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History of Fishing

The history of fishing dates back almost as early as fish dates.  The first fishing was for food and bones were used as hooks, vines were used as lines.

2000 BC  Earliest painting of an angler using a rod or staff from Egypt

4th century BC a Chinese account refers to fishing with a silk, a hook made from a needle and a bamboo rod.  Bait was cooked rice.

Greek philosophers Plato an Aristotle mentioned angling in their writings

Greek writer, Plutarch gave tips on fishing lines

2nd @ 3rd centuries AD, Roman rhetorician Claudius Aelian wrote about Macedonian trout anglers using artificial flies as lures

Late 15 century is when the sport of sportfishing really began.

1496 a book, A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle gave specific details for the first time in English about the use of the fishing rod. Written by Dame Juliana Berners the prioress of an abbey near Saint Albans, England, the book describes the construction of hooks and rods for angling. The manuscript also describes how to tie knots in fishing lines and how to make and use artificial lures and flies to take advantage of the feeding habits of game fish. Dame Juliana's precepts were the basis of angling knowledge in England for about 150 years.

1653, English angler Izaak Walton published The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation, the single most influential book ever published about sportfishing. In The Compleat Angler Walton addresses the art of constructing tackle, the science of basic aquatic biology, and the philosophy of recreational anglers. Based on a lifetime of observations, Walton's book describes the craftsmanship involved in making fishing tackle and ponders the methods anglers must use to catch game fish. Walton also gives detailed accounts of feeding habits and life cycles of different species. He believed that the true angler is one who fishes for the love of fishing and that catching fish by sporting means is far superior to other methods of fishing.

1865 to 1870 saw development of hexagonal rods from six strips of bamboo.

1880, Malloch of Scotland the first reel that turned 90 degrees for casting from an open end, turned back 90 degrees for retrieving. It was the forerunner of the modern spinning reel.

1896 William Shakespeare of Kalamazoo, Michigan invented the level wind reel.

2005 The development of quality standardized tackle for the disabled angler made possible for millions of anglers worldwide to take interest in the sport which had previously been unavailable to them.
 

Fishing can be categorized  into two areas, commercial and sport

Commercial Fishing is the act of fishing for a living to supply food to the distribution world wide for consumption of the masses.  We will not deal with it here at this time.

Sport Fishing is also called angling.  It is fishing for sport to catch freshwater and saltwater fish using rood, reel, line leader and hook.  It is the worlds most popular participant sport around the world. Note:  in many parts of the world, people still fish for food as a primary source of their diet.

Early Tackle

Gorge, a piece of wood or bone an inch or so in length, pointed at both ends and tied in the middle to some sort of line, probably a vine or animal gut.  It was covered with bait, when the fish ate it, it lodged in the gullet and then the fish could be pulled in.

When the age of Iron came, one of the first tools was a fish hook.

First poles were probably sticks or tree branches.