Angling?
Seems like a strange term. Never quite understood that.
Hook=angle, ergo angling.
Bob
I didn’t know…so I did some looking around. Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia:
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an “angle” (hook).
And then it went on to say:
The use of the hook in angling is descended, historically, from what would today be called a “gorge.” The word “gorge”, in this context, comes from an archaic word meaning “throat.” Gorges were used by ancient peoples to capture fish. A gorge was a long, thin piece of bone or stone attached by its midpoint to a thin line. The gorge would be fixed with a bait so that it would rest parallel to the lay of the line. When a fish would swallow the bait, a tug on the line would cause the gorge to orient itself at right angles to the line, thereby sticking in the fish’s gullet.
So…in the interest of historical accuracy and tradition…maybe we should say we are “Gorging”?? :rolleyes:
Then angling means hooking? In that case I do a lot less angling than I thought I did:D.
I’m with rainbowchaser
Vic
Early fish hooks didn’t have the lovely bends we have on ours today. Also, no fly shops! Most folks used a simple piece of bent wire- bent into an angle. Thus, they called it “fishing with an angle”.
Chuck
I looked it up after I posted this but thought others might think it was interesting.
Thanks for the replies and clarifications.
An Angle=a hook. Interesting
So it could have been, that we would be members of the FHOL BB ??
If so, this truly would be a site of ill repute. 
Oooooooops.
So, ‘‘I had a few hits, but I couldn’t seem to angle any of them.’’ ?
Please allow me to say the following.
If other fly fishermen were to refer to me as a “fly angler”, I would feel well quenched as a fisherman of the fly.
Yes, the hook equates to the angle. The man, and his devotion to the perfect fly presented as perfectly as his devotion to the sport will allow defines an angler. I, for one, feel angling with a fly has surpassed the literal hook and evolved into more than just fly fishing. It epitomizes a fisherman that has transcended the ordinary and reached the extraordinary of angling with a fly.
Something I aspire to and will probably never attain.
E.C. Powell, an extraordinary and innovative builder of bamboo rods, always thought of himself as an angler first. He always signed off on his treatises as an angler. My good friend Dave Male, a fine builder of bamboo fishing rods, puts his building of rods on the back burner when it comes to angling for trout…of which he excels. He is a true angler, earned by many years of love and devotion to fishing for the trouts he so vehemently loves.
So, to me, angling is the ultimate when it comes to fly fishing.
Just a thought and belief on my part.
So Fly Angling Online is just fine with me!
Bob