Fishing
Fishing, also known as
angling, can be considered the oldest hobby or sport existing today. This activity began 40,000 years
ago as a means of obtaining food (The
History of Fishing) from the sea and freshwater. As time goes by, fishing evolves
in terms of materials used and its importance to people. From spears, people now used
fishing rods to catch fish.
Furthermore, fishing is not just for survival today. Many people now are considering
this as a hobby. Moreover, there are people who take this
seriously and take this activity to a more competitive level. For these people, fishing is not
just a hobby but a sport.
Fishing
started as early as Upper Paleolithic period.
Primarily, people in this age do fishing as a main source of food. Evidences proving that people in
this age do fishing include drawings of people who are fishing and excavated
bones of fish consumed where early people live.
According to scientists, harpoon and spear are the basic materials used by the
early people to catch fish.
Using these materials, people need to wait patiently for the fish to swim
nearby so that it can be easily spear (The History of Fishing) .
It
is when the introduction of farming and other sources of food did fishing
started to be modernized.
Native Americans were the ones who started the use of fishing rods and lines. It was also them who introduced
the use of lure to attract fishes to go nearby.
The system works by attracting the fish using a lure and when the fish bite
this lure, the fisherman will reel it in.
Aside from this method, early tribes also tried the use of vapor. In this method, the vapor is
induced in the water so that the fishes will flounder and can easily be caught
without killing them directly (The History of Fishing) . In the 4th century, Chinese used a
bamboo rod and a silk line with a hook made of needle to fish. Attached to the hook is cooked
rice which acts as the bait.
Aside from the Chinese, Assyrian, Greek, Jewish, and Romans also did fishing as
a source of food (The History of Fishing) .
In modern fishing, the
use of nets and hooks are important materials.
The use of boats of nets was said to be introduced by the Egyptians. This is the method that is used to
catch many fishes in a shorter period of time.
Egyptians used this method of fishing to gather food from the Nile River (The History
of Fishing) . Early Egyptian drawings in the
2000 B.C. show Egyptians having fishing rod
and line with nets instead of baits (The History of Fishing) . On the other hand, the use of
metal hooks was introduced in the 12th dynasty.
Before this time, hooks were made of wood which decays when exposed to water. To make the hooks recyclable,
people considered the use of metals.
Once caught, early people usually club the fishes until the fishes die before
cooking it (The History of Fishing) .
The evolution of
fishing does not only involve the material and method, the essence of it to
human also changes over time.
From a means of acquiring food to survive, fishing is also considered a hobby
by many.
This is so because it is a source of enjoyment to many people. Furthermore, there is a certain
kind of relaxation people get from doing fishing which makes it fun to do. For those who take fishing
seriously, it is a kind of sport.
Fishing is considered a sport because of two reasons. First is that there are many
competition nowadays, with rules and players, that involves fishing. Second, people get some enjoyment
out of it.
As stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sports is “a contest or game in
which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of
rules and compete against each other” or “a physical activity (such as hunting,
fishing, running, swimming, etc.)
that is done for enjoyment” (Is Fishing Considered a Sport or
a Hobby?) . Fishing may not be as physical as
swimming, soccer, and basketball but still it satisfies the aforementioned
definition.
Sport
fishing is first described in the writing of Wynkyn de Worde of England in 1496. The article is entitled “Treatyse
of Fysshynge with an Angle” which is a part of the second edition of the book
entitled “Boke of St.
Albans”.
This book originally dealt solely with hunting and eventually included sport
fishing in its content.
It is a compilation of earlier continental treatises in the 14th century. In the treatise, the rods are
described as having a length of 18-22 feet and a line made of plaited horsehair
which is tied at one end.
After the launch of the book, development continues as described in “The
Compleat Angler and Col.
Robert Venables and Thomas Barker” written by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton
in the mid-17th century.
The article basically describes the new methods of fishing (The History
of Fishing) .
Also
in the mid-17th century, hooked fish was first introduced when an unknown
angler attached a wire loop or ring at the end of the rod. In 1667, Thomas Barker, in his
writing, mentioned a salmon-fishing line of 26 yards in length. Obviously, this length is out of
manageable length for a person.
