Old days facts about fishing, why not? — "Big fish are worth fishing even if you don't catch one." Finnish proverb. How did people catch fish in the old days? Ancient Egyptians fished from small reed ships Nile perch, catfish, and eels and used woven nets, weir baskets, harpoons, and hook and line to catch them. The first metal barbed fish hooks appeared during the 12th dynasty. Fishing with nets, Tacuinum Sanitatis Canadensis (14th century).