The Doctor fishing in 2372.
Fishing was a sport and recreational pastime. For many civilizations, it was first a means of nourishment and/or a commercial industry. The primary purpose was to entice a species of fish or marine creature onto a hook with the help of a colorful lure or bait that would be held at the end of a pole. Fishing was also done with a net or spear.
Recreational fishing[]
Locations[]
Lake Cataria on Betazed was known for fishing, swimming, and boating. Temtibi Lagoon was a prime fishing spot on Risa. (LUG RPG module: Planets of the UFP) The planet Riviera was also a popular destination for fishing. (FASA RPG module: The Federation) Lerais II offered plentiful fishing opportunities. (VAN novel: Open Secrets)
Outside of San Francisco on Earth, fishing and hiking were possible in numerous recreation areas. (Last Unicorn RPG - Starfleet Academy module: A Cadet's Guide to Sector 001 Earth)
By the 23rd century, only catch-and-release fishing had been allowed in the Scottish Highlands for centuries. (TOS novel: The Fearful Summons) An unpredictable climate there made fishing challenging, even in summer. (TOS novel: The Last Roundup)
In the 2280s, Nimbus III was advertised as a fishing destination. (TOS movie: The Final Frontier)
The planet Lakeland's economy was supported by water sports and numerous fishing locales. In the late 2280s decade, the Lakeland Tourist Bureau sought fishing guides for 900 credits per month. (FASA RPG modules: The Federation, Trader Captains and Merchant Princes)
Holodeck fishing[]
In the 2360s, William T. Riker kept a Curtis Creek fishing holodeck program aboard the USS Enterprise-D. (TNG episode: "Future Imperfect")
In the 2360s, Jake Sisko and his father fished at various locations via the holodeck aboard the USS Saratoga, including trout fishing in the Adirondack Mountains (DS9 - YA novel: Arcade), and they even went ice fishing once (DS9 novel: Rising Son). They brought their favorite holoprogram, of a fishing pond, with them when they moved to Deep Space 9 in 2369. (DS9 episode: "Emissary")
The first time Jake invited Nog fishing, the Ferengi wanted it to be a competition, then asked what fish were. (DS9 - YA novel: The Star Ghost)
In 2372, The Doctor went fishing using the Earth park simulation on board the USS Voyager. (VOY comic: "The Storm")
In Voyager's Fair Haven simulation, Kilkee was known for trout fishing. (VOY episode: "Fair Haven")
In 2375, Picard brought Data along to fish for an enormous swordfish named "Big Arnold" aboard the fishing boat Hornblower. When Data asked if it would be caught that day, Picard explained that he felt today was the day, but that the holodeck was programmed for randomness, explaining the value of anticipation. Unfortunately, after actually getting the creature on a line, they encountered a whirlpool. Meanwhile, Lady Q, Q, and q had gone fishing themselves for whale-sized creatures on the ocean floor of Dante IX, and had been caught in a similar phenomenon. Both groups were dragged along, together, toward an abyss. (TNG novel: I, Q)
Fishermen[]
Thousands of years ago on Wsor in the Tkon Empire, Kelica udHosn fished for birds from a leased solo lifter using a polynitrated filament baited with pulp of raw ewone. As she caught an avian, the volcano Proutu Mountain below her erupted unexpectedly. Dead birds killed by volcanic fumes rained down on her lifter, disabling the craft and causing it to crash. (TNG - The Q Continuum novel: Q-Zone)
Three thousand years ago, Bajoran Emissary Kilikarri caught 100 fish and the Scroll of Prophecy in his net while fishing in the Shakiristi River near Riis on Bajor. (DS9 - Rebels novel: The Courageous)
In the 21st century, Henry Archer went on a fishing trip when he was 14 years old. (ENT novel: Daedalus's Children)
Charles Tucker III and his mother went deep-sea fishing along the Gulf Coast in the 2150s. (ENT novel: The Good That Men Do)
