Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environments, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often illegal techniques such as electrocution, blasting and poisoning.
Trolling is a method of fishing where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water. This may be behind a moving boat, or by slowly winding the line in when fishing from a static position, or even sweeping the line from side-to-side, e.g. when fishing from a jetty. Trolling is used to catch pelagic fish such as salmon, mackerel and kingfish.
The largemouth bass is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but widely introduced elsewhere. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largies, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, bucketmouth bass, Green trout, gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, LMB, and southern largemouth and northern largemouth. The largemouth bass is the state fish of Georgia and Mississippi, and the state freshwater fish of Florida and Alabama.
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining and longlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The hook itself can be additionally weighted with a dense tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract the fish and enticing it into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake bait with multiple attached hooks is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. A bite indicator, such as a float or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface.
Crappies are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus Pomoxis in the family Centrarchidae. Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers.
Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually done on a large body of water such as the ocean.
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival and livelihood.
Bait fish are small-sized fish caught and used by anglers as bait to attract larger predatory fish, particularly game fish. Baitfish species are typically those that are common and breed rapidly, making them easy to catch and in abundant supply.
A trotline is a heavy fishing line with individual, shorter, baited lines attached at intervals, commonly referred to as snoods. A snood is a short length of line which is attached to the main line using a clip or swivel, with the hook or bait at the other end. A trotline can be set so it covers the width of a channel, river, or stream with baited hooks. There are many ways to set a trotline, with most methods involving weights to hold the cord below the surface of the water. They are used for catching crabs or fish. Trotlines should be used with caution as they are illegal in many locations.
Snagging, also known as snag fishing, snatching, snatch fishing, jagging (Australia), or foul hooking, is a fishing technique for catching fish that uses large hooks tethered to a fishing line to pierce or snag the flesh of the fish, without the fish taking bait with its mouth. This is achieved by vigorously pulling on the line when movement is felt. Weighted multi-hook rigs can be used to increase chances of success, and modern technologies such as underwater video camera can also be used to visually aid and time the snagging.
Groundbait is a fishing bait that is either thrown or "balled" into the water in order to olfactorily attract more fish to a designated area for more efficient catching via angling, netting, trapping, or even spearing and shooting. Groundbaits are typically scattered separately from the hook and usually before even casting any rod or net, although in bottom fishing they can be deployed synchronously with hookbaits while contained inside a gradual-release device also attached to the fishing line known as a feeder.
The black drum, also known as the drum or drummer, is a saltwater fish similar to its cousin, the red drum. It is in the genus Pogonias. Though most specimens are generally found in the 5-30 lb (2–14 kg) range, the black drum is well known as the largest of all the drum family with some specimens reaching excesses of 90 lb (40 kg). The world record black drum was just over 113 lb (51 kg). They are often black and/or gray in color with juvenile fish having distinctive dark stripes over a gray body. Their teeth are rounded and they have powerful jaws capable of crushing oysters and other shellfish. It is recommended those over 15 lb (7 kg) should be released. Black drum are capable of producing tones between 100 Hz and 500 Hz when performing mating calls.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is a Florida government agency founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tallahassee. It manages and regulates the state's fish and wildlife resources, and enforces related laws. Officers are managers, researchers, and support personnel, and perform law enforcement in the course of their duties.
Fishing bait is any substance used to attract and catch fish, e.g. on the end of a fishing hook, or inside a fish trap. Traditionally, nightcrawlers, insects, worms and smaller bait fish have been used for this purpose. Fishermen have also begun using plastic bait and more recently, electronic lures to attract fish.
This page is a list of fishing topics.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:
Land-based game fishing is a form of big-game sport fishing in which anglers attempt to catch oceanic game fish from shore rather than from ocean-going boats. The locations for such activities are generally rock platforms, though wharfs, jetties and beaches are also common. Some species such as sharks can be targeted in shallow littoral water, however most other species prefer deeper pelagic water, and this limits the areas where these types can be fished from the shore. Tackle used is usually comparable to that used on boats, but some differences are necessary, such as changes in rod length. Different tackle is used according to location and species targeted.
Carp is a common name for various species of freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae that are native to Eurasia and sought after by some recreational fishermen. Certain carp species have been introduced, with mixed results, to various other locations around the world, and even declared invasive in certain regions.
Jug fishing is an unlimited class tackle method of fishing that uses lines suspended from floating jugs to catch fish in lakes or rivers. Often, many jugs are used when jug fishing. In many states, a fisherman could use up to twenty, and jug sets of around twenty are common in practice. Jug fishing is most common in southern states where many different kinds of people jug fish. Jugs are often put out at sunset and picked up at sunrise by the whole family. Jug fishing consists of a simple setup where lines are tied onto jugs and weights can be added to the line to keep the jug's location fixed. Jug fishing is also subjected to numerous state and local water regulations that could include: the number of jugs, dates and times when jug fishing is allowed, and if jug fishing is even allowed. Many fish can be caught on jugs, but the main target of jug fishing is often catfish.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fish:
