Stephen Boshoff writes: One hundred and forty-four editions of Piscator appeared uninterrupted – through significant periods of upheaval such as WW ll and a low-level civil war in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s – from March 1947 to 2012 (with the 100th edition in 1977). This archive, digitised by its third editor, Ed Herbst, is a rich resource of history, a family record of the Cape Piscatorial Society’s members, their desires, actions, approaches to things, achievements, and failures. A record of streams, water, fish, and fishing partners found and lost over time. In world-wide stature, the Piscator – as a journal encompassing more than fly fishing – under the editorship of A.C. Harrison, C. Ross-Munro, and Ed Herbst, belied the small size of the Cape fly fishing community.
Both the different interests of editors and changes in the broader context of fishing and fly fishing, are illustrated in shifts in emphasis and the focus of Piscator over time. A.C. Harrison was old school, and for many years Piscator exhibited a format and style reflective of that, including a focus on keeping “records” (e.g., the reports of Annual General Meetings were carried, as well as meticulously prepared summaries of catch returns under Notes from the Club Room Board). Under Harrison, the broader role of Piscator as a journal of conservation and science was also clear, carrying a substantial number of articles on non-angling fishes, entomology, and the history of stocking local waters with various species of fish). C. Ross-Munro, known to loath change, in many ways carried on where A.C. Harrison left off. In 1990, with Ed Herbst, a journalist, becoming Editor of Piscator, a marked shift occurred, with an emphasis on approach, innovations in fly tying, and tackle.
Consistent over time was that the editors published quotes on the back cover of the journal, portraying what they regarded as evoking the essence of our pursuit. These are shared here.