Angling

Fishing is a sport and hobby that helps develop patience and there are many who get hooked onto it. One method of sports fishing or game fishing is called angling, wherein a fish is caught with a hook or angle dangled from the end of a fishing rod. This type of recreational fishing is not practised for financial gain or culinary value, but the reward is the challenge of finding and catching the fish. Sports fishers may sometimes eat their catch; the definition is flexible to that extent. There are many sports angling methods based on the area, species, strategies of the anglers as well as resources available for fishing. Basically, angling is done with hook, rod, line, reel and bait, not with traditional nets. Generally, the fishing rod has a reel that helps bring the fish in. The hook is generally used to hang a bait to catch the fish.

Countries declare fishing seasons, meaning when sports angling can be undertaken. Fishing seasons are important and enforced to protect fish during their breeding (spawning) period to maintain the ecological balance. For those who don’t know and would love to take up angling, there is plenty of help available through books, book clubs, magazines or, more conveniently, various online websites about fishing.