What is Fishing Equipment
Fishing equipment is called fishing tackle by specialists and hobbyists and it usually 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 different meaning, that of apparatus for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.
The most basic fishing gear consists of a rod, a line, a hook, a lure, a bait and a weight or sinker. The line is a simple cord especially made for fishing that is both long, strong and yet thin, so that fish do not notice it. There are various things that an angler asks about when buying a fishing line, such as its resistance, stretch, strength and so on. The line will be selected depending on what kind of fish the angler intends to catch.
The sinker or weight, also called a plummet, is really only a weight that helps 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 as their purpose is also to sink and to get the bait closer to the fish in the water as quickly as possible. However, lead sinkers have been banned in some parts of the world, especially the really small ones, which are often called ‘shot’. If eaten by birds or other fish, the lead, which is well-known for its high toxicity, will cause the death of the animal.
Another basic piece of fishing gear is the hook. This device meant for attaching the bait on the line and for hooking into the fish’s mouth. It is fastened to the line and the fisherman can select from a pretty variety of shapes and sizes.
Last but not least, the fishing equipment is not efficient without bait or lure. A lure is a device tied at the end of the line that looks and moves something resembling the prey of the fish you are after. Its purpose is to catch the attention of the fish with its colour and vibrations. Artificial flies and sand eels fall into this category. When the fish bites the lure, it gets hooked.
On the other hand, bait is the item physically attached to the hook. Bait is basically of two types: animal or foodstuff: ‘animal’ referring to small fish or other water creatures, insects or crawlers and ‘foodstuff’ referring to human food like grains, such as hemp, bread or whatever else the fisherman believes might attract the type of fish he’s going for.
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