Bass fishing is the recreational fishing activity, typically via rod-based angling, for various game fishes of North America known collectively as black bass. There are numerous black bass species targeted in North America, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass or Kentucky bass, and Guadalupe bass. All black bass species are members of the sunfish family Centrarchidae.
Smallmouth bass caught on the Missouri River in Niobrara, Nebraska, U.S.
Largemouth bass (M. salmoides) caught by an angler in Iowa
M. salmoides (largemouth bass) caught by an angler in Connecticut
Example of a very young specimen of M. salmoides (largemouth bass) caught by an angler in Minnesota
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing for survival and livelihood.
Recreational fishing at sunset
Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler, published in 1653 helped popularize fly fishing as a sport. Woodcut by Louis Rhead
Trading card of the Ustonson company, an early firm specializing in fishing equipment, and holder of a Royal Warrant from the 1760s.
The Fly-fisher's Entomology by Alfred Ronalds had a great influence on the development of fly fishing when it was first published in 1836.
