The Sports of Fishing

1467 Words3 Pages

The Sports of Fishing

Fishing, or angling, is the sport of trying to catch fish with a rod, reel, line and baited hooks. The sport goes back thousands of years, and it appears that fishing techniques were already quite advanced at a very early date. In the Stone Age, hooks made of both bone and stone were used to catch fish, but spearing, a more primitive method, was probably just as common. An engraving from an ancient Egyptian tomb shows that all four methods of fishing-that is, with spears, nets, rods, and lines-were in use as early as 2000BC. The Ancient Greek Poet Homer, Writing in about 800BC, also refers to the bronze hooks and horse-hair lines used by anglers. A very old fishing hook found in Britain is thought to date from about 500BC and was dug out of the Thames River in Essex (Jarman, 4). Fishing has been enjoyed for thousands of years and must incorporate three aspects: fishing equipment, style, and location to acquire a fishing success.

In order to fish you need to obtain the proper equipment: a rod, bait, and a few other accessories. The fishing rod is the most basic necessity to begin fishing. Although a fishing rod cannot be called a fishing rod unless there is a reel attached to the butt (handle) otherwise it is called a fishing pole. Most rods today are made from either hollow or solid glass-fiber (or graphite, sometimes-called carbon). The pole is divided into three parts the butt, middle, and the tip, so that they can be taken apart and carried very easily. From the butt, where the reel is attached, the rod tapers down to the reel. The beginner should consider a pole of the maximum length that they can handle (Jarman, 41). I would suggest that a beginner should use a medium to stiff action p...

... middle of paper ...

...pickerel, and catfish (Jarman, 30-36).

Millions of people all over the world has fallen for fishing-hook, line, and sinker! Although it is popular today as a sport, it was once essential, as a source of food, and everyone from monks to poets have been lured by its charm. Fishing techniques today have come a long way from a simple hook and line, and anglers now have a massive range of advanced equipment at their disposal.

Bibliography:

Bibliography

Cederberg, Goran. The Complete Book of Sport Fishing. New York: Bonanza Books,

1988.

"Fishing". Britannica. 1993 ed.

"Fishing". The Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Fishing. 1994 ed.

Jarman, Katherine. Freshwater Fishing. New Jersey: Silver Burdett Press, 1988.

Štochl, Sláva. The Fisherman's World in Pictures. New York: The Hamlyn Publishing

Group Limited, 1970.

More about The Sports of Fishing

Open Document