This is not a complete list of fishing terms used by anglers. It covers commonly used terms and variations of the terms. The majority of the terms are specific to a rig or type of fishing. There are also a few slang terms used by anglers in various parts of the country.
A
Action; a term used to describe the behavior of lures or how the fishing rod bends.
Alabama Rig; castable umbrella rig used by bass fishermen and a few others. They are rarely used due to fatigue from casting the excess weight. They hold multiple lures requiring heavier equipment and stamina
Angler; a person who fishes
B
Backlash; a.k.a. Birdsnest, the tangled mess on the spool of a baitcaster when the person using did something wrong. The spool has overrun due to improper tension, the setting of brakes, or poor casting form.
Baitcaster; reels resembling a small winch. They are sturdy reels that work well in many situations once mastered by an angler. They are not considered a beginners item except in certain instances. See backlash above in terms.
Bait: Worms, minnows, crayfish, and other aquatic animals. It is used to describe lures also.
Bait Runner: a feature on some spinning reels. The feature allows a fish to take line freely without resistance from the reel. Used live bait fishing.
Bail; the line guide on spinning reels, usually a half-circle formed wire part.
Bank Runner; a term for small bass that stays close to shore for protection. Can be applied to other species also.
Barb; a protrusion on the hook to prevent it backing out. Illegal in some areas.
Beast; a large musky or pike generally over 40 inches with an above-average girth
Bed Fishing; the act of fishing spawning beds or close to them. This is illegal in certain states and frowned upon by conscientious anglers. There are a few times it is considered acceptable.
Blade; various meanings, slang for blade bait or spinnerbait, blade of inline spinners that come in various styles and sizes ex.: #8 colorado
Blade Bait; lure made out of sheet metal with a weight molded to it for jigging or retrieving.
Blind Casting or Fan casting; casting over an area to cover larger sections to locate fish.
Blowdown; trees lying in the water coming from shore, a form of structure.
Breakline; a change or transition of structure, water depth, or watercolor, influencing fish behavior.
Bream; the southern term for panfish
Bronzeback or Brown bass; slang terms for smallmouth bass also called smallies by some anglers.
Bottom Fishing: Bait is on the bottom of a waterway, a form of fishing used to catch catfish, carp and other bottom of water column fish.
Bottom Bouncing; using a weighted rig to keep the bait on the bottom or close to it while trolling or drifting in a boat.
Braid; woven fishing line with little or no stretch and high break strength, commonly used on baitcasters with fluorocarbon leaders.
Break strength; also called test, the rating of fishing according to when it will break. Ex. 20# test breaks at or above 20 pounds of force.
Brushpile; a form of structure submerged to attract fish. Usually a manmade bundle or a pile of brush or small trees.
Bucketmouth; a big largemouth bass
Bucktail; deer hairdressing on jigs and spinners used as an attractant to entice fish to hit.
Bumping; working a lure against rocks, brush or logs to attract fish to strike.
Buzz Bait; topwater lure similar to spinnerbaits, except the blade, is a formed propeller that makes noise and splashes to attract fish.
C
Carolina Rig: fishing rig used by bass anglers consisting of weight, bead, swivel, leader, and hook. The swivel and bead keep the weight above the hook.
Channel; a bed in lakes formed by streams or manmade, a dredged section in rivers for navigation, both are structure.
Chatterbait; modified jig type lure with a chatter blade that bounces and chatters off the head of the jig.
Closed Face Reel; a.k.a. Spincast, a beginner or child’s reel that is easiest to use. The spool is covered.
Circle Hook; hooks made to engage in the corner of a fish’s mouth, common among catfish and carp anglers. Greatly reduces swallowed hooks in some species. The hook slides into the corner of the mouth setting itself. You crank down when the fish takes the bait. No hookset method.
Countdown Lure; a weighted lure made to sink at a specified rate, usually jerk baits
Cover; brush piles, rock piles and other submerged items fish hide in or around. This is not the same as the structure. See Structure below
Crankbait; lures imitating minnows made to run certain depths, can be lipped or lipless with various retrieval speeds.
