
I make no bones about it, I think it is a superb calendar. The photography is very visually pleasing, the text is both useful and appropriate, the layout certainly suits me, and the price of £ 4.99 including post and packing is good value. The calendar has obviously been devised by anglers who know what anglers want, and Greg Meenehan has taken some beautiful photographs.
The calendars are available from J. Salmon Ltd, 100 London Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 1BB and arrive in a classy mailing envelope, within the envelope addressed to you, so that you can forward them on as a gift to someone.
