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Fishing Introduction
Fishing was an essential source of food in prehistory, Fishing for pure enjoyment of catching fish can be traced back hundreds of years. The oldest reference to fishing for sport comes from the essay Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle by Dame Juliana Berners published in England in 1496. The full essay can be read here.
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Then came ' The compleat Angler ' by Izaak Walton, It was first published in 1653. Walton provided a detailed guide to fishing, including advice on how to catch the most common fish in England’s rivers, where to find the best bait, and how to cook fish once they had been caught. The book was initially successful, and a further four editions we re-published during his lifetime. Following Walton’s death interest in the book waned, but in 1750 the book was reprinted again. Multiple reprints followed and the throughout the 1800s it was reprinted hundreds of times. By the year 1900 The Compleat Angler had been translated into over twenty different languages and was one of the best-selling books of all time. Today The Compleat Angler has been republished over 500 times and is the fourth most reprinted book in the English language, behind only the Bible, the works of Shakespeare and the Book of Common Prayer.
Early Rod and Reels
Early rod, reel and line fishing
Fishing rods consisted of a piece of wood with line - usually Horse hair - ties directly onto the end.
At the same time Walton was writing, Many Anglers were beginning to experiment with a metal ring or loop attatched to the end of the rod which allowed a running line to be used.
Thomas Barker, ' The art of Angling ' wrote about using a line twenty-six yards long to catch Salmon. These lines were used for trotting baits or a lure down a flowing river, the act of casting out was yet to be developed. Reels were a simple device to store excess line on. At the same time Terminal Tackle was advancing, By the 1700s metal fishing hooks were a commonplace, with Inventors such as Charles KIrby using their knowledge of manufacturing needles and pins to lead the way in hook design. The ' Kirby Bend ' fishing hook which Charles Kirby developed over 300 years ago is still in use worldwide today!.
Multiplier reels were developed in America throughout the 1800s, with the Kentucky reel becoming the first reel that was truly capable of casing a bait and sinker a reasonable distance. These reels were initially made by watchmakers and jewellers who had experience of cutting gears and precision engineering. Once these were developed machine produced copies soon followed and the mass-produced, mass-market casting multiplier had truly arrived, although hand-built Kentucky reels continued to be made and sold until the 1940s. The different types of fishing which emerged led to the demand and development of different types of reel:
An advert for Mahseer fishing tackle from 1897.
The Mitchell 300 reel was manufactured and sold worldwide from 1939 to 1986 and is the best selling reel of all time.
The Rod
In the middle of the 19th Century, Rods were made of woods such as Ash, Hickory and Greenheart, but in the 1840s William Blacker in England and Samuel Phillippe in Pennsylvania began fashioning rods from split cane, which is Bamboo split lenght ways in strips and then glued together. Split cane rods proved to be lighter, more flexible, and more durable than the earlier wooden rods, Cane then became the most popular rod material for over a hundred years.
To this day wood is still used for the handmade, expensive fly rods, but in the late 1940s its use has has rapidly delined because of the strong man made materials. Tubular steel and Aluminium were its first competitors, but even they were quickly superseded by glass fiber, Kevlar and the now very popular Carbon Fibre.
The Rods Main Components
Handle
Reel seat
Rod Blank
Butt Ring and Eyes
Male and Female Ferrule ( also known as Spiggot )
Tip Section
The Rod Actions
The action of a rod is the way it bends, Tip actions are designed for fast striking and long distance casting,
Middle-to-tip action are for when playing big fish is more important
Through action rods bend basically from tip to but, Used for playing big fish close in.
Spinning Rods
Designed to cast artificial lures of all types and sizes, Usually as light as possible as the rods will be used for hours on end.
Leger Rods
Leger rods can be seperated into two basic types. The first is the standard rod usually between 9 and 10ft in length, with a threaded tip ring to take a swingtip or quivertip, but are also sutable for touch legering.
The second leger rod is that with a spliced-in-quivertip. most commonly used on rivers.
Float Rods
Most float rods are made from Carbon Fibre, As a general rule the more percentage of Carbon used the better the rod will perform.
Fly Rods
For fly fishing it is vital to use a reel and line that match the rating of your rod, and your chosed rod should be suitable not only for the style of fishing but also for the prevailing conditions.
Poles and Whips
Poles and whips enable the terminal tackle to be controlled with extreme accuracy, and allow baits to be lowered into places to which it would be difficult. Instead of having a reel aand running line, a pole has a fixed line attatched to its tip, which is either a "flick" tip or an "elasticated" tip.
Boat Rods
Boat fishing is hard work for the Angler and punishing on the tackle, so a boat rod needs to be tough, well made and able to withstand a fair amount of use. Boat rods are built to IGFA test curve ratings from 12 to 120lb.
The Reel
The reel is primarily a line bank that allows the angler to fish at distance, The reel has evolved with two distinct types and simplest form of revolving spool and the fixed spool.
the Oldest form of a revolving spool is the Centre Pin reel, on which the line is laid on a simple flanged spool that revolves on a steel axle; this reel was once close to extinction but is now showing signs of making a comeback. Fly reels and multipliers are more complex forms of revolving-spool reel.
In a fixed-Spool reel the spool does not revolve, and the line is retrieved and wound onto it by a rotating arm, called the bale arm.
Multiplier/Baitcaster
A multiplier is basically a geared version of the centrepin. Multipliers are used for a wide variety from freshwater to Big Game fishing.
Fixed Spool
This type of reel is so named because the spool does not revolve to recover line; The line is wound around it by a rotating bale arm. The spool does rotate under tension from a fish with a anti reverse system preventing the handle from backwinding.
Closed face
This is a fixed spool with an enclosed face, The line passes through a hole in the centre of the face, and is wound on to the spool by a pickup pin. Commonly used when fishing in windy conditions.
SpinCaster
A rugid version of the closed face reel, Line is released by a push button by pressure on the front face, or a lever.