Whether fishing is a sport or not is highly debated. While it is accepted as a sport by some authorities, it is not accepted as a sport by others. So much so that the International Angling Confederation also made a proposal for the inclusion of angling in the Olympics. The International Angling Confederation said that the inclusion of Angling in the Olympics will contribute to the development of this sport and the games can be taken to a more advanced level universally. They also stated that if the request is accepted, the fish caught in the Olympics will be released back to the water. Apart from that, amateur fishing is generally seen as a sport. In this article, I will give you information about amateur fishing, which is accepted as a sport.
Amateur fishing is a fishing activity for sports or recreational purposes, not for financial and commercial gain, and in which the caught product is not sold. Amateur fishing can be done with a fishing rod or harpoon, from the shore or by boat. In amateur fishing, bait nets (up to maximum 5 meters in length) and spreading net can only be used in seas, provided that the mesh size is not smaller than 28mm. The sale of all kinds of fishery products caught in amateur fishing is prohibited. If you want to do amateur fishing as a sport and use harpoons at the same time, you can fish only in the seas and during daylight hours.
Fishing, which is a sport for some people and a kind of therapy by boat for some people, has a very important place for me as someone who has spent time in the Mediterranean. Especially in the summer, it is quite possible to sail on a boat and enjoy the sea and have a unique pleasure by fishing. When I come to the summer vacation from the university, we start fishing once a week with my uncle’s boat and fish once every 2 weeks. Especially if you are a small boat owner, a form of the fishing method you make thanks to living or artificial baits on the move. It can also be preferred on the shore, but if it is built by boat, it is possible to get more efficient results. The important point in this technique is to be in motion. In other words, being dragged by the person who catches the baitfish.
Going back to whether fishing is seen as a sport or not, angling had previously found its place in the Olympics held in Paris in 1900 with the participation of 6 countries. There is nothing finalized for now, but it may be possible for athletes to compete in an area such as Fishing with Fishing at the Olympics to be held in Tokyo in 2020. But there are those who do not lean towards this proposal from the International Angling Confederation. As a justification, they stated that the luck factor is more decisive in this sport and that it can create an incomprehensible environment for those who are not interested.
History of Amateur Fishing as a Sport
Amateur fishing is also known as the sport of catching fish in freshwater and saltwater. The main source of hunting is to obtain food. Fishing is also based on the necessity to find food to survive. Fishing is sometimes done for sports purposes, sometimes for a hobby, and sometimes for commercial purposes. When it comes to the history of amateur fishing, there are remains that the Egyptians used to fish with nets and fishing lines in the 2000s before Christ. According to Chinese sources, there is information that they used the rice tannins they had previously cooked as fish feed for fishing. There is information showing that they caught fish with fishing lines made of silk, fishing needles made of crochet, and sharp-edged rods made of bamboo wood.
When the history of amateur fishing is examined, the information proving that people are fed with shellfish in the excavations in caves in South Africa is certain in our history. Evidence that humans ate fish is known to date back to 140000 years ago. The old fishing pin was found in caves in East Timur, Southeast Asia, and it was found that it was produced in 40000 BC and is engraved in history archives. In the second century AD, fishing techniques were recorded in Oppianos records. With this information, it is provided to provide information on how fishing techniques, which are still discussed today, have developed. In ancient times, a lot of bait was thrown for catching fish, fish were caught with hanging baskets, or they were caught by driving the fish to the net with venom obtained from rabbit ear root.
Although the population increasing day by day causes the decrease of fish in rivers or seas, the proliferation and growth of fish are provided with the prohibition of fishing applied in summer periods. It is one of the fun times that amateur fishing people usually give in terms of using the time of taking out the food of that day. Although there is a difference between the new generation fishing equipment used today and the fishing materials used in the old generation, the concepts of where we will keep the fish, where there are fish have always succeeded in being a question mark in humans. It is important for the amateur boat fisherman to know the speed of the wind and the weather conditions with a small boat.
Otherwise, it is inevitable that it will encounter unwanted results. Generally, when people leave work, they do angling with a small boat in order to make use of the time of the evening hours without much exposure. A little chat and every fish that comes to the hook evokes very good feelings in people. Because every fish caught on the fishing line causes the fishing rod to shake and it means happiness on the faces with the shinning glow of the fish in the water. It is important to relieve the tiredness of the day with the fish, to get rid of the stress of the work, and to crown the day’s meal with white meat.
