120 Fun Facts About Fishing

What is fishing with a hook and line called?

The hook was formerly called an angle.

The old word 'angle', root of a fishing term, meant what in Old English?

Angol, hence the old name 'angle' for a fish hook.

The world's oldest known fish hooks, found in Sakitari Cave, Okinawa, are made from what?

They are dated between 22,380 and 22,770 years old.

Which magazine named the fish hook one of the top 20 tools in human history in 2005?

Hooks have been made by humans for many thousands of years.

The earliest fishing reels are documented in paintings from which country and era?

Detailed illustrations date from about 1195 AD.

Fishing reels first appeared in England in which decade?

It was a time of growing interest in fly fishing.

George Snyder, who made the first American bait-casting reel in 1810, worked in what trade?

His Kentucky Reel was copied by Meek, Milam and others.

Traditional fishing lines were made of which material?

Modern lines are nylon, polyethylene or fluorocarbon.

From the mid-19th century, favoured rods were built by gluing strips of which material into hexagonal blanks?

Split-cane rods were light, strong and superior to anything before them.

The Chinese 'wooden fish' of the Song dynasty was an early form of what?

It was used to catch larger fish such as yellowcheek.

What is the lightweight buoy attached to a fishing line called?

Fishing with one is called float fishing.

Why did lead become the material of choice for fishing sinkers?

Environmental concerns about lead poisoning now surround its use.

What is the term for the short branch lines carrying hooks on a commercial longline?

Hundreds or thousands of baited hooks can hang from one line.

What is 'noodling'?

It is practised mainly in the southern United States.

Which tool does an ice angler use to cut a round hole in the ice?

An ice saw or chisel can also be used.

Which country outlaws mechanically powered spearguns?

Spearfishing with barbed poles was widespread in palaeolithic times.

Trolling boats use what to spread several lines without tangling?

Downriggers keep baits at a set depth instead.

Which Roman writer is often credited with the first record of an artificial fly, around 200 AD?

He described Macedonian anglers on the Astraeus River using red wool and cock feathers.

The 1496 Treatyse on Fysshynge with an Angle appeared in which book?

It is attributed to Dame Juliana Berners.

Who wrote The Compleat Angler, first published in 1653?

He kept adding to it for a quarter of a century.

Who added the extra chapters to the expanded 1676 edition of The Compleat Angler?

The book had earlier editions in 1655, 1661 and 1668.

Which Staffordshire-Derbyshire border river is thought to reflect Walton's own fishing?

The book itself describes trips up the Lea Valley in Hertfordshire.

What was the author of The Compleat Angler's trade when he moved to London as a teenager?

He befriended the poet John Donne there.

Which fly angler promoted catch and release from 1936, saying game fish are too valuable to catch only once?

Michigan first used catch and release as a management tool in 1952.

Which US state first introduced catch and release as a management tool, in 1952?

The aim was to cut the cost of stocking hatchery trout.

In which Alaskan town was fly-fishing legend Lee Wulff born in 1905?

His father had gone north seeking gold.

Which marine biologist is credited with founding big-game fishing in 1898?

He went on to lead the Tuna Club of Avalon on Catalina Island.

The International Game Fish Association was launched in 1939 at which institution?

The IGFA later moved its headquarters to Dania Beach, Florida.

Which magazine handed 68 years of freshwater records to the IGFA in 1978?

IGFA had kept saltwater records since 1939.

Where is the IGFA headquartered?

It publishes the annual World Record Game Fishes.

Who founded the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.)?

He is called the godfather of modern bass fishing.

Where was the first Bassmaster Classic held in 1971?

First prize was $10,000; it reached $500,000 in 2006.

Which two anglers have each won the Bassmaster Classic four times?

Clunn won in 1976, 1977, 1984 and 1990.

In which year did women first compete in the Bassmaster Classic?

2010 was the last year they were given a specific Classic spot.

Kevin VanDam, the all-time money winner in pro bass fishing, is from which state?

He hails from Otsego and had earned over $7 million by 2022.

At what age did Kevin VanDam become the youngest B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year, in 1992?

He went on to win the title seven times.

How old was Rick Clunn when he became the oldest Bassmaster Elite Series winner in February 2019?

He won on the St. Johns River, breaking his own record.

Bill Dance's fishing show began in 1968 on a TV station in which city?

His signature look is sunglasses and a Tennessee Volunteers cap.

Bill Dance's trademark baseball cap represents which college team?

He was raised in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Johnny Morris started Bass Pro Shops in 1972 selling tackle from where?

The Brown Derby Liquor Store was in Springfield, Missouri.

In which state was Cabela's founded in December 1961?

It began in Chappell before moving to Sidney.

Orvis opened its first tackle shop in 1856 in which town?

