Bangladesh has more than 1000 big and small rivers, that creates around 24,000 km of waterways covering 1.5 million square kilometers of water-land .There are also 47 major haors (wetland ecosystem), more or less 6,300 beels of different sizes which cover one third of the total area of Bangladesh. The total area of Haor-type wetland ecosystem in Bangladesh is 80,000 square kilometers. Beside these, there are unknown amount of ponds, dighis (giant ponds) and reservoirs in it.  So, the whole country can be considered as an angling ground.

The river system of Bangladesh has been categorized into five major systems. The Jamuna-Brahmaputra system (292 kilometers), the Padma-Ganges system (258-kilometers), the Surma-Meghna system (669 kilometers), the Padma-Meghna system and the Karnaphuli system (420 kilometers). And these river system has created an extremely sophisticated ecological system. It is easily imaginable that there are plenty of angling locations in Bangladesh.

The Jamuna-Brahmaputra is 292 kilometers long and extends from northern Bangladesh to its confluence with the Padma. Originating as the Yarlung Tsangpo River in China’s Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) and flowing through India’s state of Arunachal Pradesh, where it becomes known as the Brahmaputra (“Son of Brahma”), it receives waters from five major tributaries that total some 740 kilometers in length. At the point where the Brahmaputra meets the Tista River in Bangladesh, it becomes known as the Jamuna. The Jamuna is notorious for its shifting subchannels and for the formation of fertile silt islands (chars). No permanent settlements can exist along its banks.

The second system is the Padma-Ganges, which is divided into two sections: a 258-kilometer segment, the Ganges, which extends from the western border with India to its confluence with the Jamuna some 72 kilometers west of Dhaka, and a 126-kilometer segment, the Padma, which runs from the Ganges-Jamuna confluence to where it joins the Meghna River at Chandpur. The Padma-Ganges is the central part of a deltaic river system with hundreds of rivers and streams—some 2,100 kilometers in length—flowing generally east or west into the Padma.

The third network is the Surma-Meghna River System, which courses from the northeastern border with India to Chandpur, where it joins the Padma. The Surma-Meghna, at 669 kilometers by itself the longest river in Bangladesh, is formed by the union of six lesser rivers. Below the city of Kalipur it is known as the Meghna. When the Padma and Meghna join together, they form the fourth river system—the Padma-Meghna—which flows 145 kilometers to the Bay of Bengal.

This mighty network of four river systems flowing through the Bangladesh Plain drains an area of some 1.5 million square kilometers. The numerous channels of the Padma-Meghna, its distributaries, and smaller parallel rivers that flow into the Bay of Bengal are referred to as the Mouths of the Ganges. Like the Jamuna, the Padma-Meghna and other estuaries on the Bay of Bengal are also known for their many chars.

A fifth river system, unconnected to the other four, is the Karnaphuli. Flowing through the region of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hills, it cuts across the hills and runs rapidly downhill to the west and southwest and then to the sea. The Feni, Karnaphuli, Sangu, and Matamuhari—an aggregate of some 420 kilometers—are the main rivers in the region. The port of Chittagong is situated on the banks of the Karnaphuli. The Karnaphuli Reservoir and Karnaphuli Dam are located in this area. The dam impounds the Karnaphuli River’s waters in the reservoir for the generation of hydroelectric power.

All these systems have made Bangladesh one of the most ideal places for fishing in the whole world. Beside these rivers Bangladesh offers great opportunity of saltwater angling in the Bay of Bengal. It has more than 120 kilometers of shore line and many hotels and resorts to support both shore and deep sea fishing.

Source: Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia.