Fishing with rod and reel, more commonly called angling, has become the most popular sport or past time in the UK.
While the sport does not reach such heights in many other parts of the World, the range of holidays and facilities in many parts of the world has seen fishermen board airplanes to many exotic destinations in pursuit of their dreams.
While some of us delight in playing more active sport, and in later life move to merely watching, or dare I say the less strenuous game of golf, anglers get their pleasures from the anticipation of a good catch, and actually have not necessarily had a bad day if they catch nothing.
Fresh air and solitude are often sufficient compensation.
The UK Culture of fresh water angling is strictly to catch, weigh, photograph and return the catch.
Many anglers keep comprehensive records of all they catch, including personal best statistics of each species and its weight.
Elsewhere that is not the case and the freshwater species are regarded as a natural part of the diet in many other parts of the world.
They are a strange breed, those anglers wading into rivers in wellies boots in all kinds of weather in search of that elusive fish! Some fish are more prized than others and the largest group is the carp anglers, with over 80,000 members on the carp forum.
They often camp by the river bank, with sometimes two or three rods, a little tent, sleeping bag and provisions for a couple of days.
There was an obituary in the national media fairly recently for a huge old carp, caught just a few times in his long life.
There has even been a memorial plaque placed at the lake where he lived.
The more common fish in the UK are roach, rudd, perch, bream and tench with the ferocious pike another prize which many seek.
In contrast, there are the game fishermen who are looking for food as well as sport.
A peg, a stretch of the bank on a trout or salmon run can be very costly indeed, with restrictions on how many fish the fly fisherman may take.
Weeks on the River Tweed are handed down through generations, prized possessions of well to do families, but even when they have paid enormous sums for a week's angling, there are still restrictions as to how many fish they may take away.
Fly fishing is often done by standing in the river, wellies boots for protection from damp and cold, but in deeper water, waterproof leggings to waist height.
Care needs to be taken in waders because if water was to get inside the wader, its weight would make it virtually impossible for the angler to move.
There are seasonal restrictions within different regions depending on the kind of fish the river or lake supports.
The spawning season is taboo, with priority being given to breeding and therefore obviously the preservation of the species.