Fishing Glossary

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Dundee Sportsman's Club Inc. Glossary of Fishing Terminology

A

A Glossary

Acidity - The degree of sourness of a usually water soluble substance. Acidity is measured in pH, with 7 being neutral and 2 being a strong acid.

Action - Measure of rod performance that describes the elapse time between flexion and return to straight configuration, ranges from slow to fast, with slow being the most amount of flexion. Also refers to the strength of the rod (light, meduim and heavy) with light being a limber rod and a heavy stout rod. The movement of a lure due to its built-in properties.

Active Fish - Fish that are feeding heavily and striking aggressively.

Adipose Fin - On some species the fatty fin located between the dorsal and tail fin.

Air Bladder - A tough walled gas filled sac in the upper part of the body cavity of many bony fishes just beneath the vertebral column; its principal function is to offset the weight of heavier tissue such as bone. In some fishes used for sound production or respiration.

Alewife - A food fish belonging to the herring family.

Algae - Simple plant organisms.

Alkalinity - Measure of the amount of acid neutralizing bases.

Alley - An opening between patches of emergent weeds; also the parallel space separating emergent weeds and the shoreline.

Ambloplites rupestris - Latin name for Rock Bass

Amp - Amperes - Measure of electrical current.

Amp Hour - Storage capacity measurement of a deep-cycle batter obtained by multiplying the current flow in amps by the hours that it's produced.

Anadromous - Fish that ascend rivers to spawn

Anal Fin - The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.

Angler - Person using pole or rod and reel to catch fish.

Angling - Usually refers to the recreational catching of fish by means of hook and line; sport fishing; game fishing.

Annelids - Members of the phylum Annelida, a group of worm-like invertebrates whose bodies consist of a series of rings or segments (e.g., earthworms, leeches).

Anti-reverse - System that prevents reels from spinning in reverse.

Artificial Baits - Lures or flies made of wood, plastic, metal, feathers, or similar inert material.

B

B Glossary

Backlash - A tangle of line caused by spool overrun on a baitcasting reel. Also referred to as Professional Overrun or Spaghette.

Backwater - Shallow area off a river.

Bag Limit - Restriction in the number of fish that an angler may retain, generally on a per trip or daily basis.

Bail - Metal, semi-circular arm on an open-face spinning reel that engages the line after a cast.

Baitcasting - Fishing with a revolving-spool reel and baitcasting rod; reel mounted on topside of rod.

Baitfish - Small fish often eaten by predators.

Bar - Long ridge in a body of water.

Basic Needs - Refers to the three survival requirements of fish: reproduction, security, and food.

Bay - Major indentation in the shoreline of a lake or reservoir.

Benthic - Occurring at or near the bottom of a body of water.

Biology - The study of living things.

Biomass - The aggregate amount of living matter or a specific species within a specific habitat. The total number of a specific species in a specific habitat.

Black Bass - Term used to describe several types of bass; the most common being smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass.

Blank - The main component of a finished fishing rod, minus the guides and handle.

Blue Bird Skies - A term used to describe bright, sunny, blue sky conditions that often makes fishing tougher.

Brackish - Water of intermediate salinity between seawater and freshwater.

Break - Distinct variation in otherwise constant stretches of cover, structure, or bottom type.

Breakline - A line of abrupt change in depth, bottom type, or water clarity in the feature of otherwise uniform structure.

Brushline - The inside or the outside edge of a stretch of brush.

Bucketmouth - Largemouth Bass - A black bass, body green-shaded with a broad, continuous dark stripe along each side, belly white to yellowish, dorsal fin almost completely separated between spiny and soft portion and lower jaw extends past the gold-colored eye. Also called bigmouth bass, green trout, green bass.

Bullet Sinker - A cone shaped piece of lead, zinc or steel of varying weights that slides up and down the line.

Buzzbait - An artificial lure with propeller-style blades that stirs up the water surface upon retrieve; a type of topwater lure.

Buzzing - Retrieving spinnerbaits or buzzbaits along the surface so they splash water.

C

C Glossary

C & R - Catch and Release.

CPR - Catch, Photograph, Release.

Cabbage - Any of several species of weeds, located above the surface or underwater.

Caddis - An insect of the order Trichoptera, characterized by swept-back wings; also, an insect that goes through a complete metamophisis much like a butterfly.

Canal - A man made waterway used for navigation.

