Are you an angler, or a fisherman?

[Peter Waller]

Interestingly Colin MacHardy, who writes in Coarse Fisherman, Anglings intellectual answer to Mills & Boon, has raised the same subject, by pure coincidence. Colin suggests that the knobs & snobs, with their pins & canes go angling, whilst yer actual salt of the earth, us working types, go fishing! Is he right?

 

Personally I raised the subject following a chat with a local tackle dealer. And here we resurect an old chestnut, maybe. Apparently, so I was told, those who fish for carp prefer to be called 'carp fishermen' whilst those who fish for anything else are 'anglers'! Please note, I am quoting, honest!! There is NO HIDDEN AGENDA.

 

I would have thought that a simple explanation was that an angler fishes for pleasure and a fisherman fishes for a living. Seems reasonable enough.

[poledark]

I am an angler, but I go fishing, which by definition makes me a fisherman.

We all "go fishing", how many of us "go angling"?

 

Even when we wish to state a particular preference i.e. carp, pike, roach etc we always end it with "fishing".

So we are fisherman, but we practise the art of Angling.

 

But then there are "Sea anglers", a term in very common use, so are they the true anglers?

 

Certainly the game anglers can't lay much claim as they are all referred to as fisherman.

 

 

 

Den

 

[ 01 March 2002, 07:19 PM: Message edited by: poledark ]

[trent.barbeler]

Hi Peter,

 

Collins says that the definition of an angler is one who fishes for sport.

 

Strang how I like the label "angler", probably due to the mystery of going fishing as a lad reading all the magical stuff one reads as a child. On the other hand, when someone in my village see's me loading up the car with tackle on my drive and asks, " off for a spot of fishing then Lee", I reply yes and never think twice about myself accepted as "going fishing" by others or even myself.

 

Angler? Fisherman? Oops, sorry Lyn, "fisherperson". Who really cares.

 

Surely it is the pleasure we all derive from the pure act of going fishing/angling that really counts at the end of the day.

 

And; Who amongst our number ever thinks of labels when the rod is bent over and the fish in our dreams surges away?

 

Thats angling. Or er, fishing.

 

Best regards Peter. We speak soon. And thats angling er fishing as well.

 

Lee.

[RONAN]

I like to be called a fisherman...

RONAN

[bushwacker]

Hiya All,

I don`t really mind which they call me,

but I thought the same as some of the others that a fisherman was doing it comercially,and an angler did it for sport/fun.

But there again if I`m catching i`m a fisherman, if i`m not then i`m an angler.

[Leon Roskilly]

A Fisherman catches fish.

 

A netsman is a fisherman who uses a net.

 

An angler is a fisherman who uses an angle.

 

An angle is the old name for a fishing rod.

 

Well that's what they called it in my day!

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Peter Waller]

Leon Roskilly:

A Fisherman catches fish.

 

A netsman is a fisherman who uses a net.

 

An angler is a fisherman who uses an angle.

 

An angle is the old name for a fishing rod.

 

Well that's what they called it in my day!

 

Tight Lines - leon

Leon, just how ancient are you? Pre lancewood, still using horse hair?

 

[ 02 March 2002, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]

[Leon Roskilly]

quote:Leon, just how ancient are you? Pre lancewood, still using horse hair?

Horsehair? No, I keep up to date with all the latest innovations.

 

I reckon these new catgut tupe lines are the cat's whiskers!

 

Mind you they tend to twist a bit when using gentles as bait

 

Tight Lines - leon

[Matt P]

So most of us it seems prefer to be called anglers because we fish for pleasure and reckon fishermen fish for a living. But apparently commercial fishermen in Grimsby and places don't like to be called fishermen, they reckon the term applies to people "who sit by rivers with a rod and line", and insist they are "trawlermen". So who are the fishermen?

[phonebush]

Peter,

Been angling for last 10 days. In the commercial world in the US there used to be a big big difference. Not so much anymore, at least I don't see the bar room fights over the terms anymore. FISHERMEN were those who used means other than rod and reel, sold the catch, and couldn't or wouldn't be very mindful of the effect their profession had on the environment. Anglers were sissys who caught their fish one at a time on a rod and reel. Trawlers were shrimp or shell fishermen. AND a test. What were the fellows who ran the lobster pots?

Phone