Tucker and Jonathan Archer went on a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico once. Archer kept a framed photo from that day in his ready room aboard the Earth Starfleet starship Enterprise. (ENT - The Romulan War novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)
Retired Hospital Director Donovan Eames either fished or went for a run before sunrise each day on Benecia in the 2240s. (DSC novel: Drastic Measures)
Philip Boyce enjoyed fishing on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, either surf casting or fishing from a dingy. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory)
Joseph M'Benga wore a fishing hat when he went fly fishing. (SNW episode: "Spock Amok") Harry Holcomb wore a baseball cap when he fished. (FASA RPG module: The Orions: Book of Common Knowledge)
Peter Lawrence retired from Section 31 after 20 years of service, officially in order to fish on new worlds, but he ended up working for Samuel T. Cogley instead. (TOS novel: The Case of the Colonist's Corpse)
Security Chief Barry Giotto's grandfather owned a fishing boat with a beat-up hull. (TOS - The Captain's Table novel: War Dragons)
James T. Kirk enjoyed fishing. As a boy, he and his brother George Samuel Kirk, Jr. often fished together during hot summers in Iowa. (TOS novel: The Vulcan Academy Murders) They even fished in a river on horseback. (TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure) Jim sometimes fished rather than tend to his chores. (TOS novel: First Frontier) He dug out and stocked a pond behind the family's barn for trout fishing. (TOS novel: Best Destiny) Later, he owned a cabin on Centaurus and fished along the Farragut River. (TOS novel: Time for Yesterday) In 2269, he fished at a mountain lake during a week of shore leave on Valeria. (TAS - Log Two novelization: The Lorelei Signal)
Diego Reyes went fishing when he was a boy. After his dishonorable discharge from Starfleet in 2268, he was allowed to choose a place to retire. He selected Caldos II and idly considered restoring an old boat for charter fishing. (VAN novel: What Judgments Come)
In 2269, Salman Nensi looked forward to retiring as Memory Prime's Chief Administrator to fish in the grand canals on Mars. (TOS novel: Memory Prime) In 2293, Dr. Bernard Hans similarly planned to fish in the canals after retiring, and also to visit Venus and Oregon. (TOS novel: The Fearful Summons)
Olga Litowinsky enjoyed surf fishing. (TOS video game: The Kobayashi Alternative)
Leonard McCoy claimed not to like fishing. On one trip, he had Kirk catch-and-release a ten-pound trout. (TOS novel: Doctor's Orders) In 2293, Kirk, McCoy, Nyota Uhura, and Spock fished aboard Cataluna, though Uhura and Spock were more interested in tracking fish. Their lines ended up snaring a 20-meter-long creature but they had to release it, as they were called away on a mission. (TOS novel: Mind Meld)
William T. Riker had fond memories of fishing as a boy, describing it as endless hours spent with nature, usually not catching anything. (LD video game: The Badgey Directive event: "Dead Giveaway") When he was ten, he would go fishing before school with his friends. He considered it a wonderful means of relaxation. (TNG - A Time to... novel: A Time to Love) He enjoyed fishing on Prince William Sound for salmon. (TNG - Strange New Worlds IV short story: "Prodigal Son") On one trip, he caught a salmon, but his father reeled it in for him. (TNG episode: "The Icarus Factor") While they fished, his father would teach him about anticipating, thinking, and then acting. (TNG - A Time to... novel: A Time to Hate) Later, as a teenager, Riker would serve on an Alaskan fishing vessel. (TNG - The Q Continuum novel: Q-Zone)
B'Elanna Torres and her father fished on camping trips. (VOY episode: "Lineage")
A malfunctioning fridge ruined the fish Kuri Dennings and her brother had caught once on Catualla. (DS9 - Avatar, Book One novel: )
Captain Robert DeSoto was an avid fly fisherman and kept a mounted display of fishing lures in his ready room aboard the USS Hood. (Last Unicorn RPG module: The Crusoe Effect)
