Sport fishing or game fishing is a form of water sport or recreational outdoor activity. It differs from commercial fishing, which is fishing for profit or from subsistence fishing, which is done for survival. The most common form of sport fishing uses rod, reel, line and hook with baits and such other devices as terminal tackle that complements the appearance of bait to attract the target fish, and lures that are used in place of baits. If you are catching fish with the hook, you are using a technique known as angling but which, in sport fishing, requires you to release the fish after it is caught. Aside from angling, the other techniques include hand gathering, spear fishing, trapping and netting which all depend on the fisherman’s knowledge about the fish, its behavior, habitat, migration and foraging, or wandering in search for food. Sport fishing methods also vary according to area, personal strategies of the angler, targeted fish species and available resources.
The most common fish species for salt water
game fishing which uses boats include marlin, tarpon, tuna, mackerel, sailfish and shark. The freshwater fishes, especially in North America, are the redfish, snook, salmon, bass, trout, muskellunge, walleye, pike and catfish. These fishes are caught mostly in sport fishing competitions under certain rules and regulations enforced by the governments of countries and under a set of guidelines of the International Game Fish Association. One such country is the Republic of Ireland where its Central Fisheries Board oversees the implementation of all regulations pertaining to angling, including control of baits, lures and permissible number of hooks.
Sports fishing competitions or tournaments are held regularly in many countries of the world. These competitions, which are recent innovations in game fishing that, allow fishermen to compete for prizes, have evolved from local fishing contests with mostly professional fishermen as participants. If the competition is conducted from the land, it involves individual participants, and teams if it is conducted from boats. A participant is awarded a score for each fish caught, depending on its weight and species. A boat or team is awarded a prize on the basis of the most number of points earned.
If you want to participate in sport fishing tournaments or simply do fishing as a recreational activity, many destinations offer numerous opportunities. Among these places are Florida in the United States, Mexico, British Columbia, Alaska, Egypt, Ireland, Kenya and Argentina. In Florida, there is a myriad of sport fishing activities both on saltwater and freshwater as it is endowed with hundreds of miles of coastline and a lot more inland rivers, streams and lakes.
Definitely you will need some gears and accessories to engage in this water sport activity. The most important, of course, is an inflatable life jacket that pops open automatically once you hit the water. The other gears include a Spinning Reel, a Black Tip Catch, four 6-foot rods that are rated for 12 to 40-pound test, and a Skipper Popper that attracts big fishes feeding at the surface of the water.
