Thousands of people across the world spend their leisure time on the banks of rivers and lakes engaging in the epic battle of human against fish, but the contest could soon become embarrassingly one-sided.

Perhaps inspired by spending too many days sitting in the cold and rain without getting a single bite, a team of researchers in the US is attempting to teach fish to catch themselves.

Although there may seem to be little incentive for the fish to do this, Simon Miner of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts insisted: "It sounds crazy, but it's real."

Mr Miner and his colleagues are working on a system which would use a sound broadcast to convince the fish it is feeding time and tempt them to swim into a net.

It is hoped the research will lead to a commercial application that would enable fish farmers to allow sea bass to feed in the ocean, safe in the knowledge they will return.

The US government seems to think there is some merit in the idea and has given Mr Miner's team a £135,000 grant, but fisherman who revel in pub tales about the one that got away are likely to be less enthusiastic.

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