This led to the invention of reel.
There are also writings that described the string used in fishing. In 1667, Samuel Pepys mentioned
the use of gut string while Robert Venables described the use of lute string in
1676. Meanwhile, the
use of landing hook, most commonly called a gaff, was mentioned by Barker in
1667 as a means of lifting large fish from the water. Innovation on the shape of the
hook was introduced by Charles Kirby in 1650 who invented the Kirby bend, a
hook with offset point.
It is important to note that Kirby was a needle maker. He and his fellow hook makers
established factories in 1730 in Redditch to provide fishing needs for anglers (The History
of Fishing) .
Sport
fishing has four basic disciplines: bait fishing, fly fishing, bait casting or
spinning, and trolling.
Though bait fishing and trolling are more common in fishing practices in
saltwater, all four methods are considered for both saltwater and freshwater
fishing (The History of Fishing) .
Bait
fishing is the oldest and most widely used method for anglers. In North America, bait fishing is
called still fishing while in England, the term is bottom fishing. In this method, bait is implanted
on the hook.
Basically, when the fish swallow the bait, the angler will pull up the rod to
hook the fish.
Baits that are usually used include worms, small fish, cheese, maggots, and
bread paste.
To make the bait sink, a ledger or a sinker is used by the anglers. Then to maintain the bait at the
desired depth, a float or a bobber made up of wood, plastic, cork or quill is
used. Moreover, the
anglers throw what is called ground bait or chum to the water to attract more
fishes.
Rods used in this method of fishing are of length around 10 to 15 feet. It has a 1 to 6 lb strength
monofilament line attached to a fixed-spool reel (The History of Fishing) .
Fly
fishing involves the use of bugs or flies imitation as bait for the fishes. Artificial flies are made of
feathers, yarn, hair, wire, beads, and thread.
These materials are molded to look exactly as insects. Common fishes attracted to this
type of bait include pan fish, carp, salmon, and trout. Aside from fishes, other marine
species, such as bone fish, tarpon, and striped bass, are also attracted to
this type of bait (Fly Fishing) . The rods used are of 1 to 10 feet
length.
It is important to note that the line is tapered toward the end nearest the fly. This is to make the casting easier
for the angler considering that the fly is weightless. There is also a reel that contains
the line and helps in getting the hooked fish out of water. Because of its difficulty and
artistry, many consider fly fishing the highest form of fishing (The History
of Fishing) .
The
third method of fishing is called bait casting or spin casting. The two only differs from the
other in terms of the reel type and the rod length. In terms of rod length, the rod
used in spin casting is longer with the length of 7 to 10 feet compared to 5 to
6 feet of the bait casting rods.
Comparing with the other methods of fishing, bait and spin casting is compared
to fly fishing.
The difference only lies on the bait used.
In bait casting, live minnows or fish imitation are used. On the other hand, spin casting
used metal spoons and spinners (The History of Fishing) .
Lastly,
bait trolling involves moving the bait slowly using a slow-moving boat which is
motor-powered in general.
This method is usually used in big-game fishing in the ocean and in areas where
fishes are difficult to find.
The key to catch fishes through this method lies on the correct bait depth and
boat speed.
Rods used are of 5 to 7 feet length and are made up of metal. The lure is usually brought to
deeper part of the water by adding weights (The History of Fishing) .
In
conclusion, fishing is an old way of acquiring food. More than this value, fishing is
also considered as a hobby and sport by many.
History of fishing basically involves the evolution of tools and methods used.
Works Cited
Fly Fishing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Take Me Fishing:
http://takemefishing.org/fishing/fly-fishing/what-is-fly-fishing/
Is Fishing Considered a Sport or a Hobby? (n.d.). Retrieved from All Sports Portal:
http://www.allsportsportal.com/guide/is-fishing-considered-a-sport-or-a-hobby-64089017.shtml
The History of Fishing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Keep American Fishing:
http://www.keepamericanfishing.org/the-history-of-fishing.php
The History of Fishing. (n.d.). Retrieved from Old Master 85: http://www.oldmaster85.com/history_of_fishing.htm