Darrah Mace fished on a lake near the Yolja River on Bajor when he was younger. (DS9 - Terok Nor novel: Day of the Vipers)
Joson Wabak learned that he suffered from motion sickness while fishing in rough waters with his brother. (DS9 - Rebels novel: The Courageous)
In 2360, Nyota Uhura managed to convince Leonard McCoy to stop fishing for trout and aid a medical team. (TLE novel: Catalyst of Sorrows)
As a child, Jean-Luc Picard enjoyed fishing with his father Maurice Picard at a lake near their home with rods and reels, baited with worms. They cooked anything they caught. (TNG novel: I, Q)
In 2365, Picard observed fishing on Lorca, with the locals using hand-drawn fishing lines. A large catch was made within two hours, enough for the group to eat for a few days. Werjun such as Reba were also able to locate and pull fish out of underground springs by hand. (TNG novel: Masks)
In 2367, Picard tried spearfishing on Domarus IV. He made three spears by hand but none hit the mark. After retrieving the spears, eventually he was able to catch a fish, and after cleaning and cooking it, considered it a very satisfying meal. (TNG novel: Perchance to Dream)
In 2370, Ivan Gruzinov looked forward to retiring from Starfleet so he could raise children and go fishing. (TNG novel: Blaze of Glory)
Beverly Crusher kept a holographic photo of her husband Jack R. Crusher holding a trout caught on a fishing trip. She still had the photo in 2376. (TNG - The Genesis Wave novel: Book 2)
In 2379, Q was fishing with his son in a type of cosmic river. His hook snagged a jellyfish, resulting the destruction of the Bolgar's homeworld. (NF novel: Missing in Action)
Commercial fishing[]
The Caitian civilization was initially fishing-based, then transitioned to agriculture. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update)
Harbortown on Andor was founded as a group of fishing settlements. (DS9 - Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume One novella: Andor: Paradigm)
On Earth two thousand years ago, Paris was a Roman-occupied fishing town. (DS9 - YA novel: Trapped in Time)
Dolphins were sometimes unintentionally caught and killed in commercial fishing nets. (TTN novel: Orion's Hounds)
Lower-status Klingons residing on Qo'noS's small islands were primarily fishermen. (FASA RPG module: The Klingons: Game Operation Manual)
One of Bajor's fishing villages was Karor. (TNG novel: The Best and the Brightest)
On Nausicaa, huge Nausicaan behemoths sometimes interfered with the fishing industry. (LUG RPG module: Planets of the UFP)
On Romulus, fishing and whaling were primary industries in Daal'Gareth province and in the Tallesreld region. (LUG RPG module: The Way of D'era: The Romulan Star Empire)
In 2269, Sealons conquered Trellisane and claimed ownership of the planet's oceans, but then granted the Trellisane people extensive fishing rights. (TOS novel: The Trellisane Confrontation)
By 2274, Nordstral Pharmaceuticals over-fished plankton-like magnetic biota in Nordstral's oceans to such an extent that it began to destabilize the planet's geology. (TOS novel: Ice Trap)
In 2278, a neighboring world's unlimited fishing rights in Akkalla's seas were at risk with a recent discovery that sentient lifeforms lived in its oceans. (TOS novel: Deep Domain)
In the 2280s within the Triangle sector, Navassa V was known for large-scale commercial fishing, and Morning Garden relied on fishing for economic stability. The undeveloped Brozul on Broz supported themselves by fishing. (FASA RPG module: The Triangle)
In the 24th century, Bolarus IX supported vibrant aquaculture and fishing industries. (Decipher RPG module: Worlds)
Rhea McAdams' mother owned several fishing boats, including the Ryo-oh-ki, used for commercial fishing in Japan. After growing up packing and cleaning fish every day, she eventually came to despise fish, and focused on security instead of marine biology at Starfleet Academy. (TNG novel: Immortal Coil)