Fishing

While fishing can be a commercial endeavor or practiced to feed a community, it is also a "sport" for millions of people - these are their photos.

Fish have been around for over 450 million years - much longer than humans - and they have been a source of food for modern humans for at least the past 200,000 years. At first, and even now at times, fishing was just a means of survival. But it has also become a popular sport, often involving "catch and release", the practice of catching the fish without harming it and then releasing it back into the water. There are even television shows covering competitive fishing.

Fishing can also be a form of relaxation since, whether on a lake, a river, or the sea, the calming nature of waiting for the fish to bite forces one to unwind and patiently sit, surrounded by nature. So it could accurately be called an antidote to today's stressful world!

Consider these fun facts about the world of fishing:

• April 21, 1959: Alfred Dean of Irymple, Victoria caught a 2,664-pound great white shark off the coast of Australia.
• June 12, 1999: Tiney Mitchell of Port Isabel, Texas constructed the world’s largest fly fishing rod and reel. The rod was 71 feet, 4.5 inches long. The reel measured 4 feet in diameter and 10 inches in width.
• Scientists determined that a 32-inch-long rougheye rockfish caught in Alaska was 205 years old!
• Absolute luxury in fishing! A 12-inch marlin trolling lure was crafted with just over 3 pounds of gold and platinum and encrusted with 100 carats of diamonds and rubies. Cost? $1 million.
• Fly fishing is the most popular style of fishing and is the most ancient of all the other styles too. It was invented around 200 A.D.
• Fly fishing lines were often made of braided horsehair in the past.
• The 4th most popular sport in the U.S. is fishing. About 40 million people are sports fisherman (or fisherwomen) - outnumbering all the country’s golf and tennis players combined. The most popular game fish is the large-mouth bass.
• Scientists determined that a 32-inch-long rougheye rockfish caught in Alaska was 205 years old!
• Illinois was the first state to recognize competitive bass fishing as a sanctioned high school sport - in 2009. In the first year, more than 800 students competed to represent 217 high schools at a statewide competition.

Enjoy these photos of people fishing over the past couple of centuries.