It surely doesn't seem that 30 years have passed since Bob Schmidt, our first editor, and the two of us put together the inaugural In-Fisherman magazine -- or rather, "Study Report," as we called it back then. But obviously there has been a lot of water under the bottom of the boat since then.

Looking back at that first issue today, we're moved first by what can only be called the technological revolution, the mind-boggling advances in technology -- primarily in electronics and methodology -- that have occurred since we first zeroed in on the subject as an editorial focus for our magazine.

Flipping through the pages of that issue, we see that the paper graph had just come on the market. Flashers were still the primary depth-finding tool and were yet to be standard equipment on all boats. Efficient trolling motors were just beginning to come into more and more common usage. Foot-control motors were still in the future. Bass boats were on the scene but in their evolutionary stages, and fully functional in-boat livewells were just starting to appear. In our area of influence, primarily up North, Lund 315 boats with 25 hp tiller motors with "jerry-rigged" shift handles were still our conveyances of choice.

Interestingly, some of the subject matter we broached in this issue -- "How much do fish like walleye, bass, and muskie suspend? How do we go about trying to catch them?" -- was a mystery. Indeed, for a number of reasons, today's Great Lakes and big-water trolling bites for walleyes are a response to these early queries. Even leeches as livebait for walleye were also just beginning to be popularized. From a scientific perspective, fish-tracking studies (one of which was highlighted in the issue) were still being done by tagging rather than with radiotelemetry.

While twister-tail soft plastic lures had been just introduced and were all the rage, items like graphite rods, soft tubes, superlines -- not to mention GPS units and LCDs -- had yet to see the light of day. Even on big waters, two-way rifle sighting of offshore spots was the only alternative. Things like the catch-and-release ethic, outside of the trout world, were just beginning to be bandied about by rank-and-file bass and muskie anglers. Catch and release in bass tournaments had been introduced by Ray Scott only two years earlier, and it was not only misunderstood by most anglers but by many of the state DNRs, as well. Concepts like slot limits and selective harvest, which In-Fisherman later championed, had not yet been explored.

In the closing article Jeff Zernov, credited with popularizing today's underwater cameras with his invention of the Aqua-Vu, looks for a way to see fish in their natural habitat in all kinds of weather conditions, without resorting to scuba diving. His solution was 25 years away.

While we printed and distributed only 17,000 copies of this first issue, we introduced in detail our F+L+P=S fishing formula, coupled with the calendar periods and the beginnings of our lake classification system. We also established a glossary of terms. This premier publication would become our template for teaching.

In the years that followed, these "basics" became the foundation of all the many educational endeavors we were involved with. At the time, we adopted as a mission statement, "Teaching America To Fish Is Our Business," and for all the years that followed, we held to that mission. In order to educate not one angler but coming generations of them, we knew we had to develop and expand upon some kind of "common language and vocabulary" for our readers.

In coining new words, phrases, and terms to describe complex but repetitively used concepts, we hoped to save time and not have to cover the same explanations again and again. We had little idea at the time that the words formulated by us -- and by our contributors -- would become common parlance in the angling world. A short list includes: pattern fishing, breakline, bottom contact, backtrolling, inside edge (of weeds), feeding mood, trigger, strike zone, presentation, alley (between weeds), structure fishing, saddles -- the list goes on.

A booklet, In-Fisherman Secret Systems, was given to all new subscribers. This was a compilation of all the original concepts, glossary, and formulas described in the first issue and added to in the first year of publication. At last count there are well over 1 million copies in print, making it perhaps one of the most widely read purely educational tracts in the history of modern angling.

Continued -- click on page link below.