Fishing

Fishing

Catching fishes from oceans, lakes or streams is one of the oldest pastimes pursued by man. Thousands of years ago men caught fishes in nets and traps woven out of vines. They also fashioned hooks from bone, stone, and thorns and baited them with worms, grubs, or insects. The term fishing applies to the act of catching a fish from its natural home, the water. Taking fishes with nets and seines for food is called commercial fishing; with hook and line for fun, it is called sport fishing.

Fishing is a popular sport because anyone can engage in it, regardless of age, sex, or income. Fishing can be enjoyed from childhood to old age, individually or in groups, with little more investment than a cane pole and a few hooks. Within an hour from most homes, there is usually a place to fish. (: http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/all/comptons/article-9274328)

The most popular fishing methods are Bait and Fly-Fish Method which is used to catch fishes in both salt and fresh water.

Bait fishing, also called still fishing or bottom fishing, is certainly the oldest and most universally used method. In British freshwater fishing it is used to catch what are called coarse (or rough) fish. A bait is impaled on the hook, which is “set” by the angler raising the tip of the rod when the fish swallows it. Common baits in fishing include worms, maggots, small fish, bread paste, cheese, and small pieces of vegetables and grain. ( http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/eb/article-2331)

Fly-fishing is a method of angling employing a rod 7 to 11 feet (2.1 to 3.4 meters) in length, a simple arbor reel, and a heavy plastic-coated line joined to a lighter nylon leader. The rod is used to cast artificial flies—made of hair, feathers, or synthetic materials and designed to imitate the natural food sources of the fish. The fly-fisher snaps the long rod back and forth, allowing the heavier weight of the line to propel the nearly weightless fly forward. The fly needs to land as gently as possible upon the water to avoid startling the fish. A simple reel is used only to contain the line and to help in tiring a hooked fish. Species fished include trout and salmon, but by the end of the 20th century virtually all game fish, from panfish to muskellunge, were fished with. ( http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/eb/article-9343163)

In saltwater fishing, all the methods mentioned previously are used. Fly-fishing in salt water became very popular during the last quarter of the 20th century. Saltwater fishing is done from a beach, off rocks, from a pier, or from a boat, which may vary in size from a rowboat in inland waters to oceangoing craft of considerable size. Fish usually caught from shore include striped bass, bluefish, tarpon, bonefish, and permit. Saltwater anglers fishing from boats take grouper, flounder, snapper, mackerel and many other species by trolling or bottom fishing.( http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/eb/article-2332)

Bibliography

1-      fishing. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 12, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition: http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/eb/article-2332

2-      fishing. (2010). In Britannica Student Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 12, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition: http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/all/comptons/article-9274328

3-      fly-fishing. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved October 12, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition: http://0-www.school.eb.co.uk.library.hct.ac.ae/eb/article-9343163