Hi Sealiners,
Lets compile a comprehensive list of the terminology used by bass anglers:
Backlash – Occurs when the spool of a baitcaster reel over runs resulting in a bird’s nest of fishing line around the reel.
Bag Limit - The number of fish that may be kept by an Angler legally
Baitcaster Reel - Fishing reel with a rotating spool, best for casting accuracy and heavier baits
Ball bearings - Small metal balls added to the mechanical mechanism of reels to make the retrieve smoother. Normally the more ball bearings a reel has the higher quality
Balsa - Type of wood several lures are manufactured from. This wood is very light, yet highly buoyant. Gives the lure great action. Examples include Bagley's Balsa B, and Rapala Minnows
Barbless - a type of hook which does not have a barb on the pointed end. Barbless hooks are easier to set in the jaw of the fish and make it easier to release a fish unharmed
Beads -Glass, or plastic beads added to a Carolina Rig/Texas Rig to enhance the noise, and protect the knot.
Bed Fishing – Technique of fishing bass that are holding on or near their spawning beds
Braided fishing line - Braided fishing lines are tough, strong and limp. They excel in some fishing situations and are the best choice for others. Braids should be used for their good qualities when appropriate.
Brush pile — Man-made submerged pile of woody cover
Bulging – Term used to describe how a lure such as a spinnerbait retrieved just under the surface produces a bulge of water above it
Bump The Stump - A fishing technique that means retrieving a lure through cover or bumping objects such as tree stumps.
Buzzbait – A lure similar to a spinnerbait but a with a modified spinner blade that churns the surface when quickly retrieved, thus producing a buzzing sound.
Carolina Rig — Method of Texas Rigging a plastic worm on a hook and using a slip sinker held above the hook several feet by a swivel
Catch-and-release -Term that refers to releasing the fish you catch so that they can live to fight another day, and thus insuring a productive fishery. This is probably the most important thing when fishing
Channel -The bed of a stream or river
Cover – Objects or vegetation in the water that provides safety for minnows or an ambush situation for bass.
Crankbait – Lures typically made from plastic or balsa wood that have a plastic lip on the nose of which makes it dive when retrieved
Craw Worm – Plastic bait that is half crawfish and half worm.
Creature Bait - A plastic bait that with several appendages, much like a lizard bait.
Deadsticking – A technique in which the angler allows the bait to sit motionless.
Deep-Runner – A crankbait with a large lip or bill that dives very deep.
Depth Finder - Measures how deep the water is under a boat.A sonar device, either a flasher unit or LCR recorder, used to read the bottom structure, determine depth, and in some cases actually spot the fish.also called a fishfinder
Drag – A clutch attached to the spool that allows it to slip thus preventing large fish from breaking the fisherman’s line.
Drop Shotting – A three-way rig where the dropper line is weighted with split shot and another line is tied to the three-way that runs back to the bait such as a plastic worm.
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
Drop Shot Rig Japanese designed technique in which the main line is tied to a sinker. The lure is tied to a leader which is tied above the sinker. This allows the lure to sit a the exact depth of suspended fish.
Flipping - Technique in which a short amount of line is pulled from the reel and raised vertically then lowered to the side of an object. Normally used in dirty water and in thick cover.
Float tube - A fishing floatation device for lake and slow river fishing that looks like an inner tube covered with a cloth mesh liner, seat, and back rest.
Fluorocarbon - New style of line that is often invisible below the water's surface.
Finesse Fishing - A technique that implies a slow presentation and requiring the angler to feel a fish to set the hook. This technique targets bass that have become lethargic from a cold front.
Fingerling - Refers to a young fish in its first or second year of life.
Frog Soft, tough plastic lure that swims on top of the water. Often used in thick, scummy areas.
Football Jig - A jig shaped like a football that is used when fishing deep-water bass.
Gear ratio - Retrieve speed of reel determines how much line is reeled in one revolution of the reel's handle
Grub – Slang for a soft plastic bait with a curly tail best known as a Mr. Twister tail.
Hawg - Slang for a large bass
Hook Set – Motion of sweeping your fishing rod to the side or overhead that causes the hook point to penetrate the mouth of a fish.
In-line Spinner – A lure consisting of a single straight piece of wire with a spinner blade above a treble hook that is typically dressed with some type of animal hair. Not as weedless as a safety-pin style spinnerbait.
