Skip to main content

Is fishing a sport or a hobby? It depends…

Fishing 101: What you need to know

TeodorLazarev/Shutterstock

Some folks struggle with the idea of a sport taking place without an officially defined field, court, pitch, or course. Somehow it’s okay to accept golf, bowling, shuffleboard, and table tennis, but not fishing. Is fishing a sport or a hobby? I’ll make the case that it is both.

Sport: An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Hobby: An activity done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure.

Fisherman gutting fish
Drew Farwell/Unsplash

Fishing is a sport

Fishing is a challenging but fun water sport suited for vacations, recreation, and sometimes, for competitive play. Anyone who has ever tried it knows that fishing can lead to success or failure. Catching a fish requires knowledge, skill, and physical ability. Competition is part of the equation, too — angler versus fish, and angler versus angler.

Some naysayers argue that putting a boat into the water, then drifting around with a line in the water while kicking back and enjoying a few beverages is not a sport. Well, they are wrong. Is golf not a sport simply because some players drive golf carts? There are aspects of fishing that may not appear as a sport to those with a particular bias, but fishing is sport nonetheless.

An angler must acquire the knowledge to plan a fishing trip. For example, if they want to catch trout, they have to fish in a stream or lake where trout live, using equipment of the right size and strength to catch trout without being too heavy or light. They have to choose the right lure, or more precisely, bring a selection of lures most likely to attract trout, given the time of year, water clarity, weather conditions, and other factors. So, before they even leave home, they must have prepared mentally for the challenge ahead, much like other athletes commit to their sports.

Upon arriving at the stream or lake, the angler heads out on the water with their gear. They walk intentionally and stealthily so that the fish are not spooked by the approaching shadow or vibrations transmitted through the water. They read the water with a skillful eye to determine where the fish may be located. Then, they skillfully cast the lure (that was tied to the line with just the right knot) to the preselected spot. If a fish takes the lure, the angler uses a precise motion to set the hook into the fish’s lip; otherwise, the fish gets away. As a sign of good sportsmanship, anglers often use barbless hooks that make landing the fish more difficult, in order to avoid damage when removing the hook from the fish’s lip.

As the angler reels in the fish, they must be careful to hold the rod at a precise angle (hence the term “angler”). They hold tension on the line and gradually reel the fish in, but if the fish pulls back too hard, they let it take out the line to avoid breaking it off. When the fish changes direction, slows, or stops, the angler again takes up the slack and works to bring the fish in. The fight may last 30 seconds, or it could go on for several minutes. All the while, the angler is standing, walking, and wading on uneven ground, over boulders, under tree branches, and in chest-deep water. Even when things seemingly go perfectly, there is no guarantee of a catch until it is in hand.

Oh, and by the way, let’s not forget that, like other athletes, anglers follow rules. They purchase a license, and in some cases such as trout fishing or saltwater fishing, they buy additional licensing. They must abide by rules dictating where they can fish, the type of equipment they can use, whether or not they can keep a fish that they catch, and more. Only in fishing, when you break the rules you pay a fine, go to jail, and your truck may be confiscated.

fly fishing
GROGL/Shutterstock / Shutterstock

Fishing is a hobby, too

Like other sports, fishing requires numerous mental and physical skills in order to achieve success. The only way to find real success fishing is to patiently dedicate time and resources to learning and practice. While there may be considerable downtime during a fishing trip, the physical acts of casting and landing a fish require specific, precise movements that are intuitive — they must be learned. An active day fishing, catching multiple large, aggressive fish, requires stamina. Catching sunfish in a pond with a 4-year-old is the fishing equivalent to shooting hoops in the driveway, simply a starting point.

A pro fishing for bass.
marca_propaganda/Pixabay

Is bass fishing a real sport?

You better believe it is and there’s a pretty penny in that racket. Bass fishing is also widely popular, with an estimated half a million members of the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society alone. Major League Fishing is a real thing, built around tournaments with significant prize payouts, kind of like golf. These gatherings take place all over the nation, involve the best fisherman in the land, and are extremely competitive. Quantity and quality tend to produce the winners, as in most fish and the largest fish caught. Full-time pro fishermen, like pro golfers or top chefs, can do quite well for themselves.

Want more fishing content? Here’s our fly-fishing guide and some fishing tips for beginners. Like to cook and eat fish? Be sure to pair seafood and wine and expert tips for cooking salmon.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the U.S., alpine touring (2nd) and splitboarding (5th) also rank high
Some like small courts, some like wide-open backcountry
A group of people playing a game of pickleball.

The stats are in for 2023, and it tells us that Pickleball is the undeniable frontrunner in growth over the past four years. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), the racket sport has grown over 170% in the past four years. But it's not alone in seeing enormous growth. Sports participation has continued to grow as we move out of the pandemic, including several outdoor activities — most notably winter sports — and previously fringe sports.

Ingrained in our human nature is the need to feel part of something big that connects us to others. Movements, sports, and ideologies all fit this bill, and the more people who take part, the more we feel validated in our desire to play or push ourselves in that sport. Marginalized or new sports may appeal to those willing to take a risk on an all-new activity, but until that sport gets some traction, you might end up spending hundreds of dollars on a short-lived hobby.

Read more
Time to wake up: Climate change gave us our hottest summer ever and the Earth is in meltdown, U.N. says
We're entering a whole new era of climate change. "Climate breakdown has begun," the U.N. warns
Wild bushfires burning in Tasmania, Australia.

If it seems like this summer, and 2023 in general, has been a wild one weather-wise, you’re not imagining things. In North America, Canada had its worst wildfire season ever, by far, and much of the U.S. continued to break high-temperature records in July and August, only to break them again a few days later. It’s not just happening here, of course, but worldwide. The bottom line: We’re entering a whole new era of climate change, folks.

Earlier this month, the United Nations weather agency confirmed that the last three months were indeed the hottest on record. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, “The dog days of summer are not just barking; they are biting.” But his might be the most sobering warning we’ve seen from any expert on the matter: “Our planet has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun.” The keyword is breakdown. There’s no denying the situation is dire, but it’s not irreversible — yet.

Read more
Add these East Coast ski resorts to your winter plans
Skiing and snowboarding at these East Coast resorts is fantastic
Sugarloaf ski resort

There are two things the East Coast doesn't lack, mountain ranges and formidable winters. East of the Mississippi River, incredible ski resorts let you challenge some of the East's best mountains — like those in northern New York’s Adirondacks, Vermont’s Green Mountains, New Hampshire's White Mountains, and the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania and West Virginia — have been drawing skiers for nearly a century, since the days when slopes were serviced only with rope tows and solely reliant on the natural powder provided by Mother Nature.

While the East Coast may not have the acreage or the altitude of the West’s most iconic ski resorts, the region’s resorts still have plenty to offer, from vertiginous steeps and spellbinding glades to meticulously groomed cruisers perfect for novices. As this season ramps up and the snow starts to settle on the mountaintops, we're getting to that time of year when you should really have something booked for skiing. But isn't it time you tried somewhere new, or perhaps a little closer to home by hitting the slopes at some of the best East Coast ski resorts?

Read more