I changed my avatar pic this evening, while looking at trout stamps on eBay.... all because I discovered Belgium B861!
To most this is simply an artist's rendering of a rod and reel, but it really caught my attention. The reel seems to be based on a French Mitchell design that is near and dear to my heart. I have a collection of vintage Mitchell reels, each paired with a Garcia Conolon rod of the same approximate era.
My late father fished for trout with a Mitchell 308 and Conolon ultralight combo for years. As a kid, it was a rare treat to be allowed to use this equipment. While I don't have his original combo, I still use the same setup each trout season. A 50 year-old rod and reel, 4lb test monofilament, and a Worden's rooster tail (1/16 ounce, various colors). Even a little trout on ultralight gear is a fun time, and even if they aren't biting, I enjoy the quiet rhythm of casting for hours on a secluded stream.
The combo (and brownie) seen below is mine, and my daughter has the exact same rod, but with the Model 309 (left-handed) reel.
Angler and Angle are ancient words. Angle means to fish with hook and line. Angle means "hook" essentially - it does form an angle doesn't it, and the term angler has been used since 1450. Angle is from the Greek ankylos which means crooked or curved. And go back further to Sanskrit ankaĆ”-s meaning bend or hook. And even further back to the Indo-European base "ank" which means to bend. I am sure you are sorry you brought that up.
So if a facility has signs about both fishermen & anglers, and there is no reason to suspect that people might be casting nets or setting traps, I can ass-u-me that they are using the terms interchangeably?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
Generally speaking, fishing, fisheries, and fishermen refer to commercial endeavours, while angling and angler are used to describe pursuit of fish with a hook and line, usually for pleasure. Anglophiles are something altogether different, but Isaak Walton was English, and is well-known as the author of "The Compleat Angler".
Fishing is a vocation, angling is an avocation.
But when the wife asks where I'm going on a Saturday morning, I still tell her I'm going "fishing".... and sometimes, I actually do