The end of In-Fisherman's 29th year rings in the beginning of our 30-year anniversary. Just what is In-Fisherman all about, today? That can be answered by categorizing our priorities neatly into several areas.

1) We're all about helping anglers catch more fish and have fun. We love to fish and we're good at it. On-staff editors and our two field editors have been playing on the professional side of the fishing game for a combined total of around two centuries. This is the most experienced editorial staff in all outdoors. We have further access to the best minds in many areas of the industry, from top anglers and writers to fishery scientists to fishing tackle manufacturers.

While in-the-field research and hard-won practical experience are vital to helping you, we also rely on science to add final perspective to all this practical experience. To that end, we have for many years used fishery research results to anchor our writings. We were the first to have a staff fishery scientist as an editor. Today we have on staff Senior Editor Steve Quinn, who is a certified fishery scientist, and Managing Editor Dr. Robert Neumann. Neumann has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in fishery science.

In short, In-Fisherman magazine is a vehicle allowing us to have a look at what's happening in fishing -- a look at traditions and trends, the status quo and the cutting edge, as we focus primarily on a core group of fish: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleyes, crappies (and other panfish), muskies, pike, and catfish.

2) We're all about multispecies fishing. Each fish species has unique characteristics that make it worthy of pursuit, a challenge to understand, find, and catch. This is fundamental to who we are and why we endeavor to tell you about fishing. While we focus on a core group of popular fish species, promising at least one article about each of those core species in each magazine, we also promote fishing for other species -- from gar and carp, to white bass and stripers, to salmon and trout. If it swims, we want to be able to understand it and catch it. There's always something biting, 365 days a year; all we have to do is understand when, where, and how.

3) We promote the selective harvest of fish. Catch-and-release fishing is an important means of sustaining good fishing in many situations. Releasing larger fish -- larger panfish and larger predators like pike, muskies, trout, and bass -- can be important because there are fewer of these generally older individuals to go around. But it's also important to maintain a tradition of eating some fish, for they're nutritious, delicious, and when harvested wisely, they're a renewable resource. Harvesting some fish makes sense. Releasing the right fish makes sense. We can have great fishing and eat great fish and continue it all into the future.

During three decades of publication, In-Fisherman covers have undergone many transformations. Larry Tople has been our cover artist since 1977, a milestone perhaps equalled only by Norman Rockwell's work on the Saturday Evening Post. Tople images have changed the way artists approach fishing scenes.