Off the Scale to go printed!

Yes, the rumours are true – Off the Scale, Ireland’s #1 angling magazine, will also be available in printed form in the near future. It’s the end of one era and the beginning of another…

The magazine has been available as a 100% free, 100% independent digital publication since launching in January 2015 and to say it has exceeded all expectations is an understatement. We have featured well over 100 different contributors from all corners of angling, most of which had never even written before. We’ve consistently highlighted the major issues facing (especially Irish) angling and entertained, educated and inspired thousands of readers on a bi-monthly basis.

Off the Scale was created not to make money but to provide some much-needed positivity to the Irish angling scene, to bring more togetherness to an increasingly divided community and to challenge the status quo of what Irish angling magazines had come before. We truly believe that we have broken the mould of what is possible from a digital publication in terms of content, design and overall production quality. Our ever-growing readership at home and abroad is testament to this.

However, putting so much work, effort, love and energy, not to mention money, into a freely available product of this standard is simply not sustainable. Not for us, not for the contributors, the majority of whom wrote for free. We have long realised the future of the magazine lies in print, having been convinced otherwise way back at the beginning – print is not dead! Generally, people simply prefer a physical magazine to one on a screen, much like books. A printed version of Off the Scale has been requested by an increasing proportion of readers for a long time now and we are committed to make this happen.

Sadly, the world is not perfect and the transition from digital-only to print + digital isn’t going to be as smooth as we’d like. To do the best job we can with mag we have made the executive decision to take a break for a few months, so there will be no more issues of Off the Scale until it returns in printed form. Shifting to print is far from easy and takes an enormous amount of organisation, dedication and time. Taking a short break for a few issues is the best option all-round.

So, as it turns out issue 27 (released at the end of March 2019) will be the last ever free digital-only version of the magazine. Rest assured, although this is the end of one era it is also only the start of another. Hopefully, by satisfying both digital and print fans, Off the Scale will reach new heights and will be able to continue to evolve, grow and become even better than it already is. The exact details of availability, timeframes, print runs, subscriptions and stockists will unfold in due course, so please bear with us. In the interim, our social media presence isn’t going anywhere, we’ll still be here and all 27 issues to date are completely free (and always will be) on our site! (read them all here )

Thank you to everyone reading this for being part of our amazing journey, it wouldn’t have been possible without your incredible support. See you on paper!

Bill Brazier, editor/founder

(Note: the above mock-up image is simply for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual printed version of the mag!)