Fishing

Fishing for sport or just a little fun, people have been doing for centuries. Fishing has been a great part of our lives and, part of the foundation that shaped our great country. As history goes, fishing for food was a skill for survival in many cultures. The competitive nature of mankind has turned out thousands of men, women and children with their rod n reels, nets and spears, all after the golden trophy, the biggest fish. Fishing is the only sport that can be so competitive and also made in to a relaxing afternoon. (Moyle, pp.32-41)

Thinking about spear fishing, we tend to think of it as something from our native past, but in reality it is still a highly practiced sport. Divers generally use spears for fishing underwater. The technique for this method is challenging to learn, although not impossible. There is a very strict practice makes perfect method, not to mention a lot of time and patience.

Net fishing is somewhat of a controlled method of fishing. Most commonly nets are used for commercial fishing. There are three types of commercial fishing nets, there are Gill Nets, which trap fish by the gills as they try and back out of the net. Trap Nets are another the fish are baited into an enclosure and trapped in a square shaped 'pot' with a boat. And finally there are Salmon nets, these nets are marked with a safety buoy which extends to a minimum of 5ft above the surface and reflective orange in color, these nets area bout 300ft in length. Because these nets capture more then their intended fish, this has made them an undesirable method of fishing.

The most common way to fish is with the old Rod n Reel. The Rod can be found in several sizes. There are two types of reels, the closed face where you can't see the line on the spool, and the open face where you can see the line and have to worry about casting in to the wind because of backlashes. The technique to this method is all in the cast. There are two types of casting over-the-head & side-arm, they are both how they sound. Casting is all about timing not strength. But keep in mind that all casts start and end with the basic back and forth motion.

With all the different ways there are to catch a fish, it's not hard to see why fishing has been a popular sport. With all the skill, patience and each technique, this sport could easily be thought of as an art. Because fishing is enjoyable for all ages, any man, woman and child can grab there poles, spears and nets and try their luck at this great sport. (Zapata , pp. 1-55)

For people who love to fish, there are many opportunities to land N.C. freshwater fish in Rutherford County. With year-round fishing in the Rocky Broad River, a variety of North Carolina fishing lakes throughout the county and catch-and-release programs within an hour's drive, ...