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8 THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT FISHING

By Kendall Jenkins on 2021-07-30 07:36:00

For many people, fishing is more than just a great pastime. It’s also a way to bond and create fun memories. 

That’s why it’s interesting that many people don’t know these interesting facts about fishing. But don’t worry because after reading this article, you won’t be one of them!

Fly Fishing uses artificial flies

Fly fishers use artificial bait that resembles any kind of fish food, including baitfish. But that’s not even the most curious part. With fly fishing, you need a special technique that’s quite different from other fishing types.

The best way to understand it is to assume that you’re casting the line instead of the lure. Because a fly fishing ‘fly’ is light, fishers cast the line and let the bait follow the trajectory as the line unfolds. 

There are also various kinds of casting techniques. With the forward cast, the fisher attempts to transfer the energy from the rod to the line thus sending the fly a long distance. Other techniques include Spey casting and hauling. 

Ice fishing is an entire sport

Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish through small openings in the ice or any frozen water body. The entire sport is possible, because even though the surface is frozen over, it only goes a few feet deep. The rest of the water remains liquid, and the fish can breathe because oxygen gets trapped below the frozen layer.

The sport of ice fishing has evolved over the past few years. About a decade ago, fishers used to drill a hole in the ice and hope a fish would come by. Today, they are highly mobile with light gear and sonar units. They can check multiple holes in a day and find the best spot for fishing.

Ice fishing is mostly done around dawn and sunset, although the hours may change depending on the kind of fish being hunted.

There’s an entire arsenal dedicated to spearfishing

You’d be forgiven for thinking that spearfishing is an activity where you use a spear to catch fish. The truth is much more elaborate. Fishers can, for example, also use a spear gun that fires a spear attached to a line. 

There are also polespears that aren’t quite as versatile as spearguns, but they do have their advantages. The arsenal for spearfishing is elaborate and it includes other weapons like harpoons, Hawaiian slings, tridents, and pike poles. 

With spearfishing, you need the proper gear, including goggles, fins, a float, and a wetsuit. But you can’t use any wetsuit. Spear Hunting wetsuits (https://neptonics.com/product-category/spearfishing-wetsuits/) need to be adapted to the water and have camouflage to help you blend into the environment and avoid the fish’s suspicion. 

Asia has been the world’s largest fish provider since the 1980s

Some statistics show that China is the leading producer of fish in the world. However, there’s some controversy on just how much fish China produces, as some organizations suspect that the numbers are being inflated.

But whatever the case may be, several settlements in China and Asia, in general, have fishing as their biggest source of income and economic trade. 

Additionally, Japan is the biggest consumer of fish, followed by the United States. Interestingly, Japan’s fish are mostly eaten raw or prepared by healthy means. In the US, however, a bulk of the fish are processed, creating a contrast in feeding culture between the two countries.

Most fish can swim backward

While there’s no practical reason for them to do so, most fish can swim backward if they need to. They have highly flexible fins that bend in all directions and allow them to create a current driving their bodies backward.

Not all fish can do this, however. One of the biggest predators in the ocean - sharks - can’t swim forward. In fact, they can’t stop swimming forward either. If they do, they could suffocate and drown. Swimming forward allows sharks to keep water flowing over their gills, and that keeps them alive.

If you ever find a way to pull a shark backward, it would die because its gills aren’t designed to extract oxygen that way. Whether or not you should try that is another topic entirely!

Farming fish is one of the most efficient ways to produce protein

We say “efficient” because of how little food you need to provide in exchange for a lot of fish. If you’ve ever owned a goldfish, you’ll remember that one of the biggest instructions is to never feed it too much food.

That’s because fish don't need that much energy since they live in water. Most of the energy consumed by mammals is used to stay warm and fight gravity - two problems fishes don’t have. Additionally, overfeeding can alter their water’s chemistry and even prove toxic to your fish.

As a result, you only need to feed them little food. It’s estimated that you can produce a pound of salmon for less than 2 dollars. In comparison, you need double the investment to produce a pound of chicken.

Aquaculture produces more than 50% of the world’s seafood

Aquaculture is the practice of cultivating aquatic plants and fish for food.  You’d think it mostly refers to fish farming, but aquaculturists in the US don’t produce fish. Instead, oysters are some of their most harvested produce. 

Aquaculture has also been known to be very beneficial to the ecosystem. For example, shellfish farming adds filter-feeding capacity that improves water quality. Oysters can filter up to 15 gallons of water a day, removing nitrogen from the system. 

Sometimes, these benefits don’t always make it to the overall ecosystem since most aquaculture farms are contained, and even artificial environments.

Fishers are superstitious

There are quite a few superstitions around fishing. Many of them have faded as people realized the truth. But it’s interesting to know that people used to believe the strangest things.

FOr example, fishers used to believe that it's bad luck to fish on a boat without a name. The idea was that sea vessels had a mind of their own and naming your boat brings it to life, and it can then help you catch fish.

Another superstition has it that whistling was bad luck. sailors believed that it could change the direction of the wind and ruin the trip. Some others believed that it could scare away fish.

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