Canoe - A light, long, narrow boat with sharp ends and curved sides propelled by hand-driven paddles.

Carolina Rig - A deep-water assembly comprised of a heavy slip sinker, plastic bead, barrel swivel, 16-to 18-inch leader, hook, and soft-plastic bait such as a worm, lizard, or crawfish. Rigged weedless with the hook buried in the body of the bait, this combination is excellent for fishing ledges, points, sandbars, and humps.

Channel - The bed of a stream or river.

Chugger - Topwater plug with a (concave or "cupped") head designed to make a splash when pulled sharply.

Cisco - Any of several whitefishes found primarily in the Great Lakes region.

Clevis - The swivel device to which a spinner blade is attached and which allows the blade to rotate.

Cold Front - A weather condition accompanied by high, clear skies, and a sudden drop in temperature.

Contact Point - The deepest position on structure where a bass angler can first effectively present his lure to bass as they migrate from deep water.

Coontail - Submerged aquatic plant of the hornwort family typically found in hard water; charactreized , forked leaves.

Cosmic Clock - The sun's seasonal effect on water and weather conditions relating to barometric pressure, wind, and cloud cover.

Cove - An indentation along a shoreline.

Cover - Natural or manmade objects on the bottom of lakes, rivers, or impoundments, especially those that influence fish behavior. Examples include stick-ups, tree lines, stumps, rocks, logs, pilings, docks, and weed patches.

Crankbait - A plug with a lip that causes it to dive. The bigger the lip, the deeper it dives.

Creek - A natural stream of water usually small in size and often a tributary of a river or rivers or stream.

Creel limit - The number of fish an angler can keep as set by local or state regulations.

D

D Glossary

DEC - The Department of Enviromental Conservation.

DNR - The Department of Natural Resources.

Depthfinder - A sonar device, either a flasher unit or LCR recorder, used to read the bottom structure, determine depth, and actually spot the fish; also called a fishfinder.

Deadfall - ( or Laydown or Falldown ) - A tree that has fallen into the water.

Dink - Bass not long enough to meet state fisheries regulations or tournament standards. Typically less than 14 inches.

Disgorger - Device for removing hooks deeply embedded in the throat of fish.

Dorsal Fin - A median fin along the back which is supported by rays. There may be two or more dorsal fins, in which case the most anterior one is designated the first.

Drag - The device on reels that puts pressure on the line as it plays out and prevents the line from breaking and bird nesting.

Drop-Off - A sudden increase in depth, associated with a flat, point, gulley washes, small creek channels, land points, and the general lay of the land.

E

E Glossary

EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency.

Ecology - Biology dealing with the relationship between organisms and their environment.

Emerger - An aquatic insect in the process of rising to the surface to become a flying adult.

Esox lucius - Latin name for Northern Pike

Esox masquinongy - Latin name for Muskellunge

Eutrophic - A classification of geologically "old" bodies of water with weed-choked, oxygen-poor water which can only support fish such as bullheads and carp.

Eyelets - The eyelets, line guides or rings on a rod through which fishing line is passed.

F

F Glossary

FWS - The Fish and Wildlife Service.

Falldown - (or Laydown or Deadfall) A tree that has fallen into the water.

Fancast - A systematic series of casts to a specific area of water.

Farm Pond - Small manmade body of water Where Fish Have to be Stocked.

Feeder Creek - A tributary that runs into a larger stream, lake or river.

Feeding Cycle - Certain regular intervals during which fish satisfy their appetites. Examples: Major or Minor Solunar periods; sunrise, sunset.

Filamentous Algae - Type of algae characterized by long chains of attached cells that give it a stringy feel and appearance.

Fillet - In fish, a slice of meat without bones, cut out for human consumption.

Finesse Fishing - An angling technique characterized by the use of light tackle - line, rods, reel and artificial baits (often tube worms, grubs, or other small-sized soft-plastic lures); often productive in clear, fairly uncluttered water.

Finfish - A term used to separate true fish from shellfish, crayfish, jellyfish, etc.

Fingerling - A young fish of about 10 cm length.

Fins - Folds of skin supported by cartilaginous tissue in elasmobranchs and by bony rays in bony fishes. Used for locomotion, display, and sometimes specialized functions such as fertilization.

Fish - Literally, a vertebrate (animal with a backbone) that has gills and lives in water, but generally used more broadly to include any harvestable animal living in water. Fishes refers to more than one type of fish; finfish refers to sharks, some rays and bony fishes, and scalefish refers to fish bearing scales

Fisherman - One who engages in fishing for sport or occupation Or for Food.

