Fishing tackle in the context of "Fishing line"

Artisanal, subsistence, or traditional fishing consists of various small-scale, low-technology, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishermen (as opposed to commercial fishing). Many of these households are of coastal or island ethnic groups. These households make short (rarely overnight) fishing trips close to the shore. Their produce is usually not processed and is mainly for local consumption. Artisan fishing uses traditional fishing techniques such as rod and tackle, fishing arrows and harpoons, cast nets, and small (if any) traditional fishing boats. For that reason, socio-economic status of artisanal fishing community has become an interest of the authorities in recent years.

Artisan fishing may be undertaken for commercial, cultural and subsistence reasons. It contrasts with large-scale modern commercial fishing practices in that it is often less wasteful and less stressful on fish populations than modern industrial fishing. Target 14.b of Sustainable Development Goal 14 works to provide access rights to artisanal fishers on marine resources and markets.

Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival and livelihood.

The most common form of recreational fishing is angling, which is done with a rig of rod, reel, line, hooks and any one of a wide range of baits, as well as other complementary devices such as weights, floats, swivels and method feeders, collectively referred to as terminal tackles. Lures are frequently used instead of fresh bait when fishing for predatory fishes. Some hobbyists hand-make custom tackles themselves, including plastic lures and artificial flies.

Angling (from Old English angol, meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and traditional cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The fish hook itself can be additionally weighted with a denser tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait (i.e. hookbait) to attract and entice the fish into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake/imitation bait with multiple attached hooks (known as a lure) is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. Some type of bite indicator, such as a float, a bell or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface and alert the angler of a fish's presence.

When angling, the fisherman (known as the angler) will first throw the hook (i.e. "cast") to a chosen area of water (i.e. fishing ground), and then patiently wait for fish to approach and devour the hookbait. It is also not uncommon for the angler to scatter some loose bait (groundbait) around the target area before even casting the hook, to better attract distant fish with scents. If a fish has succumbed to its own feeding instinct and swallowed the baited hook (i.e. "bite" or "strike"), the hook point will likely pierce into and anchor itself inside the fish jaw, gullet or gill, and the fish in turn becomes firmly tethered by the fishing line. Once the fish is hooked (often colloquially called "fish-on"), any struggles and attempts to escape will pull along the line, causing the bite indicator to signal the angler, who jerks the fishing rod back to further deepen the hook anchorage (i.e. "setting the hook") and then tries to retrieve the line back, pulling the fish closer in the process. During the line retrieval, the angler will carefully monitor the line and rod tension to avoid equipment breaking. With stronger and feistier fish, the angler might need to temporarily halt or even reverse the line retrieval to prolong the struggle time and tire out the fish (i.e. "walking" the fish), before dragging it near enough to eventually lift it out of the water (known as "landing") for a successful catch. Sometimes a hand net (or "landing net") or a long-handled hook is used to make fetching the fish easier.

A fishing rod or fishing pole is a long, thin rod used by anglers to catch fish by manipulating a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an angle, hence the term "angling"). At its most basic form, a fishing rod is a straight rigid stick/pole with a line fastened to one end (as seen in traditional bamboo rod fishing such as Tenkara fishing); however, modern rods are usually more elastic and generally have the line stored in a reel mounted at the rod handle, which is hand-cranked and controls the line retrieval, as well as numerous line-restricting rings (also known as line guides) that distribute bending stress along the rod and help dampening down/prevent line whipping and entanglement. To better entice fish, baits or lures are dressed onto the hook attached to the line, and a bite indicator (e.g. a float) is typically used, some of which (e.g. quiver tip) might be incorporated as part of the rod itself.

Fishing rods act as an extended lever and allow the angler to amplify line movements while luring and pulling the fish. It also enhances casting distance by increasing the launch speed of the terminal tackles (the hook, bait/lure, and other accompanying attachments such as float and sinker/feeder), as a longer swing radius (compared to that of a human arm) corresponds to greater arc speed at the tip under the same angular velocity. The length of fishing rods usually vary between 0.6 m (2 ft) and 4.6 m (15 ft) depending on the style of angling, while the Guinness World Record is 22.45 m (73 ft 7.9 in).

A rig is an arrangement of items used for fishing. It can be assembled of one or more lines, hooks, sinkers, bobbers, swivels, lures, beads, and other fishing tackle. A rig might be held by a rod, by hand, or attached to a boat or pier. Some rigs are designed to float near the surface of the water, others are designed to sink to the bottom. Some rigs are designed for trolling. Many rigs are designed especially for catching a single species of fish, but will work well for many different species.

A fishing swivel is a small, usually ball- or barrel-shaped device used in angling to connect sections of fishing lines, consisting of two rings linked via a thrust bearing pivot joint. The line from the rod and reel is tied to the ring at proximal end, and the line leading to the terminal tackles (the hook, lure and/or sinker) is tied to the other ring at the distal end. Snap swivels have a safety pin-like fastener (i.e. "snap hook") linked to at least one of the rings, which allows quick detachment and interchanging of different lures.

The main purpose of the swivel is to allow the two line sections to rotate independently of each other, which allows self-unwinding of any twists formed during line casting and retrieval, preventing undesirable tanglings. This is particularly important for users of monofilament fishing lines that tend to express memory and form coils when released from a fixed-spool reel. A secondary benefit of the fishing swivel is that it may function as a stopper for sliding sinkers, which depending on fishing method may be placed before or after the swivel. Three-way swivels provide an additional ring that serves as a point of connection for side-branching line segments, which are essential for certain line and hook setups.

A fishing lure is any of a broad category of inedible, artificial fishing baits designed to be "fake food" that mimic the appearances of prey and thus attract the attention of predatory fish when angling. Lures come in many shapes and designs that impart different actions and vibrations, which appeal to fish's foraging/territorial instincts and provoke them into striking. Lure color, brightness or the metallic shine/flash alone may also contribute to fish striking a lure, but much of the time even clear hard or soft plastic lures will get struck as well as those made of fur, metal, wood, soft and hard plastic or skirts made of feather, rubber or silicone strands. Lures can be commercially made and purchased from tackle shops, or hand-made by anglers (as in the case of hand-tied fly lures).

Fishing lures are attached to a fishing line, and attached to at least one hook (commonly a treble hook). When lure fishing, the angler use a rod to cast or simply drop the lure to an area of water and then steadily retrieve the lure back, in the hope that lure movements and splashes against the water current will entice nearby fish into striking. Typically, the line is stored on a reel spool and cranked back in retrieval, but in handlining and ice fishing the line might be pulled by hand or tethered directly to a very short rod. Trolling or dragging a lure behind a moving boat is also an effective way to cover water and provoke fish to strike. The retrieve of a lure is as important as the lure cast and there are many types of retrieves, most are tailored to the lure, how it is used and where it is placed, i.e. what depth and/or near objects in the water such as plants or docks. Lures are search tools that find fish apt to strike something they have no clue is dangerous.