Abstract: Apparatus for use by sportsmen, especially fishermen, for accurately recording elapsed time between the catching of a fish and the landing of same includes a fishing rod, a fishing reel with line mounted on said rod in conventional manner, a lure with hook at the free end of the fishing line, together with a timing device of digital type mounted on a handle portion of the fishing rod in a position which is easily viewable by a user of the equipment. A suitable actuating button, or buttons, is included with the timing device for the purpose of starting and stopping the stop-watch portion thereof. Additional actuating buttons may be provided for effecting illumination of the display of the timing device, and/or other timing functions of the device.Another embodiment provides an analog type timing device as well as mounting upon the fishing reel itself rather than the fishing rod handle.