What is Needed for Fishing?

By Mike Adams

Fishing equipment is called fishing tackle by fishing aficionados and it generally refers to rods, lines, hooks, sinkers, spears, lures, bait, reels, nets, and et cetera. The fishing gear that is attached at the end of a line is called terminal tackle

The word tackle when it refers to fishing equipment comes from 'takel' which initially meant the rigging of a ship, that is, the equipment consisting of ropes supporting a ship's masts and sails. Later, the same word was recorded to have a another meaning, that of apparatus for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.

The most rudimentary fishing gear is made up of of a rod, a line, a hook, a lure, a bait and a weight or sinker. The line is a basic string specially made for fishing that is both long, strong and yet thin, so that fish can not see it. There are various questions that an angler asks when buying a fishing line, like its resistance, stretch, strength et cetera. The line will be selected depending on what species of fish the angler intends to catch.

The sinker or weight, also referred to as a plummet, is actually a weight that assists in casting the hook and the bait as far as possible from the shoreline or from the boat that the fisherman is using. They are usually made of lead because it is cheap and easy to melt at home. However, lead sinkers have been banned in some parts of the world, especially the very small ones, which are often called 'shot'. If eaten by birds or other fish, the lead, which is well-known to be poisonous, will cause the death of that animal.

Another basic piece of fishing gear is the hook. This device meant for holding the bait on the line and for hooking into the fish's mouth. It is attached to the line and the fisherman can select from a very wide range of shapes, sizes and metals.

And last but far from least, is the bait or lure, without which the fishing equipment cannot be effective. A lure is a device tied at the end of the line that looks and moves something like the prey of the fish you are after. Its raison d'etre is to catch the attention of the fish with its colour and vibrations. Artificial flies, tiddlers and sand eels come into into this category. When the fish eats the lure, it gets hooked.

Bait, on the other hand, is the item actually attached to the hook. Bait is usually of two types: animal or foodstuff. 'Animal' refers to small fish or other water creatures, insects or crawlers. 'Foodstuff' refers to grains, like corn, bread or whatever the angler believes might work. - 30443

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