Fishing equipment is called fishing tackle by specialists and hobbyists and it usually 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 called terminal tackle
The word tackle referring 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 another meaning, that of apparatus for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.
The most rudimentary fishing apparatus 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 string specially 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 intends to catch.
The sinker or weight, also referred to as 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 because it is cheap and easy to melt at home. 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 to be poisonous, will cause the death of that animal.
Another elementary piece of fishing gear is the hook. This device meant for holding the bait on the line and for hooking into the fish’s mouth. It is tied to the line and the angler can choose from a pretty 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 attached at the end of the line that looks and moves something like the prey of the fish you are after. Its purpose is to catch the attention of the fish with its colour and vibrations. Artificial flies, tiddlers and sand eels come into into this category. When the fish bites the lure, it gets hooked.
Bait, on the other hand, is the item actually attached to the hook. Bait is often of two types: animal or foodstuff. ‘Animal’ refers to small fish or other water creatures, insects or crawlers. ‘Foodstuff’ refers to grains, like corn, bread or whatever the angler believes might work.
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