Creature Bait; soft plastics resembling lizards, crayfish, and other aquatic life forms. Used on jigs and various rigs (see Carolina, Texas, and drop shot lure rigs).
D
Dead sticking; the act of stopping the retrieve of a lure for prolonged periods. Maybe 20-30 seconds or more, used in low water temps and on highly pressured fish.
Deep runner; crankbaits designed to go 10 feet or deeper.
Depth finder; electronics used to find the depth of water, contours, and fish.
Downsize; changing to lighter tackle, smaller lures to fish with more finesse.
Drag; adjustment on the reel to control line tension, keeps the line from breaking or fish from running line off reel if set properly.
Drift fishing; using wind or current to move the boat while bottom bouncing, jigging or fishing at a set depth.
Drop shotting; rig with sinker below hook used with rubber worms and creature baits mainly.
Drop off, a distinct change in bottom contour causing a depth change, channels are common drop-offs.
F
Flat; section of water without contour and no change in depth, usually unproductive
Flipping; using a long rod and pendulum motion to place a bait in heavy cover with precision placement. Bass angling technique
Float; another term for bobber
Fluorocarbon; a type of line similar to monofilament. Different chemical compounding gives it better strength and abrasion resistance, used as leader material by many anglers, some anglers spool up reels with fluoro only.
Football Jig; jig with a football-shaped weight used for deeper water.
Freespool; leaving a reel disengaged allowing the line to come off,
Foul Hook; hooking the fish anywhere but the mouth.
G
Gear Ratio, the ratio of the gears on a reel, varies based on specific presentation of lures. EX. burning bucktails, high-speed retrieval of lures with high ratio reel
Girth; The circumference of a fish’s body
Grub; soft plastic used on jigs similar to a J in shape.
H
Hard bait; lures made of plastic or wood resembling minnows or baitfish
Hawg; a large bass
Hole Jumping; crowding in on other anglers in a productive spot. Unethical behavior is likely to lead to a confrontation.
Honey Hole; a very productive fishing spot
Hookset; the act of driving the hook into the fish’s mouth to engage the barb
J
Jerk bait; hard bait jerked and twitched allowing short pauses on the retrieve. Anglers vary the cadence of the retrieve to find what elicits a strike from a fish.
Jig; lure used in slow presentations with hair, soft plastics, or live bait attached. It is a hook with weight molded to the shank.
Jigging; The act of using jigs, there are many forms of jigging depending on species, water depth, and other factors.
L
Laydown; Same aa a blowdown, a tree in the water, leading to the shore.
Leader; a piece of line or wire attached to the end of the main line to reduce visibility and prevent bite offs, fluorocarbon and coated stainless wire is most commonly used.
Ledge; a sharp drop off
Line tie; where the line is tied to the lure
Lipless Crank bait; a minnow type lure without a lip usually with rattles. A slow retrieve allows it to run deeper and fast retrieves for shallow use.
Lipping. Grabbing a fish usually a bass by the lip to unhook, do not try with toothy fish.
Loop Knot; a style of knot that leaves a loop at the line tie area so lures can impart a better action.
Lunker; slang for a big fish, commonly used by bass anglers.
M
Match the Hatch; using lures that mimic insects, baitfish and aquatic life present where you are fishing. Fly fishing term adopted by many anglers these days
Monofilament; nylon fishing line, inexpensive, has some stretch characteristics making it desirable at times. Used by novice and beginner anglers.
O
Open-Faced reel; another name for a spinning reel.
P
Paddle Tail; a soft plastic lure with a paddle-shaped tail that mimics a fishtail when retrieved.
Pattern; Term used to specify the structure, depth, temperature, water color, and presentations used when catching fish.
Pitching; similar to flipping with the reel disengaged to allow the line to go out. Used where flipping will not get the lure into the desired spot.