For Beginners to Amateur Fishing as a Sport
One of the first actions taken before starting fishing as a sport is shopping for materials. We will talk about this issue later, but actually this is not the first thing to do. First of all, the amateur fisherman (let’s put it this way) should have information about the fish he wants to catch. Although it is not possible to get information about all kinds of fish in your area, you will need to start from a point, and you can start by targeting fish (such as horse mackerel or mullet) that are known and traditionally determined to catch. However, meeting with experienced fishermen and chatting with them both increases your knowledge about fishing and can give you an idea about the catches you will make later.
Having knowledge about fish and place will not mean much at this stage. The reason for this is the importance of catching the fish. To list this as well:
- The way of using the fishing line (Far shot, close shot, reel or non-reel fishing line, etc.)
- The way the bait is attached (Live, dead or fake bait)
- Fishing tackle and auxiliary equipment (float fishing rod, longline, bait gear, etc.)
In this section, I tried to summarize how you can start fishing consciously by acting more cautiously instead of buying fish stuff headlong.
One of the mistakes made by many of our beginner friends is the idea that “everything should be bought as much as possible” when buying materials. I see this almost every time I go to buy fish stuff. I even witnessed a prospective hunter who once said he was going to fish in the open sea, put some irrelevant material in his bag, and left. The first rule of thumb is to avoid filling your supply bag or box indiscriminately. When you determine the hunting day and the fish you want to hunt, the rest is like socks off. As it is understood, we need to pay attention not only to the target fish but also to the place we will go, while buying materials.
So why? We can explain this question as follows; A fisherman friend who wants to go fishing in the sea in the summer months is enough to take a long bait and lead with him. However, when he evaluates the destination, he will have an idea about how thin the cross should be or what the weight of the lead should be. As a result, if he tries to use the thick crosshead he has bought in a shallow place, he will have to go and buy a thin cross again. I think you have more or less idea about the material prices, how logical do you think it is for you to pay $ 2 for a 50 cents cricket? If you evaluate this with the abundance of fish types, you can see that it is like an endless sea.
As I said before, get yourself some fishing friends, as intelligence is a very important element. This saves you time and can also benefit financially in such cases. The other thing is about going step by step. You start off by holding a horse mackerel, then you can get keen on catching a mullet, and this is quite natural. But when you go to buy materials, how about you stop buying a lot of tools and try to connect them yourself? I guarantee that this behavior, which will increase your fishing experience as well as financial gains, will bring you a lot of benefits.
Finally, when you go to the outfitter, you will see dozens of toys wink at you on the shelves. However, the main thing is the information you will get from local sources. There are 1000 types of perch fakes, but one in the way of the mind. Material manufacturers previously indicated on the back of the boxes which fish they produced fake fish were designed for. Nowadays, this application is not done much, but it doesn’t have to be anyway. You will encounter such interesting situations that for example you can witness or hear incredible sea bass caught with lollipop sticks (real). But the fake fish that you bought by paying $ 30 may not achieve such results. For this reason, keep in mind a subject that I always say. Do research on the following topics about your target fish and your destination:
- How should the weather be? (A choppy sea is ideal for sea bass)
- What kind of fake fish should I use? (Eyes bright, red-headed white and mullet-like)
- Where are the most productive places (Areas with rocks or grasslands)
- What kind of fishing rod should I have? (A 3 meters long, small reel and a thin solid fishing line)
In other words, instead of filling your bags with junk food, try to use the materials you will buy with experience and intelligence in the long term.
Amateur Angling as a Sport
There are some points to be considered in amateur angling. These start with choosing the right product. First of all, line selection is important. When buying a line, you need to buy the one that is resistant to saltwater or freshwater, not the expensive one. Not every line that looks solid when you buy it and is resistant to knots will not last long. It will also cost you more to buy a cheap line over and over again. You should prefer a fishing line that is made of monofilament material, does not get tangled, is not very hard, and does not stretch too much. This line is the closest to the desired features. It is an affordable product as well.
In amateur angling, the fishing line is the second important. The fact that the fishing line has many balls does not indicate its quality. The bodies of fishing machines are mostly made of a graphite material, which is lighter and more durable. The head part where the fishing line is wrapped in plastic in very cheap machines and aluminum in quality machines. Many single-ball fishing rods provide better performance than 13-ball machines. There are 3 types of balls in fishing machines. 1. plastic ball, 2. aluminum ball, 3. titanium ball. If your fishing machine has a lot of balls and plastic, it will not be long-lasting, it will not be efficient in big fishing.
