Sea has always fascinated man. Fishing has been the oldest form of earning livelihood. At present fishing is not only for making a living, but men now explore the deep seas as a passion and as a sport, particularly Deep Sea Fishing. Whether you are venturing into the sea for fishing or for pleasure, make sure you carry a jacket, sun-block cream, sun glasses, hat, cooler to bring your catch back home, rubber shoes and rain gear, if needed.

To be successful in deep sea fishing, a thorough knowledge about the methods and the equipments of fishing is necessary. Various fishing methods have evolved down the years. Fishers do not hesitate to try out innovative ideas. With the development of science and technology, innovative equipments are produced. Mechanization of gear handling has made fishing easier than before. Fibre technology has improved the performances of vessels by making it lighter than the metallic ones. Navigation and fish detection with the help of computers has made fishing less time consuming than before.

To catch fish and other aquatic resources, various types of deep sea fishing equipments are in use all round the world. Fishing equipments are classified based on the principle used, and by how they are constructed. Trawlers, nets, poles and lines, harpoons etc, are some of the modern day deep sea fishing equipments.

Trawlers are boats to which large trawl nets are attached and pulled through the water. The mesh size of the trawl nets can be modified according to the purpose of the catch and the type of the fish. The mechanism of a bottom trawl is simple. The mouth of the net is open in horizontal and vertical directions and the body of the net leads the fish inside the net. The fish gets collected at the cod end of the net, which has suitable mesh size. Using cod ends with bigger mesh size considerably reduces the mortality of fish fries in trawl nets.

Net is the main device for catching fish. Gill nets can be set at any depth from the sea surface to the seabed. Gill nets are considered to be the oldest form of net and are been in use all these years. Fish that tries to swim through this net is caught as only its head is able to pass through the net and not the remaining part of the body. As the fish recedes it gets entangled by the gills.

Drift nets are another form of gill net, which are not fixed anywhere and are allowed to drift with the current. It is used for catching wide range of fish like tuna, squid, shark and salmon. Trammel nets are like a wall of net with three layers. A fine meshed net is sandwiched between two larger meshed nets.

Handlines can be operated either from a stationary or moving vessel. The fish caught by handlines are usually of very high quality as the fish is alive when brought aboard the vessel. Long-lines are another type of fishing equipment which is used to capture cods and tunas. Long-lines can be set up for long distances and many short lines carrying baited hooks are attached to it. The size and type of fish caught is dependent on the hook size and the type of bait. Since it covers larger area in the sea, it is the most fuel efficient fishing method.

Harpoons are usually used to target mature fishes like shark, dolphins and swordfish. It has a spear and a reel attached to it. Spear fishing employs modern elastic and pneumatic powered spear guns. SOund Navigation And Ranging (SONAR) is used for acoustically locating the fishes.

Pots or creels are traps which can be operated from a vessel. It is used for capturing crabs, octopus and shell fish. Purse seins are large wall of net which encircles a shoal of fish and get them pursed or caught.

Though many of those deep sea fishing equipment enable selective fishing, some equipment like trawlers destroys the seabeds, the spawning ground of many fishes and hence environmentalists are against bottom trawling. Dynamite and cyanide fishing are prohibited by law in many parts of the world as it causes serious threats to aquatic life.