Plug; an old term for lures including jerk baits, crankbaits, and spoons. Likely derived from the saying plugging away at the fish.
Post spawn; the period after spawning when the fish are moving off the spawning areas.
Pre-spawn; period prior to the fish moving into the spawning area, many species will feed heavily at this time in preparation for the spawn.
Prop bait; topwater baits with propellers on either or both ends, good for bass and pike species.
R
Reaction baits; lures fished in a way that causes a bass to strike out of reaction or surprise; spinnerbaits, crankbaits and lipless crankbaits are frequently fished with a fast retrieve in this technique.
Ripping; a fast erratic retrieval of jerk baits to create more action with the lure.
Rip Rap; rocks piled along shorelines to prevent erosion, this is common below and around dams.
S
Shad; a type of baitfish common in North America’s lakes and rivers, there are several species
Shakey Head; a jig rigged weedless and worked with a shaky retrieve.
Shallow Runner; crankbaits designed to run shallow, 5 foot of water or less
Shiner; a type of baitfish common in North America’s lakes and rivers, there are several species
Short Strike; When a fish does not get its mouth on the lure or hooks. They miss the lure by a small amount.
Sight Fishing; fishing by targeting visible fish usually bass with a rod, or a method used by archery anglers for carp and a few other species.
Slip Sinker; a weight designed to slide on the line. Used with various rigs to enhance the presentation of lure or live bait.
Snag; when a lure, hook or sinker become caught on something in the water.
Snap; small device attached to the end of the line to facilitate lure changes. They are generally not recommended as they create a weak link from the reel to lure.
Spawn; When fish are reproducing, many species are not allowed to be harvested at this time.
Spinner; A lure with a blade that spins around a wire shaft often with a bucktail dressed hook.
Spinnerbait; A V-shaped wire form with a weighted hook on the bottom similar to a jig head with a skirt or soft plastic. The top of the form has a swivel connecting a blade, some have multiple blades using clevises.
Spincast Reel; closed face reel used mostly by children and beginners due to ease of use.
Spinning Reel; most commonly used general-purpose reel. It is easy to use and usually less expensive than bait casters. They have a fixed spool with a rotating line guide.
Spoon; A lure shaped like a spoon made of metal, casting and trolling models are available.
StickBait; a long slender soft plastic or jerk bait
Stinger Hook; A hook added onto the end of spinnerbaits to help with short strikes.
Strike Zone; area in the water column where fish are feeding or hitting lures channels, drop-offs, or other features that hold or draw in fish to feed or hide. The contour of the bottom in a waterway.
Structure: the term used for bottom contours.
Suspended; a term to describe lures or fish hanging at a specific depth
Swimbait; a lure resembling a minnow with or without a lip, made out of soft plastic, wood, or hard plastic. They can be one piece or have joints with multiple sections.
T
Texas Rig; a rig using a sliding weight on the line above the hook. A cone-shaped sinker is popular. The lure is soft plastic with the hook tip left imbedded to prevent weed snagging.
Top Water Lure; lures that are retrieved on the top of the water. Poppers, Jitterbugs, Whopper Plopper, and buzzbaits are a few common topwater lures
Trailer; soft plastic added to the end of a lure
Trailer Hook; see stinger hook, A hook added onto the end of spinnerbaits to help with short strikes.
Tube Bait; soft plastic baits shaped like a tube often used with jigs
Tuning; adjusting a lure to achieve the proper action
Twitch Bait; another name for jerk baits
W
Wacky Rig; plastic worm hook near or in the middle without a weight allowing it to flutter down.
Walking the Dog; Lure retrieval method highly effective at times on certain species. It takes practice to master the walk the dog style of fishing.
Weed Guard; A wire form that prevents weed snagging.
Water Column; A vertical cross-section of the water relating to depth
Wing Dam; Protrusion into a body of water to prevent shoreline erosion or guide water to maintain flow at a higher rate