Jerkbait – Jerkbait There are two types: soft and hard. The soft style is similar to a baitfish profile and rigged with a large worm hook. Hard jerkbaits resemble more of a minnow baitfish.. Both style lures are fished by twitching or jerking the lure forward, hence the name.
Jig – A single hook with lead poured around the eye of a hook forming a head that is typically dressed with some type of plastic body such as a twister tail.
Jig-And-Frog – Simply a bass style jig dressed up with a plastic or pork-rind frog. Jig-And-Pig – Term used to describe a bass fishing jig with a plastic body or pork rind attached
Laydown – A tree that has fallen over on the shoreline into a lake or river.
Ledge – A area of a lake or river between to drop-offs.
Levelwind – A mechanism on a baitcaster fishing reel that winds the line across the spool evenly as the line is retrieved.
Line Tie – An eye-let of a lure where the fishing line is tied.
Lipless Cankbait — A crankbait that does not use a lip in the front of the lure to make it wobble and dive.
Lunker - Slang for large bass.
Mat – Term to describe heavy vegetation growing in the water that forms a blanket across the surface of the water
Medium Runner – A crankbait that dives 5-9 feet
Paddle-Tail - Plastic body that has a large flat tail that wobbles when retrieved.
Pattern – A set of conditions such as weather, wind, water temperature, and water depth when the bass bite the best, or when a given lure, or presentation work the best.
Pattern Fishing – The practice of fishing an identified set of conditions, lure, or technique that works the best under certain conditions.
Pegging – Term that describes using a toothpick to keep a slip sinker on a Texas rigged work from moving up and down the line.
Pitch Skip - A casting technique that by which a lure is pitched and skips underneath a a boat dock or similar cover.
Pitching – A casting technique just like Flipping, but allowing the spool to rotate, thus extending the casting distance.
Plastic Worm – A plastic version of a nightcrawler available in different lengths, shapes, and colors.
Polarized sun glasses Sunglasses with iodized lenses that block incident light (glare) and thus allow anglers to better see beneath the surface glare of water.
Popper - Artificial lure with a flat head and surface. Designed to run on the surface when retrieving or trolled which creates a lot of water surface distortion to attract predator fishes
Postspawn – A period of time after the spawning period and before the summer period.
Prespawn — Period of time between winter and spring when bass are staging very close to their spawning grounds.
Rattles - Glass or metal noisemakers added to lures in order to help bass find the lure easier.
Reaction Baits – Lures that cause bass to strike out of instinct or reflex such as spinnerbaits and crankbaits.
Ripping – Retrieving jerkbaits very quickly.
Riprap – Rocks that are piles along shorelines to prevent soil erosion
Shaking – Technique of fishing a plastic worm in which the bait is not retrieved, but just shaken in order to get a strike.
Shallow Runner – Crankbaits that dive less than 5 feet deep
Sight Fishing – Technique of only presenting a lure or bait to fish that you can see.
Skipping – A casting technique that involves skipping a lure across the surface of the water in order to get it under a dock or other cover.
Slip Shotting – A variation of split shotting which utilizes a cylindrical weight held in place on the line by a stands of rubber.
Slip Sinker – A lead fishing weight that slides on the line such as bullet or egg sinker.
Slow Rolling - Method of retrieving a spinnerbait in which the speed of the retrieve is just enough to make the spinner blades rotate.
Snap Set – A quick jerking motion used to set the hook versus a longer sweeping motion.
Spawn – A period of time when female bass are laying eggs on spawning beds
Spinnerbait – Typical references a clothes-pin or V shaped wire lure that has a spinner blade on one end of the V and a hook on the other end that is dress with a plastic skirt and as a lead head.
Stickworm – A plastic worm that is designed to sink. Typicaly Texas or wacky rigged and fishing with a jigging motion
Strike Zone – A distance surrounding a lure that a bass will strike within. An active bass will have a much larger strike zone than an in-active bass.
Structure – Term used to describe brush piles, fallen trees along a shoreline, points, and ledges of a lake.
Suspended – Occurs when the bass are not relating directly to the bottom but rather several feet of bottom, or even in the middle of the water column.
Swimbait – Typically referred to as larger plastic baits that are put on a jig head.
Texas Rig – Method of attaching a plastic worm to a hook that is weedless
.
Topwater Lure – Lure that typically floats such as a Heddon Spook and is fished across the surface of the water.
