Fishing Luggage

By Ivor Mouat Platinum Quality Author

Fishing luggage sounds a bit like something a fisherman might take with him on holiday, and in a way it is. Fishermen, or fisher women for that matter too, have an increasingly large amount of equipment to carry around with them. There are all kinds of hooks, lines, sinkers, bait, rods, and other things that most people have never heard of. That's where fishing luggage comes in; it's the bags and containers, cool boxes and wallets, and cases and buckets that those with a passion for fishing use to cart all their bits and pieces around.

Fishing or angling is the sport of catching fish. It can be either fresh water or saltwater fish caught in rivers and lakes or the sea. Like hunting, fishing came about for a very practical reason; people needed to eat and fish taste good. It certainly isn't anything new either. An ancient Egyptian rock carving from 4,000 years ago shows people dangling lines from rods in the river Nile.

The Treatyse of Fysshynge With an Angle was arguably the first proper publication to describe fishing, or fly fishing at least, as a sport. It was published in 1496. A dozen different kinds of artificial flies are described in this book and surprisingly, six of them are still in use today. Accessories such as flies and lines that can be changed around need to be carried in some way, and while the term fishing luggage is not specifically mentioned in this book, it is apparent that some kind of carrying container is commonly being used in the late 15th century by those who love to fish.

It wasn't until the 17th century that angling really took off. By this time a wire loop at the tip of the rod became common to assist the line running through. This was needed because of the invention of the reel. As fishing moved into the 18th century, accessories of all kinds became common and were regularly used by all the keenest of anglers. There still wasn't any kind of standardised luggage to carry it all around, but that was just around the corner.

Today, like travel luggage, fishing luggage can come in matching sets. There is even a hint of designer luggage for the more fashion aware angler. Buying matching sets does have its advantages as there is usually a bag or container to suit every need. However, the dyed-in-the-wool angler might not be so keen to have matching sets of luggage, believing that getting the right piece of luggage for a particular need is the best way to go, thereby building the luggage set up slowly as and when required.

Anglers tend to walk a fair distance to where the action takes place. Lugging around countless pieces of fishing luggage just because you can is probably not such a good idea. Choose your luggage carefully and sensibly. Buy the most essential pieces first and expand from there. This is not an expensive things to do, so don't skimp and save; get sturdy luggage items that will do the job and last the course. Then all you have to do is concentrate on what you enjoy doing most - waiting for that big one to bite.

Ivor Mouat is a keen writer with many interests. One of his websites is dedicated to fishing and all the tackle and fishing luggage that comes with the sport.