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The most common form of recreational fishing is done with a rod, line and hooks attached to any of a wide range of lures or baits. This practice is known as angling.
One method of growing popularity is kayak fishing. Kayak fisherman fish from sea kayaks in an attempt to level the playing field with fish and to further challenge their abilities. Kayaks are extremely stealthy and can allow anglers to reach areas unfishable from land or by conventional boat.
In angling, it is sometimes expected or required that fish all be returned to the water. The practice, however, is viewed by some with disapproval as they consider it unethical to inflict pain on a fish for fun or sport and not for reasons of capturing food. Anglers deny this charge, pointing out that fish commonly feed on hard and spiky prey items, and as such can be expected to have tough mouths, and also that some fish will re-take a lure they have just been hooked on, a behavior that is unlikely if being hooked were painful. There is also some research that shows certain types of fish such as catfish, do not have nerves around their mouth. They most likely do not have nerves in their mouths due to that they eat animals such as crawfish that can pinch.
In a real sense, the suitability of catch and release is an ethical consideration and, as such, a science-based conclusion on the issue is unavailable. Scientific studies show a wide range of survival, depending on species, environmental conditions, fish density and research design (methodology). The difficulty of doing such experiments is closely linked to the fact that negative effects of being exposed to fishing gears (here barbless hooks) develop over long time. Keeping fish trapped over long period of time creates a lot of noise which makes it hard to single out the effect of the catch from the effect of the chosen methodology.
Proponents of catch and release also contend that the practice is increasingly necessary in order to conserve fish stocks in the face of burgeoning human populations, mounting fishing pressure and worsening habitat degradation. Opponents would prefer to ban or to severely restricting angling, a suggestion most anglers find unpalatable.
Recreational fishermen can have profound deleterious effects on fish stocks in commercial lakes, this is due to anglers with poor knowledge of how to protect the fish from damage or stress once out of the water. The fish which suffer most are those of large, slow growing species such as carp. The only way for growing numbers of recreational fishermen to continue fishing is to reduce their impact on fish populations. Catch and release, in combination with techniques such as strong tackle (to get fish in quickly, for release in good condition), careful handling of fish and barbless hooks (to reduce physical damage) and quick release lead systems such as korda quick release system or the e.s.p variety may be useful tools in this endeavour.
A recent phenomenon of recreational fishing are fishing competitions (tournaments) where fishermen compete for prizes based on the total weight of a given species of fish caught within a predetermined time. This sport evolved from local fishing contests into large competitive circuits, especially in North America. Competitors are most often professional fishermen who are supported by commercial endorsements. Other competitions is purely on length with mandatory catch and release, either longest fish or total length is documented with camera and a mandatory sticker, is more fair since it’s hard to weigh a living fish accurately in a boat.
Big-game fishing describes fishing from boats to catch large open-water species such astuna, sharks and marlin.
Noodling and Trout tickling may be pursued as a recreation.
Laws made to control recreational fishing frequently also attempt to control the harvest of other aquatic species, such as frogs and turtles.
Fishing methods vary according to the region, the species being fished for, and the technology available to the fishermen. A commercial fishing enterprise may vary from one man with a small boat with hand-casting nets or a few pot traps, to a huge fleet of trawlers processing tons of fish every day.
Commercial fishing gears today are surrounding nets (e.g. purse seine), seine nets (e.g. beach seine), trawls (e.g. bottom trawl), dredges, hooks and lines (e.g. long line and handline), lift nets, gillnets, entangling nets and traps.
In addition to the above, commercial fishing can also be thought of as encompassing "pay to fish" enterprises, which provide anglers with controlled access to stocked lakes, ponds or canals. These provide fishing opportunities outside of the permitted seasons and quotas applied to public waters. In the United Kingdom, commercial fisheries of this sort charge access fees, with prices ranging from £2 to £25 per day. In North America, establishments usually charge for the fish caught, by length or by weight, rather than for access to the site although some establishments charge both types of fees. Prices for fish caught in North American "pay to fish" waters are generally in the range of $0.10 to $0.20 per cm or from $5.00 to $10.00 per kg.
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