Angling starts in Dhaka as early as the 1960s. Bangladesh Amateur Angling Association was established in 1963 in Dhanmondi to use the Dhanmondi lake for angling. Since then Angling has become a daily passion for 300 members of the Association as an entertaining sports.

"After the registration of the Angling Association in 1968 the members established an Angling Club beside Dhanmondi lake. And the club started to manage the lake for angling with a lease from the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry," said a member of the Angling Club of Dhanmondi.

It was all going fine and anglers of the city found Dhanmondi lake a place of retreat and amusement from their busy city life. After the independence of Bangladesh the Angling Association took lease of the lake from the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry for a season starting from April to December.

The Angling Club built more than 300 wooden platforms (macha) around the lake from the Zhigatola area to Dhanmondi road 32. The members had to pay Tk. 1200 per macha for the nine-month season.

The season actually started with Independence Day on March 26.

"There were angling competitions on festival days at Dhanmondi lake and we used to start the season with a competition for anglers from all over Bangladesh," said an angler.

The fun of the game is the catch. but as expected, the angler with the biggest fish becomes the winner of the competition.

"More than 300 anglers took part in the competition for the whole day. We used to present prize like shields, cups and medals for the winners," said a member of the angling club.

However, the fishes have all been dying for a decade due to the pollution of the lake caused by industrial and household solid waste being released untreated from the Zhigatola and Dhanmondi areas. Eventually, it was the anglers who suffered most from this pollution.

"The Dhanmondi Angling Club has been asking the government for a decade to renovate the Dhanmondi lake because of the anglers' interest", said Abu Taleb, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Amateur Angling Association.

Because of the recent renovation of Dhanmondi lake the anglers had to stop angling and wait patiently to see the sport of fishing become popular once again.

But they were in for a shock after the renovation as the lake was not given back to the Angling Club.

"Dhaka City Corporation had even dismantled the Angling Club building from the lakeside, whereas the club is included in the original renovation plan of the lake," said a member of the club.

There are allegations that influential people are now undertaking fisheries businesses illegally in the Dhanmondi lake area, whereas DCC is not getting any revenue from this lake.

The Angling Club wanted their sport back by any cost. "We have paid Tk 2.5 lakhs as a revenue for a season before the renovation of the lake. We are ready to pay any revenue demanded by DCC for the angling sports", said Shahidul Haque, the Director of Water Development Board and a member of Dhanmondi Angling Club.

The amateur anglers are going for angling in the government and private ponds. The rate for the government ponds for angling is Tk. 1,000 for the day in the Shangshad Bhaban area, Tk. 500 in Dhaka Zoo and in National Park Tk. 250 per angle.

But to many anglers the price of the ticket is beyond their range. Anglers could not resist themselves from visiting the Dhanmondi lake even now.

"I am coming to this place for 40 years everyday. It is a habit which I can't live without", said A.T.M. Samsuddin, the Senior Assistant Editor of Jonokantha.

This is a testing time for the anglers' sporting spirit of patience to survive in the hope of getting back their sporting lake.