Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/feeders, nets, spears, gaffs and traps, as well as wires, snaps, beads, spoons, blades, spinners, clevises and tools that make it easy to tie knots.
An angler on the Kennet and Avon Canal, England, surrounded by his tackle
A completed assembly of tackle ready for fishing is sometimes called a rig, such as this Carolina rig.
Fishing line with hooks attached
Three types of small lead sinkers
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often illegal techniques such as electrocution, blasting and poisoning.
Stilts fishermen, Sri Lanka
Fishing with nets, Mexico
Fishing tools from the Mesolithic and Neolithic period
Painting of A Brixham trawler by William Adolphus Knell. The painting is now in the National Maritime Museum.