Fishery - Term to describe the collective enterprise of taking fish, usually used in conjunction with reference to the species, gear or area involved

Fishfinder - A sonar device, either a flasher unit or LCR recorder, used to read the bottom structure, determine depth, and actually spot the fish; also called a Depth Finder.

Fishhook - A barbed or barbless hook used for catching fish.

Fish Ladder - A series of pools arranged like steps that fish utilize to move upstream over a dam.

Fish On! - A shout that indicates the angler has hooked a fish, as in ( "a fish is on the line" )

Fishout - To exhaust the supply of fish in a body of water, as in ( This lake has been fish out ).

Fishway - A contrivance that allows fish to pass around a dam.

Flat - A bottom that does not change more than a couple feet in depth. The flat can be near the shore or far away from it. A topo map shows the contour lines very far apart.

Flipping - Basically a long-rod technique where a lure, such as a jig or worm, is dropped - rather than cast - into heavy cover at close range. Also called "Flippin'."

Flipping Stick - Heavy action fishing rod, 7 to 8 feet long, designed for bass fishing.

Floating (float fishing) - to transverse a river or stream by some type of watercraft while fishing, most commonly in a tube, raft, canoe, or kayak.

Floss - Material for tying flies.

Fly - A hand-tied artificial lure made of various material tied to a hook.

Fly Dope - A dressing that makes artificial flies water resistant so they float.

Fly Fishing - A method of fishing that utilizes an artificial fly, a long flexible rod, a reel, and line.

Fly Rod - A light springy rod used in fly fishing.

Flytier - One who makes his own artificial flies for Fly fishing.

Forage - Something eaten; the act of eating.

Freshwater - In a broad sense ( 'freshwater' ) is used for all continental aquatic systems such as rivers and lakes. ( In a technical sense it refers to water with less than 0.5 grams per liter of total dissolved mineral salts ).

Front - Weather system that causes changes in temperature, cloud cover, precipitation, wind and barometric pressure.

G

G Glossary

Gear - Any tools used to catch fish, such as hook and line, nets, traps, spears, etc.

Gear Ratio - Measure of a reels' retrieve speed; the number of times the spool revolves for each complete turn of the handle.

Gill - Respiratory organ of many aquatic animals; a filamentous outgrowth well supplied with blood vessels at which gas exchange between water and blood occurs.

Gill Arch - Bony or cartilaginous arches in the throat of fish to which the filaments and rakers of the gills are attached. Bony fish usually have four gill arches.

Gill Opening - An opening behind the head that connects the gill chamber to the exterior. Bony fishes have a single such opening on each side whereas cartilaginous fishes (sharks and rays) have five to seven. The gill opening of sharks and rays are called gill slits.

Glaciated - Subject to or borne (created) by previous glacial activity.

Grub - A short, plastic type of worm usually rigged with a weighted jig hook.

H

H Glossary

Habitat - The natural environment where People - animals and plants live.

Hard Bottom - River bottoms composed of firm or hard material such as rock, sand, gravel, or clay.

Hawg - A slang term used to describe a very large bass.

Holding Area - Structure that habitually holds three to five catchable bass.

Holding Station - Place on lake where inactive fish spend most of their time.

Honey Hole - A slang term used to describe a specific hole or an area containing (big fish and/or a high number of fish ).

Hump - An underwater island that generally rises gradually. On a topographical (topo) map, a hump will be signified by contour lines that make a circle, oval, or other similar shape.

Hydrology (Hydrologic) - The science that deals with the distribution, properties, and circulation of water on land surface, in the soil, underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere.

I

I Glossary

IGFA - The International Game Fish Association

Ichthyology - The science dealing with the study of fish.

Inactive Fish - Fish that are in a non-feeding mood. Examples of typically inactive times: following a cold front; during a major weather change that causes a sudden rise or fall in water temperature, or when a lake level is abruptly lowered.

Internet - The most widely used international communications computer network. To get access to the Internet, you need a modem or a connection to a LAN with Internet access. "What Just a Minute what does that have to do with fishing?"
you ask. Simple, that's how you got here.

Isolated Structure - A possible holding spot for fish; examples include a single bush on a point; a midlake hump, or a large tree that has fallen into the water.

J

J Glossary