Angeler

I love to fish.

It is one of the things that has followed me from my childhood into my adulthood.

I’ve often wondered why a fisherman is called an angler. I discovered the etymology of the word means “one who fishes with an angle.” The word “angul” is from the old German meaning a hook.

So, an angler is not someone who is enthralled by geometric patterns though I’ll admit there is some calculation and mathematics involved in successful fishing.

One must cast at the correct angle (pun intended) in order for the lure to land in the correct spot in whatever body of water the angler is angling in. The line is of limited length. If there is not enough line on the reel, the place where the angler believes the fish are waiting will not be reached.

The cast. The return. The repetition. The circles emanating out from where the lure has landed. The waiting. The strike. The fish captured by the angle. The contentment. The release. Rinse. Repeat. Calculate the angle of the next cast.

Or is “angle” simply a garbled rendition of “angel” where the l and the e have simply been switched? If I, like Icarus, have fallen into the sea, will there be a golden line cast from heaven to capture me, send me soaring again?

We’ve been made a little lower than the angels. Have we no wings? Is the itching in my shoulder blades the faint memory of flight? Perhaps as noted before, I am simply Exocoetidea, a fish out of water, seeking flight, yet still tied to the depths.

I think I will call myself an “angeler,” in the hope that on a quiet morning on some sacred shore, the mist rising like incense off the water, I will rediscover my wings.

💧 Follow a raindrop from the Highlands to the sea…

Join award-winning naturalist Stephen Rutt for our June Walking Writers Salon as we explore The Waterlands — rivers, wetlands, and what water reveals about our changing world.

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Before I became a drystone waller I knew nothing about how walls were built, or by whom. That's the thing about drystone, it's everywhere, it's ancient, it's extraordinary, and most of us walk straight past it.

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It’s been nearly five years in the making, and now it’s almost here! The Trees of My Country: A Natural History of India in 50 Trees, published by Aleph, will hit the bookstores soon.

It took me across India, this great country of the trees, from the steamy forests of the Andaman and Nicobar islands to the high Himalaya, from the coral atolls of Lakshadweep to the far reaches of Arunachal […]

My book The Wild Heart of India is now out in paperback as a revised edition with five new essays. Published by Westland, the book has a brand new cover, a beautiful piece of art by Sartaj Ghuman, whose illustrations grace the pages inside as well.

Front cover

Back cover

The book is now making it’s way into bookstores across India. The first edition in hardback had a somewhat quiet and […]

My book The Wild Heart of India is now out in paperback as a revised edition with five new essays. Published by Westland, the book has a brand new cover, a beautiful piece of art by Sartaj Ghuman, whose illustrations grace the pages inside as well. The book is now making it's way into bookstores across India. #books #naturewriting #wildlife #biodiversity #India #indiebookstores #theWildHeartOfIndia

https://shankarraman.in/2026/05/18/paperback-writer/