Soft plastic bait in the context of "Hookbait"

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.

Jigging is the practice of fishing with a jig, a type of weighted fishing lure. A jig consists of a heavy metal (typically lead) sinker with an attached fish hook that is usually obscured inside a soft lure or feather-like decorations. Jigs are intended to create a jerky, vertical "jumping" motion to attract fish, as opposed to other common lures like swimbaits, spoons and spinnerbaits, which move through the water more or less horizontally. The jig is very versatile and can be used in both salt and fresh water. Many deeper water fish species are attracted to the lure, which has made it popular among anglers for years.

The jigging technique mainly involves rapid lifting motions of a fishing rod, which jerk the line exert a temporarily upward pull upon the sinking lure. When the target fish is enticed to swallow the lure, the angler then sets the hook to pierce and tether the fish in the mouth. Because the jigs are weighted, a harder-than-usual hookset is often needed to overcome the added weight and provide sufficient momentum to pierce the hook point into the fish mouth. Jigging gears are often involved with the luring of slow moving fish, most commonly during spawning periods. For successful jigging, the jigger needs to use a sensitive rod that is good for feeling a strike, and needs to stay in contact with the lure and get it to where the fish are. Most fish caught by jigs are on or near the bottom.

Fishing bait is any luring substance used specifically to attract and catch fish, typically when angling with a hook and line. There are generally two types of baits used in angling: hookbaits, which are directly mounted onto fish hooks and are what the term "fishing bait" typically refers to; and groundbaits, which are scattered separately into the water as an "appetizer" to attract the fish nearer to the hook. Despite the bait's sole importance is to provoke a feeding response out of the target fish, the way how fish react to different baits is quite poorly understood.

Fishing baits can be grouped into two broad categories: natural baits and artificial baits. Traditionally, fishing baits are natural food or prey items (live or dead) that are already present in the fish's normal diet (e.g. worms, insects, crustaceans and smaller bait fish), and such baits are both procured from and used within the same environment. Artificial baits, conversely, are not naturally acquired and must involve some kind of production process. These can be processed foods (e.g. bread, cheese, dough, cutlets, fish food or pet food pellets, etc.), commercially made feed mixtures (e.g. boilies), or imitative replica "fake foods" made of inedible materials known as lures (e.g plastic worm, swimbaits, spoons, stickbaits, hybrid spinners or even bionic robot fish). The variety of baits that a fisherman may choose is dictated mainly by the target species and by its habitat, as well as personal preference. Both natural and artificial baits frequently demonstrate similar efficiency if chosen adequately for the target fish. The overall bait type, size and techniques used will affect the efficiency and yield when fishing.