If the fishing is to be hunted deeply from the boat, the one with a bigger head should be chosen. This selection allows us to pull the deep fishing line faster. Fishing machines with a fast rotation cycle also facilitate this. Cedros 55, a fast, powerful, 5-ball fishing line, is a recommended product in this regard. Our third important material in amateur angling is the needle. As a result, fish cannot be caught without a fishing rod. The quality of the fishing hooks is determined by the nature of the material. Today, needles are sold in boxes or packs. Box needles are 100 or 50 each. Package needles are in different numbers according to the size of the fishing pin.
This also ranges from 3 to 15. Mustad 496 series fishing needles are used for sea bream fishing, Mustad 1251, and 1523 series fishing needles for coral fishing and sea bass fishing, Mustad 505-530 series needles for carp and catfishing, and the lengths of Youvella 1404-1405-1466 series fishing needles are used. Mustad 1522 series and Youvella 1303 series needles with long-stemmed cross fishing needles should be used in the hunts of ships head bream. A reading needle is particularly recommended. The importance of the rod is high in the selection of fishing line materials. Fishing rods differ for offshore fishing, for offshore shooting (surf pole), for jig fishing from the boat, for trolling from the boat, for fly fishing in freshwater, spinning rods for horse-drawn fishing from the shore.
Fishing, in its narrowest sense, is the capture of fish by various methods in seas, lakes, and rivers. But fishing is not limited to fishing. Fishing includes the hunting of mussels, shrimp, lobster, hermit crab, oysters, octopus, and even marine mammals such as whales. The production of fish and other marine animals in ponds, pools, or seas is also part of fishing. It is known that people have been fishing since the earliest times. Needles, dating back to 5 thousand years ago, made of bone and similar to the examples used today, have been found. Fishing for sport and recreational purposes is called amateur fishing. Fishing made to meet nutritional needs is called commercial fishing.
Amateur Freshwater Fishing as a Sport
Amateur fishing is based on angling. But you can also fish with spearguns and hands. The most common type of fishing line today is fishing rods. With these lines, it is possible to throw the bait farther and catch fish in the waters farther away from the continent. Fishing rods are made of different materials. Bamboo, thin steel pipes, or glass fiber are most commonly used. The tip of the reed is made thin and the stem section is made thicker. The line is passed through loops that are attached at intervals from the end of the reed to the handle and are wound on a reel in the handle section. Before reel fishing lines were invented, the line was hand wrapped around a cork or piece of wood. When the fish was attached to the fishing line, the fisherman would pull the fish to the shore with rapid movements. But this type of hunting was not easy, problems such as entanglement and knotting would occur.
However, fishing with reel fishing is very easy. The reel made it easier to wind and loosen the line if necessary. For example, if the fish caught in the fishing rod resists with hard movements, the fishing line on the reel is emptied and the fish is given way. When the fish get tired and slow down in its movements, the fishing line is re-reeled and the fish is pulled. But when fishing with reel fishing, it is necessary to know when to unload the line and when to reel it. Also, the line has stamina. In the fast current, this should be taken into account in the face of the traction power of the fish. When a large fish is caught, it is necessary to loosen the line once in a while and give way to the fish to break its resistance. As a result, tired fish can be attracted more easily.
One of the important points of fishing is to choose the appropriate fishing pin. There are different sizes and shapes of needles according to the fish to be hunted. But there is a palate (hook) at the end of all fishing hooks that prevent the fish from coming out after being stuck in its mouth. Needles usually have a ring on their handle. The “shackle” made of the animal intestine, nylon, or steel wire is passed through this ring and attached to the needle. Fish are caught with various baits. Live or dead food is passed to the palate at the tip of the needle. Insects, worms, small frogs, or fish that are very small compared to the fish to be hunted are the most used live baits. Foods such as dough, bread crumbs, boiled wheat, cheese, or artificial baits such as a piece of feather or artificial flies are used as inactive feed.
Fishing with a fishing rod takes mastery. It is necessary to know where the fish to be hunted can be found, whether it is on the surface or bottom of the water. On the other hand, it is necessary to be able to throw or lower the fishing line where the fish are looking for food. For example, to catch all freshwater fish except salmon and trout, the fishing line is left to the bottom. Fly fishing is commonly used to fish salmon, trout, shadow fish, freshwater mullet, and rudd. In order to throw the artificial fly away, the reed must be very flexible and there must be a thick line at the end. A body 2-3 meters long made of bowel or nylon is attached to the end of the fishing line, and an artificial fly made of fur, fur, silk, and shiny wires is attached to the needle at the end of the body.
