ABOUT US

South Australian Angler is the longest-established regional fishing/boating magazine in the country. Our first edition appeared late in 1977 and, from humble beginnings as a rather agricultural black and white production, it has grown to become a full colour, glossy publication with an extremely healthy following.

The magazine has undergone a steady metamorphosis over the years, working in closely with the tackle and marine trades (local and national) and featuring many of the best outdoor writers SA has produced. Greg Irving edited the mag’ for more than two decades and it was his dedication, courage and foresight that essentially set things up for a long term future. Greg retired in 2006, but continues to contribute columns and feature stories on a regular basis.

Although first and foremost a fishing magazine, SA Angler also features regular boat evaluations and marine news. Our aim has always been to present balanced content, with land-based, offshore, light tackle, heavy tackle, fresh water and salt water angling all covered frequently. We also strive for a blend of entertainment and information, which are the keys to attracting and retaining a healthy readership.

In mid 2006 Shane and Merrilyn Mensforth took control of SA Angler. They had been equal partners with Greg and Barbara Irving for some 21 years and opted to buy the Irvings out when Greg decided to call it a day. This was a major step for all concerned, but one that appears to be working well. Greg now has more time to go fishing, while Shane is relishing the opportunity to put his stamp on the magazine and push it to a different level.

Here’s a bit about the people who now put South Australian Angler together:

Merrilyn Mensforth
Merrilyn is, and has long been the backbone of the magazine’s administrative department. She was a school teacher for close to 20 years before taking on SA Angler full time and her roles within the organisation are now many and varied. These include:

Like all the Mensforths, she is a very keen angler, who enjoys practically any form of the sport, but is particularly partial to catching King George and yellowfin whiting, gar and trevally. She has caught yellowfin tuna to 40kg, snapper to 12kg and more kilo-plus KG whiting than her husband likes to admit. According to Shane, she is one of the luckiest anglers around the place and regularly shows him up, especially on the whiting grounds.

Brett Mensforth
Brett has been a fishing nut ever since he was old enough to hold a rod. Although following in dad’s footsteps has never been a definite long term goal, it seems that he is now headed down this path. When Shane and Merrilyn took the magazine over in 2006, Brett expressed a keen interest to be involved in some capacity and is now responsible for SA Angler’s design and layout. Despite only limited training and experience in graphic design, Brett took to the job like a duck to water and he continues to improve and develop with each issue.

Brett has yet to come across a style of fishing he doesn’t enjoy. Like his dad at a similar age, he relishes a battle with anything big, tough and uncompromising. He’s caught several snapper of over 30 pounds, plenty of nice tuna, thumping yellowtail kings to over 35 kilos, sharks of all breeds and sizes and some pretty impressive trout. He rates a 40 pound mulloway, taken late in ’07 in the Port River on light lure casting tackle, as one of his most satisfying captures.

Shane Mensforth
Shane is one of the country’s longest serving outdoors writers. He had his first feature article published in Modern Fishing magazine back in 1978 and has since gone on to contribute regularly to magazines around Australia and overseas. When founding SA Angler partner, Evan Preece, passed away back in 1984, Shane stepped in to help Greg Irving put the magazine together. The pair clicked immediately and when Evan’s share became available in ’85, Shane snapped it up eagerly.

The Irving/Mensforth combination pushed SA Angler steadily onward and upward. Both had expertise in different forms of fishing and complemented each other perfectly. Shane has always been keen on big fish and blue water, while Greg prefers the estuaries and lighter inshore tackle. It was a great blend, which essentially set up the magazine and helped maintain its forward thrust.

Shane’s background in teaching English provided a substantial boost in editing other writers’ work and he prides himself on producing a publication that is grammatically sound, easy to read, pictorially interesting and factually correct.

He loves all forms of fishing and also has a penchant for boats and the marine environment. A lengthy involvement in long range charter fishing has provided him with many memorable big fish experiences, particularly with bluefin tuna, samson fish, yellowtail kings and huge sharks. The tag and release of a great white, estimated by an experienced game boat crew at over a metric tonne, was Shane’s defining angling achievement. He fought that fish for over six hours on stand-up 24kg tackle and, had he decided to gaff the shark instead of letting it go, it would have comfortably defeated the World Record for that line class.

In combination with wife and middle son, Shane is determined to keep South Australian Angler headed in a positive direction.