The flagship store opened there for the company's centenary in 1956.

Lauri Rapala carved the first floating minnow lure in 1936 from what?

He coated it with chocolate-bar wrappers and melted photo negatives.

Rapala, the lure maker, is based in which country?

Its founder created the world's first floating minnow lure.

What did Abu Garcia's parent company AB Urfabriken originally manufacture?

Its Ambassadeur reels became famous in the 1950s.

Tackle giant Shimano is headquartered in which Japanese prefecture?

It is named after founder Shozaburo Shimano.

George Perry's record largemouth bass of 1932 weighed how much?

He caught it in Montgomery Lake, Georgia.

The largemouth bass is the state fish of Georgia and which other state?

It is also the state freshwater fish of Florida and Alabama.

Where was David Hayes's all-tackle world record smallmouth bass caught in 1955?

It weighed 11 lb 15 oz.

The name 'muskellunge' comes from an Ojibwe word meaning what?

At least 94 common names were once used for the species.

The IGFA record muskellunge was caught by Cal Johnson in 1949 in which state?

The lake was Lac Courte Oreilles near Hayward.

Mabry Harper's world record walleye of 1960 came from which Tennessee reservoir?

It weighed 25 pounds.

Which state made the walleye its official state fish in 1965?

South Dakota followed in 1982.

Where is the world's largest walleye hatchery?

It is a National Fish Hatchery.

The IGFA record bluegill of 4 lb 12 oz was caught in 1950 in which state?

It came from Ketona Lake.

The bluegill is the state fish of which state?

Bluegill populations are notably vulnerable to angling pressure.

The heaviest authenticated wels catfish, nearly 135 kg, was caught in 2010 from which river?

A Hungarian fisherman landed it.

Colin Smith's record common carp of 2013 weighed roughly how much?

He caught it at Etang La Saussaie in France.

How old was the longest-lived documented common carp?

It was a wild-origin fish living in North America.

The IGFA record Atlantic bluefin tuna, 679 kg, was caught off which Canadian province?

North Lake is renowned for giant bluefin.

The longest fight between anglers and a tuna, in 1934, lasted how long?

Six men took turns near Liverpool, Nova Scotia.

Which is the biggest of the marlins, with females able to exceed 700 kg?

Popular reports of 129 km/h speeds are probably exaggerated.

The IGFA all-tackle swordfish record, 536 kg, was taken in 1953 off which country?

The often-quoted 100 km/h swimming speed is unreliable.

Research in 2015 and 2016 found sailfish actually top out at what speed?

They had long been credited with 125 km/h.

The largest angled striped bass, 81 lb 14 oz, was taken from which body of water?

It was hooked off Westbrook, Connecticut.

The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island and which other state?

It is also the state saltwater fish of New York, New Jersey, Virginia and New Hampshire.

The record red drum, just over 94 pounds, was caught in 1984 on which island?

Red drum are also known as redfish.

Which are the world's largest flatfish?

A 234-kg halibut off Norway in 2013 apparently broke the IGFA record.

The 'hali' in halibut refers to what?

Butte meant flatfish.

The largest accepted beluga sturgeon record, 1,571 kg, was taken in 1827 from where?

It measured 7.2 metres.

Traditionally, true caviar comes only from wild sturgeon in which two seas?

Beluga, ossetra and sevruga are the classic types.

Which fish took the Guinness World Record for largest freshwater fish in 2005?

It was surpassed in 2022 by a giant freshwater stingray from Cambodia.

Alf Dean's 1959 rod-and-reel record was a great white shark weighing how much?

He caught it off Ceduna in South Australia.

Tom Healy's 41-lb brown trout of 2009, then a world record, came from which state?

It was caught on the Manistee River and supplanted a record from Arkansas's Little Red River; a 44-lb New Zealand fish beat it in 2020.

The IGFA world record brook trout of 14 lb 8 oz was caught in 1915 on which river?

Dr John W. Cook landed it in northern Ontario.

The IGFA rod-and-reel record lake trout of 72 pounds was caught in 1995 in which lake?

The all-time record, almost 102 pounds, was netted.

The sport-caught world record Chinook salmon of 97 lb was taken in 1985 from which river?

The commercial record is 126 lb near Rivers Inlet, British Columbia.

The steelhead is the official state fish of which state?

Steelhead are sea-run rainbow trout.

Which Alaskan bay hosts the world's largest sockeye salmon harvest?

The annual catch can reach 30 million fish.

The IGFA record zander was caught in 2016 in which lake?

It weighed 11.48 kg.

Where do European eels spawn?

Their larvae are called leptocephali; young ones are glass eels.

Salmon are thought to find their natal river from the ocean using what?

