Urban fishing: a sport accessible to all - In the news

2023-09-15 13:03:04

September 15, 2023

Fish along the quays, in the locks, on the piers of the bridges. Very trendy, the practice of fishing in urban areas is developing in many cities in France. A beneficial activity for mental and physical health, adaptable to everyone’s ability.

Fishing can be a physical activity, more or less intense depending on the form it takes. A new form has developed in recent years, in the very heart of cities: urban fishing or street fishing (street fishing). This involves fishing on different fishing spots in an urban environment, such as bridge piers, quaysides, water inlets, locks, pontoons, shores, etc.

Already practiced in various cities such as Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Narbonne and Toulouse, it is, as Michel Luchesi and Laurent Stefano indicate in their work Street fishing, easy and sporty fishing in an urban environment. It requires light equipment and “subtle and sporty techniques which require great mobility, and offer maximum sensations” to catch predatory freshwater fish including perch and pike. Often these city fishermen choose the version no-killthat is to say that they do not fish to eat but release their prey into the water without killing it.

A useful activity to relieve stress

Just like fishing in general, street fishing allows you to concentrate on an outdoor activity. The benefits are numerous. Among them, the fight against stress is not the least. “Fishing offers an opportunity to take some time off and get away from a busy, hectic life. Fishing is excellent for relaxation; the development of adaptation skills, concentration, active learning, the creation of social contacts, help to maintain positive mental health”thus develops the Departmental Federation of Rhône and the Metropolis of Lyon for Fishing and Protection of the Aquatic Environment.

This sport also offers “a whole range of low, medium and high intensity physical activity: it allows us to become more physically active at a pace that suits us, whatever our age”continues the Federation. “For our veterans, it is a valuable aid to active aging and lifelong participation in this beneficial form of outdoor exercise. »

Source : The Departmental Federation of Rhône and the Metropolis of Lyon for Fishing and the Protection of the Aquatic Environment – Street fishing: easy and sporty fishing in an urban environment, Michel Luchesi, Laurent Stefano-Vagnon. Paris, 2020
Written by : Dominique Salomon – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet