- Joined
- Apr 27, 2010
- Location
- Bethlehem, Georgia
The caves and remains of habitations of ancient man have been found to hold fish hooks carved out of bone and molded out of bronze. The ancient Greeks and Romans both advocated fishing for sport, as well as for food, but Chinese and Egyptian archaeological digs have shown that fishing rods, hooks, and lines were known as early as 2,000 B.C. , or far earlier than the Greek and Roman civilizations. Bronze barbed hooks were used by the Egyptians; these hooks resulting from the alloy of tin and copper made hard, strong hooks that also could be worked until they were very thin and less visible to the fish. The Chinese spun fine fishing line from silk and used rice and small carp for bait.
Claudius Aelianus, a Roman who lived during the third century A.D. , wrote of fly-fishing for trout and other kinds of sport fishing. He made lures of feathers, lead, bronze, and wild boar's bristles and used horsehair and twisted flax to make his fishing line. There is little documentation of advances in fishing tackle throughout the European medieval and Renaissance periods, but, in 1653, Izaak Walton wrote what is probably the most famous book ever to have been penned on fishing. His The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man's Recreation described all of the sport fisherman's necessities including fishing line, hooks, flies, and appropriate attitudes. He wrote about fishing for trout in streams in the English countryside, and his poetic style created an ideal that is associated with sport fishing today as well as describing the practical aspects of line and rod.
By the 1830s and 1840s in both England and America, the making of fishing tackle began to change from the monopoly of the individual craftsmen to commercial manufacturing ventures. From the early 1900s, the firm of Heddon and Pflueger in Michigan led the production of commercially made lures. These lures were often designed from proven lures that were simply pounded out of old kitchen spoons or whittled from pieces of wood. Rods and reels were handmade by jewelers and watchmakers from the early 1800s. This craft experienced many technical improvements as rod and reel production became commercial throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Advances in fishing line waited until after World War II when braided nylon followed by monofilament line improved the success rate in all types of fishing. Aided by the availability of more leisure time, fishing exploded as a hobby and sport.
Claudius Aelianus, a Roman who lived during the third century A.D. , wrote of fly-fishing for trout and other kinds of sport fishing. He made lures of feathers, lead, bronze, and wild boar's bristles and used horsehair and twisted flax to make his fishing line. There is little documentation of advances in fishing tackle throughout the European medieval and Renaissance periods, but, in 1653, Izaak Walton wrote what is probably the most famous book ever to have been penned on fishing. His The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man's Recreation described all of the sport fisherman's necessities including fishing line, hooks, flies, and appropriate attitudes. He wrote about fishing for trout in streams in the English countryside, and his poetic style created an ideal that is associated with sport fishing today as well as describing the practical aspects of line and rod.
By the 1830s and 1840s in both England and America, the making of fishing tackle began to change from the monopoly of the individual craftsmen to commercial manufacturing ventures. From the early 1900s, the firm of Heddon and Pflueger in Michigan led the production of commercially made lures. These lures were often designed from proven lures that were simply pounded out of old kitchen spoons or whittled from pieces of wood. Rods and reels were handmade by jewelers and watchmakers from the early 1800s. This craft experienced many technical improvements as rod and reel production became commercial throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Advances in fishing line waited until after World War II when braided nylon followed by monofilament line improved the success rate in all types of fishing. Aided by the availability of more leisure time, fishing exploded as a hobby and sport.