Amateur Sea Fishing as a Sport
In amateur sea fishing, almost the same fishing tackle used in freshwater fishing is used. But the reed and fishing line should be stronger. In order for the fishing line to go deeper, heavier bullets (sounding) and larger needles should be used to catch large fish. Shrimp, mussels, and worms are preferred as bait for hunting haddock, cod, and flatfish that live in the bottom or near the bottom. Mackerel and bluefish are caught from the moving boat with a spoon or natural bait.
In sea fishing, the fishhook is one of the most used fishing lines. The body of the sounder at the end of this fishing line is connected with shackles made of brass wire at regular intervals. The name of this fishing line comes from these shackles. Short lines are attached to the moles and needles are attached to the ends of the lines. Live baits are used in fishing with a rod. During hunting, the fishing line is kept taut and when the fish jump to the bait, the fishing line is gently shaken to allow the fish to swallow the needle. Then, it is quickly withdrawn before the fish can get rid of the needle.
It is a type of fishhook, which is widely used in marine fishing. However, live bait is not used in the crossbones, instead, artificial feeds such as turkey, goose, and chicken feathers are used. The trawl line consists of a fishing line (fishing line wrapped on a reel or cork), a swivel that prevents the line from getting tangled, a body extending from the swivel to the sounder and also made of fishing line and the end sounder. At regular intervals, clamps are tied on the body from short pieces of fishing line attached to the ends. To catch small fish such as horse mackerel, a long-necked (10-pin) longline trawl line is sufficient. However, the number of shackles in the fisherman goes up to 35 in the hunt for bonito, and up to 55 in the big acorn and bluefish hunts that are called toric and large bluefish.
Large marine fish such as swordfish, tuna, and tarpon, some of which weigh up to half a ton, can also be angled from a moving boat. For this, you need a very thick and strong rod and a line with a length of at least 360 meters. In this type of fishing, the fisherman puts the end of the reed on a special belt that he puts on his waist. It is not easy to pull such heavy fish caught in the fishing line and resist their resistance. The fish caught for him are watched by boat until he gets tired.
After traveling for a long time, the fisherman wraps the fishing line and brings the fish closer to the boat. The fish caught is either taken to the boat or pulled back to the harbor in the boat. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea, an old fisherman who catches a big fish with a fishing rod details the struggle of an old fisherman to pull this fish to the shore.
Do Not Confuse Amateur Sea Fishing With Commercial Sea Fishing
Some marine fish live near the water surface and they are called surface fish. For example, herring, sardines, anchovies, tuna, and mackerel are surface fish. Fish that live near and below the sea bottom are also called bottom fish. Examples of bottom fish are cod, haddock, hake, and whole flatfish. The basis of commercial fishing is based on fishing with nets. Different nets are used in hunting according to the characteristics of the fish and the depth of the water in which it lives. Trawl net is one of the most commonly used networks. The trawl net looks like a big bag in the shape of a cone and its mouth is about 30 meters wide. Wooden boards are placed on both sides to keep the mouth open while the net is being laid.
These wooden boards called “doors” are also connected to the trawl boat with steel cables. In places where the sea bottom is not uneven, bottom trawlers are generally used to hunt bottom fish. The trawler net dropped into the sea from the trawler is dragged by the boat and the net scans the sea bottom to collect the fish on its way. Dragging the net takes 1.5-3 hours. Then the net is pulled with the help of a crane and the fish inside are discharged into the boat. After the fish are cleaned and washed, they are buried in the hold of the boat and stored in the ice. In some large and advanced trawlers, fish are frozen in cooling devices after being cleaned. Such boats can stay in the sea for a longer time and continue to hunt.
One of the methods used to catch some bottom fish is the longline. On the long line, which is a thick line (fishing line), there are nearly 1,000 bait needles arranged at intervals. During hunting, the longline is left to the sea bottom and its location is determined by buoys. The fish that are caught by pulling from the sea for 24 hours are taken and the feed is attached to their needles again. Some surface fish, such as tuna, are caught with above water longlines attached to buoys. Turning nets are also used to catch bottom fish. In this form of hunting, the area where the fish is concentrated is surrounded by nets, then the fish are driven towards the bag-shaped part of the net.
Purse-seiners and mid-water trawlers are the most commonly used forms of hunting for surface fish. In purse-seine hunting, the shoal of fish is surrounded by a net lowered vertically into the water. Then the lower part of the net is shrunk and closed by pulling the ropes. The fish in the net is pulled into the purse-seine boat with the help of a crane and taken to the boat by pumping with big ladles of water. In the middle water trawl, a larger net than in the bottom trawl is left to the depth where the fish are and pulled in a boat or two. One of the oldest methods used to fish marine fish is fish. This method has been used since ancient times.
Best Amateur and Sportive Fishing Gear You Can Buy Online
