Bass fishing is the activity of angling for the North American fish also known as the black bass. There are numerous black bass variety in North America, including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Spotted bass or Kentucky bass, Guadalupe bass, and many other species and subspecies of the genus Micropterus. They are commonly known as bass fish, but are really part of the sunfish family.
Modern bass fishing has turned into a multi-billion dollar business and the sport has evolved significantly since its beginnings in the late 1800’s. The black bass has become the second most specifically preferred fish in the United States. The sport has created a market for all sorts of fishing gear, including rods, reels, lines, lures, electronic depth and fish-finding instruments, drift boats, float tubes, and specialized bass boats

Pike - Pike range across North America and Western Europe. Pike can grow to a maximum of 6 feet, and weigh up to 70 pounds. They have a torpedo like body shape that helps them slice through the water at great speeds. This is useful when they hunt down their pray. Pike are an extremly aggresive fish with very sharp teeth. Their coloration is a grey-green with spots or stips down the sides. The pikes primary diet inclueds small fish, minnows, eels, frogs, mice, and other small animals in the water. They are becoming a prize trophy fish

It is not exactly blessed in the looks department.
In fact some divers who came across this unusual-looking fish off the Japanese coast have now nicknamed it 'Shrek' because of its bizarre features.
'Shrek' is a type of Asian sheepshead wrasse which are well-known for the odd protrusions on their head and are relatively common in the waters around Japan.

Since the start of the industrial revolution, acidity levels of the oceans have gone up 30 per cent, marine biologists say.
The new report, published by the UN Environment Programme during the Climate Change talks in Cancun, Mexico, warns that the acidification of oceans makes it harder for coral reefs and shellfish to form skeletons – threatening larger creatures that depend on them for food.
Studies have shown that clown fish – the species made famous by the movie Finding Nemo – find it harder to navigate through more acidic waters.

A Clownfish on the reef in Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua province, in Indonesia. The fish is particularly susceptible to rising acidity

They are also less likely to avoid predators, and may activity seek them out, scientists have shown.
Test on laboratory fish have found that more acidic water rewires their brains, turning them into fish with a death wish.
The report says acidification may push overstressed oceans into disaster with far reaching consequences the billions of people who rely on fish as their main protein source.
The effects of extra carbon dioxide may be greater in colder waters such as the North Sea and north Atlantic, the report says.
The damage to corals and shellfish could affect the whole food chain – hitting species such as salmon which feed on smaller shell building animals.
‘The basic chemistry of sea water is being altered on a scale unseen within fossil records over at least 20 million years,’ the report said.
Oceans are naturally alkaline – and had a pH level of about 8.2 in 1750. Since the industrial revolution, the acidity has increased by 30 per cent.
As more carbon dioxide enters the oceans it produces carbonic acid.
As the acid breaks down it makes sea water less alkaline and more acidic.
 ‘If we continue at this rate, the ocean pH will decline by a further 0.3 by the end of this century, an unprecedented 150 per cent increase in ocean acidity,’ the report states.
‘This rate of change has not been experienced for around 65 million years, since the dinosaurs became extinct.’
Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, said: ‘Ocean acidification is yet another red flag being raised, carrying planetary health warnings about the uncontrolled growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

Fish with 'human teeth' bit angler

An angler had a shock in the US - when a mystery fish bit him back with distinctly human-looking teeth.

Frank Yarborough was fishing in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, when he hooked the fish which was 5lb and nearly 1ft 8ins long.

Assuming it was a catfish, he scooped his hand in the water to pull it out, only to find his fingers clamped between what appeared to be a set of dentures.

Robert Stroud, a freshwater fisheries biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, has confirmed that samples from the fish have been sent off to determine the fish's species.

Stroud told WBTV: "This fish is more than likely a common species of Pacu, Colossama macropomum, originating from the Amazon River basin of South America and is quite common in the aquarium trade."

Pacus, a distant relative of the piranha, is a warm water fish, and not native to Lake Wylie. Biologists believe it was probably raised in an exotic fish tank and released when it got too large for the tank.

The fish is currently in a freezer in Mr Yarborough's Clover home, but unsurprisingly he has no plans to cook his catch.

A sea change: How freshwater fish slump forced medieval men to brave the oceans

Medieval fishermen first went to sea 1,000 years ago because of a steep decline in freshwater fish, according to scientists.
Researchers from Cambridge and York University studied and dated fish bones found in archaeological sites around the north-western part of Europe and compared historical records.
They found there were fewer species of freshwater fish, which became smaller over time. Both over-fishing and pollution are thought to be to blame for the decline which caused a major change in the diet of our ancestors.

One of the earliest depictions of trawling from the 5th century, Tunisia. Historical records reveal how fishing has changed over time

'At the end of the first millennium AD there is this wholesale shift in emphasis from reliance on freshwater fish towards marine species,' study co-author Dr Barrett told the BBC.
'It is not rocket science, it is just literally looking at the proportion of species that are obligatory freshwater ones, such as pike... and which ones are obligatory sea fish, such as cod and herring.'