"art of fishing with a rod and line," late 15c., verbal noun from angle (v.1).
It is but a sory lyfe and an yuell to stand anglynge all day to catche a fewe fisshes. [John Palsgrave, 1530]
Entries linking to angling
angle v.1
"to fish with a hook," mid-15c., from Old English angel (n.) "angle, hook, fish-hook," related to anga "hook," from Proto-Germanic *angul-, from PIE *ankulo-, suffixed form of root *ang-/*ank- "to bend" (see angle (n.)). Compare Old English angul, Old Norse öngull, Old High German angul, German Angel "fishhook." The figurative sense "catch or elicit by artful wiles" is recorded from 1580s. Related: Angled; angling.