Mark,
 
 In my opinion; the fly shop doesn't really need WON's reports, Guy Jeans is on a different level all together. His target demographic is reading fly fishing publications or first timers wanting information on how to start fly fishing. WON caters to a vast majority of readers ranging from anglers throwing rooster tails to salmon eggs and also fly's. However in Southern California fly fishing is still not all that popular and I feel still gets a bad rap from majority of bait fisherman. WON is a business trying to make money; they are not going to give fly fishing reports all that often to those that have never thrown a fly. If there reports read: "first time fly fisherman are getting limits!" Well then you would see a lot more up here.There are cuts of revenue from every direction in the fishing and outdoor industry If you break it down: Fly fishing is : 1, super expensive, 2. harder than casting and retrieving, and 3. mobility; you cant sit on rock and catch fish all day while drinking a beer. Therefor they will not run fly fishing reports to often. Simply put: there is only one fly fishing shop up here. However I can name 6 places that sell lures to catch and keep trout and coolers for anglers to throw beers in. Most anglers that really utilize WON for reports are planning on keeping fish anyways. I read WON, love Jim Matthews stuff, support the publication 100% There are always great reports and great stories and its local so its nice. As a homeowner in the town of Kernville anything that brings business up here is welcomed. The local business that gain customers is a great thing and you can certainly thank WON for a portion of that. Not to mention that I am sure the fly shop has had some margin profit increase due to WON reports and articles about the Kern river. Put the word "fishing" on a sign and people will come in. They kinda missed the first word that said: "fly"

I don't support WON.... they make a living outing small creeks.
 
There are better flyfishing mags....try "Sleeping in the dirt", or a number of other online magazines that stress "the experience" over "the spot"....they almost lead you to go out and find your own holly water....plus much better photography.  
 

Here's the way most such rags work:
 
They want the authors to submit up to a year in advance.  They also demand very detailed kiss-and-tell reports.  
 
That's because they have a whole organized campaign to solicit ads from businesses in the neighborhood of their "featured" stories.  The ad departments push like crazy for content that lets them organize the ad campaigns.
 
We have one such rag up here called Fish Alaska. While I write outdoor stuff, it's all technique and I refuse to write kiss-and-tell.  FA is after me all the time to write for them, but the discussions get heated over kiss-and-tell and I refuse to write for them.
 
Meanwhile, we have a business here in town, and starting 7 months before an article on our region is published they start sending out ad solicitations like "Our September 2012 issue features TWO articles on your town. Click the link to find special ad rates to help you take advantage of all the extra exposure and new visitors coming to visit your town. Don't miss out!" By 5 months they're virtually pleading for ads.
 
It's all about selling ads in the rags, and the more folks that read them for the "hot skinny" on where to fish, the more ads they can sell.

I think WON has impacted certain fishing areas, sure, but as a long time subscriber to WON, I find the articles and pics very interesting.  As a matter of fact, WON has printed several articles and pictures of me and my family that I have personally submitted over the years.  It's more than just about fishing.  Almost all of my daughter's (Michelle) deer and elk pictures and stories have been published as I'm proud of her hunting successes.  I still have a picture and article I cut out from the WON about 3 years ago on my fridge of Michelle holding 4 ducks she shot on a youth hunt when she was 13, holding her 12 gage over/under and framed in the pic by our two hunting dogs, Brandi and Ginger.  Maybe I am defending WON as a magazine, because it is not a fly fishing magazine, but a weekly paper for the rest of the millions of people who partake in other forms of outdoor recreation.  And if the article brought much needed business to Kernville, then even better.

There is a guy out there named Landon Mayer who is doing his best to out every fly fishing stream in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. He has named so many of the spots that I knew as a kid, that you had to either ride a horse or mule to, I can't count the number of vulnerable streams he has outed. He is responsible for people finding out about places that should remain anonymous. Bait dunkin fish killers read fly fishing mags! It's one thing to send a pm to a guy who has the same interests as you, but it's another to write an article and give exact instructions to wild fish for everyone to read. Just my two cents.
Monte

Quote from xbill_y on Jun 12^th, 2012, 6:30am:

 
 
X2
 
I think the rafters spend more time in a raft rafting more than littering. A big majority of them i think are on guided trips and practice the pack it in pack it out.  These are just my observations.  

Quote from StreamKeepersCult on Jun 12^th, 2012, 12:21am:

 
You know exactly what you are doing every time you post replies such as the couple you have in this thread (and others).
 
Jeremy