Recreational usability of natural water areas for angling – basic evaluation parameters Angling is a very dynamically developing form of recreational activity. This, in conjunction with growing economic importance of angling in the process of managing natural lakes and ponds by fishing companies, makes it necessary to evaluate water bodies in terms of their usability for angling. Such evaluation concerns mainly the great potential of small lakes and ponds, from less than 10 up to 20 hectares in area, which cannot perform any other recreational functions, except being a component of the landscape. The present publication suggests 10 characteristics which determine the attractiveness of a water body for anglers. These characteristics were grouped in two domains, one of which concerns the natural conditions of the water environment and the other pertains to the level of angling management. The parameters applied to evaluate water basins in terms of their angling potential were selected so as to ensure that the surface area of the lakes evaluated had no influence on the final score. The characteristics were presented as relative parameters, with their rank and weight ascribed. The final score of the usability of natural water bodies for angling became a synthetic measure, which is a weighted average of the synthetic measures fromboth domains, recorded within the range of 0.000 to 1.000. Evaluation of water areas with respect to their angling function enables us to elaborate a map of the spatial location of water bodies, which should help to develop angling tourism in regions. Besides, analysis of each parameter within the environmental domain assessing the potential development of angling could provide important information for potential investors, who intend to develop the angling function of natural water bodies.