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-Fishing-
THE SARAH MARIE

The Sarah Marie is a purpose built 33ft Aqua Star angling boat that fish's off the coast of Ballycotton (See "Ballycotton"). Board Failte Approved "The Sarah Marie" spends the summer months wreck, reef or shark fishing with up to ten anglers taking in the beauty of the celtic sea while the same time fishing for, Pollock, Mackerel, Cod, Dog Fish, Shark, Flatfish Ling or Conger to name but a few(see "The Fish").

INTRODUCTION TO FISHING

Fishing or Angling, the taking of fish, primarily as a recreation, as opposed to commercial fishing . Angling generally involves the use of rods, reels, lines, and baited hooks or lures with hooks to catch coarse and sea fish. It is one of the more popular forms of recreation worldwide. It lets people get into the outdoors, presents them with the challenge of outwitting and then fighting a fish, and possibly provides them with food.

EARLY HISTORY

People have fished since the Stone Age, when pencil-shaped bone gorges were used as hooks and lengths of vine as line. Fishing for sport and recreation is a somewhat newer activity, although it can also be traced into the past. The oldest known painting of an angler using a rod or staff comes from Egypt and is about 4,000 years old. Both Plato and Aristotle mentioned angling, and Plutarch gave tips about fishing lines. The Roman rhetorician Claudius Aelian (c. ad 170-235) wrote about Macedonian trout anglers using artificial flies, or feathered lures with hooks.

In the Western world, during the first few centuries ad, angling was apparently confined to the wealthy people who had leisure time to pursue the sport. Records of the Roman Empire, for example, tell of affluent Romans building special fishponds to provide themselves with an easy catch for the table and recreation as well.

The methods and gear, or tackle, used for fishing evolved slowly through the centuries, and not until the late 15th century did angling as it is now known really begin. In 1496, 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, who was the prioress of an abbey near St Albans, Hertfordshire, the book told how to make hooks and rods for angling, how to tie knots in fishing lines, and, of even more importance, how to make and use artificial lures and flies in conjunction with the feeding habits of game fish. Dame Juliana's precepts were the basis of angling knowledge in England for some 150 years.

IZAAK WALTON

In 1653, Izaak Walton, in his book The Compleat Angler, further contributed to the knowledge of fishing methods and approaches, with extensive observations about the feeding habits of fish and their life cycles and the problems that anglers must overcome to outwit their quarry. Walton also postulated that the true angler is one who fishes for the love of fishing and that catching any fish on sporting terms is far superior to other methods of fishing. With Walton, fishing evolved into an art as well as a science.

MODERN ANGLING

Since that time, anglers have not only striven to improve their fishing tackle, tactics, and knowledge of their quarry, but they have also come to realize that their sport must be protected if it is to survive. Propagation of game fish in hatcheries, condemnation of air and water pollution, the restriction of angling to certain seasons, and daily kill limits have all been initiated in the name of preserving the sport (see Game Laws).

Modern angling may be broken down into two basic categories: freshwater fishing and salt-water fishing. Freshwater fishing takes place in lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, whereas salt-water fishing is done in the ocean, estuaries, and rivers influenced by tides. Fish in fresh water are, with many exceptions, generally smaller than those species found in salt water; consequently, they are caught with lighter rods, reels, and lines and with smaller baits or lures. To fish lakes, ponds, and larger rivers, freshwater anglers either wade, stand on shore, or use a boat to approach their quarry. Anglers fishing smaller rivers, and streams, generally wear waders, or waterproof garments, and walk in the water to suspected fish-holding areas. When fishing in salt water, most anglers use boats to reach productive offshore fishing grounds. Some also wade in the surf or along estuary shores to reach the fish.

Game fish caught in fresh water are usually salmon, sea trout, brown trout (Britain's native species), and rainbow trout. The latter are usually reared in hatcheries and released into artificial reservoirs and lakes for the angler. Coarse fish include roach, bream, dace, chub, perch, pike, and carp. Popular salt-water fish are cod, mullet, conger, eel, whiting, dogfish, plaice, and flounder. Salt-water and freshwater anglers often use the same basic angling techniques, though size of equipment differs.

There has been much development and improvement in fishing equipment. Rods and reels are much lighter and stronger thanks to modern materials such as carbon fibre and new plastics. Nylon lines are much thinner in relation to their breaking strain, though in certain cases this may not be an advantage.

COMPETITIONS

Every week in Ireland, many fishing matches take place in both salt- and freshwater. These range from small club events to large open events with hundreds of anglers involved. Many matches are team events run on a league or knockout basis. The finals of these are usually held abroad (for example, Denmark). Team matches tend to be prestigious events, and thousands of pounds can be won, although not as much as in many other sports.

ASSOCIATIONS

There are many fishing clubs, associations, societies, and syndicates, each one owning or leasing stretches of water. Syndicates may have only a handful of members, clubs may have many thousands. In the United Kingdom the National Federation of Anglers (NFA) looks after the interests of all clubs and their members. The Anglers' Conservation Association (ACA) is a body which fights against the pollution of waterways.