Improve Your Coarse Fishing magazine (IYCF) is to cease publication from May 2024. After 33 years of inspiring and informing coarse fishing enthusiasts, Bauer Media bids farewell to Improve Your Coarse Fishing magazine. However, this closure doesn’t mark an end but rather a transformation, as the much-loved brand finds a new home within the pages of Angling Times. |
“Our mission has always been to give anglers more confidence and enable them to catch more fish; this move allows us to do that more effectively than before.”
Launched in 1991 by the EMAP publishing group, later acquired by Bauer, IYCF quickly hit the mark with its target audience by providing an easy-to-read cocktail of tactics, tips and techniques, supported by excellent photography and graphics. During its heyday it consistently sold 50,000 copies during the spring and summer months.
The closure of IYCF is the latest story in the demise of Bauer’s once powerful print presence. Trout Fisherman was closed in January 2020, more than 40 years after its launch, sister title Trout and Salmon was sold to Fieldsports Press in April last year, almost 70 years after it first appeared, and Sea Angler, launched in 1972, was sold to Kelsey Media in July 2020.
The shrinking portfolio is indicate of the pressure put on print publications by the internet, with most consumers now sourcing their information digitally. Print titles from other angling publishers have also fallen by the wayside.
Angling Times Editor James Furness said: “Improve Your Coarse fishing has been a trusted friend to thousands of anglers for three decades, thanks to its inclusive tone and easy-to-understand tips and tactics to help people catch more fish. My team and I will be incorporating that tone and ethos into Angling Times.”