Fishing equipment is called fishing tackle by specialists and hobbyists and it generally 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 referred to as 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 gear consisting of ropes supporting a ship’s masts and sails. Later, the same word was recorded to have a different meaning, that of equipment for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.
The most rudimentary fishing equipment is made up of 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 questions that an angler asks when buying a fishing line, like its resistance, stretch, strength and so on. The line will be chosen depending on what species of fish the angler wants 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 fast as possible. However, lead sinkers have been banned in some parts of the world, especially the very small ones, which are often called ’shot’. If ingested by birds or other fish, the lead, which is well-known for its high toxicity, will cause the death of the animal.
Another elementary piece of fishing equipment 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 angler can choose from a very variety of shapes and sizes.
And last but far from least, is the bait or lure, without which the fishing equipment cannot be effective. 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 raison d’etre is to get the attention of the fish with its colour and movement. Artificial flies, tiddlers and sand eels come into into this category. When the fish eats the lure, it becomes hooked.
Whilst, bait, on the other hand, is the item physically attached to the hook. Bait is usually of two types: animal or foodstuff: ‘animal’ refers to small fish or other water creatures, insects or crawlers and ‘foodstuff’ refers to things like grains, such as wheat, bread or whatever the angler believes might attract the fish.
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