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.
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting. The flies may resemble natural invertebrates, baitfish, or other food organisms.
Angling is a method of fishing by means of a fish hook or "angle". The hook is attached to a fishing line, which is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining also exist. Modern fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing 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 a reel. The hook itself is typically dressed with bait, but sometimes a lure with multiple attached hooks is used in place of a single hook and bait. A bite indicator, such as a float and a weighted sinker, are sometimes used to signal that the fish has swallowed the hook, which anchors firmly in the fish mouth to stop it escaping.
A fishing lure is a type of artificial fishing bait which is designed to attract the attention of predatory fish, using prey-like appearances, movements, vibrations, bright reflections and flashy colors to appeal to the fish's predation instinct and entice it into striking. Many lures are equipped with one or more hooks that anchor into the fish's mouth when it bites and swallows the lure. Some hookless lures are placed to bait the fish nearer so it can can be impaled with a spear or be captured by hand. Most lures are attached to the end of a fishing line and have various styles of hooks attached to the body and are designed to elicit a strike resulting in a hookset. Many lures are commercially made, but some are hand made such as fishing flies. Hand-tying fly lures to match the hatch is considered a challenge by many amateur entomologists.
Handline fishing, or handlining, is a fishing technique where a single fishing line is held in the hands, rather than with a fishing rod like the usual angling. It is not to be confused with handfishing, which is catching fish by hand. One or more fishing lures or baited hooks are attached to the line. A hook, fishing lure, or a fishing jig and many times a weight and/or a fishing float can be attached to the line. Handlining is among the oldest forms of fishing and is commonly practiced throughout the world today.
Rock fishing is fishing from rocky outcrops into the sea. It is a popular pastime in Australia and New Zealand. It can be a dangerous pastime and claims many lives each year, although this may improve as more fishermen are beginning to wear life jackets.
A spinnerbait is any of a family of fishing lures that get their name from one or more metal blades shaped so as to spin like a propeller when the lure is in motion, creating varying degrees of flash and vibration that mimic small fish or other prey. The two most popular types of spinnerbaits are the "in-line spinner" and "safety pin" spinnerbaits, though others such as the "tail-spinner" also exist. Spinnerbaits are used principally for catching predatory fish such as perch, pike and bass.
Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used for fishing can be called fishing tackle. Some examples are hooks, lines, sinkers, floats, rods, reels, baits, lures, spears, nets, gaffs, traps, waders and tackle boxes.
In the British Isles, coarse fishing refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and char — so generally coarse fish are freshwater fish that are not salmonids. There is disagreement over whether grayling should be classified as a game fish or a coarse fish.
A bass worm is an artificial fishing lure which comes in a variety of different colors and body types and is usually scented with a salty, garlic residue. Bass worms are more effective than other rubber worms primarily because bass are attracted to a particular worm depending on the environment in which they are being used.
Plugs are a popular type of hard-bodied fishing lure. They are widely known by a number of other names depending on the country and region. Such names include crankbait, wobbler, minnow, shallow-diver and deep-diver. The term minnow is usually used for long, slender, lures that imitate baitfish, while the term plug is usually used for shorter, deeper-bodied lures which imitate deeper-bodied fish, frogs and other prey. Shallow-diver and deep-diver refer to the diving capabilities of the lure, which depends on the size and angle of the lip, and lure buoyancy.
An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food of the target fish species the fly fishers try to catch. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which furs, feathers, thread or any of very many other materials are tied onto a fish hook.
A surface lure, topwater lure or stickbait is a fishing lure designed to float and waddle, pop, lock, drop, pulse, twitch or fizz across the water surface as it is being reeled, and in doing so imitate surface prey of interest to predatory fish, such as small injured baitfish, mice, lizards, frogs, cicadas, moths, snakes and ducklings.
Zara Spook 9260 (1939–present) is a topwater type fishing lure. The lure is cast out and retrieved in a "walk the dog" fashion. It is supposed to mimic an injured fish and comes in many different fashions but the most prominent is the minnow type. Any fish that takes its prey from the water's surface would be considered a targeted species with this lure.
Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as molluscs and edible marine invertebrates.
The popper is an effective and proven lure designed to move water using a concave or hollowed nose. Poppers aim to simulate any sort of distressed creature that might be moving or struggling on the surface of the water. Poppers are used with spin fishing and fly fishing.
Drop shotting is a high finesse technique for fishing plastic baits, and consists of a small thin-wire hook with a weight attached to the tag end of the line. This is in contrast to the more traditional Texas Rig, where the weight slides inline, resting on the nose of the bait, or the Carolina Rig, where the weight is fixed above the bait. The drop shot rig provides the ability to keep a lure off the bottom, with weightless action. Usually the bait is fished by letting the weight hit the bottom and then shaking the lure by twitching the rod. But can also be flipped, dragged, hopped, or jigged along the bottom. This simple, but versatile technique has endless combinations with the different hooks, soft plastics and weights that can be used.[1] The aim is to present a free floating, slow twitching lure to induce a strike from non-aggressive fish. This rig is commonly used for catching Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, and Spotted Bass, but can be used for a variety of other fish species, as well.
Fly fishing tackle comprises the fishing tackle or equipment typically used by fly anglers. Fly fishing tackle includes:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:
This is a glossary of terms used in fisheries, fisheries management and fisheries science.