They return with uncanny precision to their birth spawning ground.

The Latin root of 'salmon' may come from salire, meaning what?

The silent 'l' was later added to match the Latin.

Catfish are named for their barbels, which resemble what?

Not all catfish have prominent barbels.

The first living coelacanth was found in 1938 off the coast of which country?

The genus Latimeria honours Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, who found it.

Snakeheads can migrate short distances over land because they can do what?

They have become notorious as an intentionally released invasive species.

What is the largest known living fish species?

One 18.8-metre individual is considered the largest reliably recorded.

Female ocean sunfish can produce how many eggs at a time, more than any other vertebrate?

They are released into the water and fertilised externally.

The Cod Wars were fought over fishing rights between the UK and which country?

Each dispute ended in an Icelandic victory.

In what year did Canada impose its cod moratorium on the Grand Banks?

The fishery stayed closed until 2024.

Which fish has been called 'the most heavily exploited fish in world history'?

Until about 2005 it was used almost exclusively for fishmeal.

Which fish is used in McDonald's Filet-O-Fish?

It is also the premier raw material for surimi.

Herring were nicknamed what in the United Kingdom?

Smoked, they become kippers.

In Roman times anchovies were the base for which fermented sauce?

It was produced in industrial quantities.

The Marine Stewardship Council became independent in 1999 of which two founding partners?

Its blue ecolabel marks certified sustainable seafood.

Which US state issued its first recreational fishing licences in 1919, only to non-residents?

Just 50 licences were issued that year.

Roughly how many people were estimated to fish in the United States, in salt and fresh water?

Fishing and aquaculture support over 500 million people in developing countries.

About how many commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers are there worldwide?

The FAO counted about 39 million in major producing countries in 2012.

Cormorant fishing was recorded as an ancient Japanese method in which Chinese history, completed in 636 CE?

It is sometimes called duck fishing.

The osprey was historically known by which nickname?

Its diet is almost exclusively fish.

In The Old Man and the Sea, what does the fisherman Santiago struggle to catch?

It won Hemingway the 1953 Pulitzer Prize.

The Old Man and the Sea was the only work named when Hemingway won which honour in 1954?

He had received the Pulitzer for it the year before.

Which Oscar did the fly-fishing film A River Runs Through It win?

Robert Redford directed; Brad Pitt played Paul Maclean.

A River Runs Through It is set in and around which Montana city?

The brothers are sons of a Presbyterian minister.

Deadliest Catch follows fishermen catching what in the Bering Sea?

It premiered on Discovery in April 2005.

Which port is the base of operations for the Deadliest Catch fleet?

It lies in the Aleutian Islands.

Who hosts River Monsters, the series hunting large and dangerous fish?

He is a Suffolk-born biologist and angler.

The 1975 film Jaws was based on a novel by whom?

Malfunctioning mechanical sharks pushed Spielberg to merely suggest the shark's presence.

What is the name of Captain Ahab's whaling ship in Moby-Dick?

The novel opens with 'Call me Ishmael'.

Fish-and-chip shops first appeared in the UK in which decade?

By 1910 there were over 25,000 of them.

Who is believed to have invented nigiri-zushi around 1824?

It was the fast food of Edo's chōnin class.

Isotope analysis of which 40,000-year-old East Asian human showed he regularly ate freshwater fish?

Neanderthals were fishing even earlier, by about 200,000 BC.

The modern sailing trawler was developed in the 19th century at which English fishing port?

Its sleek build and tall gaff rig let boats reach distant grounds after South Devon's waters were overfished; nearly 1,000 trawlers were later based at Grimsby.

What was the Fairtry, launched at Aberdeen in 1953?

Hauling nets over the stern let it lift up to 60 tons at a time and launched the era of the 'super trawler'.

Which English town became a tackle-making centre after artisans left London following the 1666 fire?

Onesimus Ustonson's shop, opened in 1761, led the market for a century and held royal warrants from three monarchs.

According to the FAO, roughly what share of the world's fishing fleet operated in Asia in 2024?

Half of the roughly 5 million vessels are concentrated in Indonesia, the Philippines, China and India.

What does the name of the traditional Japanese fly-fishing method 'Tenkara' literally mean?

It began as a way for mountain fishermen and inn-keepers to harvest ayu, trout and char for their guests.

Which American angler pioneered fly fishing for brook trout in the Catskills in the late 1800s?

He and his contemporaries fished streams such as the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Creek and devised new fly patterns.

Which English writer's nymph techniques on chalk streams horrified the dry-fly purists?

He set out his heresies in Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream and The Way of a Trout with a Fly.

In which decades did boron and graphite fishing rods first appear?

Bamboo rods remain the heaviest of the three main types but are still prized for their feel.