Trailer hook - Either a single or treble hook that is attached to the main hook of a lure or jig. Used to catch short striking fish.
Tube Bait – A variety of plastic body where the jig head is inserted into the bait.
Wacky Rig – Method of rigging a plastic worm through the middle of the bait without any sinker attached to the line.
Walking The Dog – A technique used when retrieving a lure such as the Heddon Spook that causes the lure to be retrieved in a zigzag pattern
Weedless - A description of a lure designed to be fished in heavy cover with a minimum amount of snagging
Yo-Yoing – A bass fishing retrieval technique much like a jigging retrieve that causes the fishing lure to be fished in an up and down motion
Nb: Some data gathered over the net and over personally written
Lets compile a comprehensive list of the terminology used by bass anglers:
Backlash – Occurs when the spool of a baitcaster reel over runs resulting in a bird’s nest of fishing line around the reel.
Bag Limit - The number of fish that may be kept by an Angler legally
Baitcaster Reel - Fishing reel with a rotating spool, best for casting accuracy and heavier baits
Ball bearings - Small metal balls added to the mechanical mechanism of reels to make the retrieve smoother. Normally the more ball bearings a reel has the higher quality
Balsa - Type of wood several lures are manufactured from. This wood is very light, yet highly buoyant. Gives the lure great action. Examples include Bagley's Balsa B, and Rapala Minnows
Barbless - a type of hook which does not have a barb on the pointed end. Barbless hooks are easier to set in the jaw of the fish and make it easier to release a fish unharmed
Beads -Glass, or plastic beads added to a Carolina Rig/Texas Rig to enhance the noise, and protect the knot.
Bed Fishing – Technique of fishing bass that are holding on or near their spawning beds
Braided fishing line - Braided fishing lines are tough, strong and limp. They excel in some fishing situations and are the best choice for others. Braids should be used for their good qualities when appropriate.
Brush pile — Man-made submerged pile of woody cover
Bulging – Term used to describe how a lure such as a spinnerbait retrieved just under the surface produces a bulge of water above it
Bump The Stump - A fishing technique that means retrieving a lure through cover or bumping objects such as tree stumps.
Buzzbait – A lure similar to a spinnerbait but a with a modified spinner blade that churns the surface when quickly retrieved, thus producing a buzzing sound.
Carolina Rig — Method of Texas Rigging a plastic worm on a hook and using a slip sinker held above the hook several feet by a swivel
Catch-and-release -Term that refers to releasing the fish you catch so that they can live to fight another day, and thus insuring a productive fishery. This is probably the most important thing when fishing
Channel -The bed of a stream or river
Cover – Objects or vegetation in the water that provides safety for minnows or an ambush situation for bass.
Crankbait – Lures typically made from plastic or balsa wood that have a plastic lip on the nose of which makes it dive when retrieved
Craw Worm – Plastic bait that is half crawfish and half worm.
Creature Bait - A plastic bait that with several appendages, much like a lizard bait.
Deadsticking – A technique in which the angler allows the bait to sit motionless.
Deep-Runner – A crankbait with a large lip or bill that dives very deep.
Depth Finder - Measures how deep the water is under a boat.A sonar device, either a flasher unit or LCR recorder, used to read the bottom structure, determine depth, and in some cases actually spot the fish.also called a fishfinder
Drag – A clutch attached to the spool that allows it to slip thus preventing large fish from breaking the fisherman’s line.
Drop Shotting – A three-way rig where the dropper line is weighted with split shot and another line is tied to the three-way that runs back to the bait such as a plastic worm.
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
Drop Shot Rig Japanese designed technique in which the main line is tied to a sinker. The lure is tied to a leader which is tied above the sinker. This allows the lure to sit a the exact depth of suspended fish.
Flipping - Technique in which a short amount of line is pulled from the reel and raised vertically then lowered to the side of an object. Normally used in dirty water and in thick cover.
Float tube - A fishing floatation device for lake and slow river fishing that looks like an inner tube covered with a cloth mesh liner, seat, and back rest.
Fluorocarbon - New style of line that is often invisible below the water's surface.
Finesse Fishing - A technique that implies a slow presentation and requiring the angler to feel a fish to set the hook. This technique targets bass that have become lethargic from a cold front.
Fingerling - Refers to a young fish in its first or second year of life.
Frog Soft, tough plastic lure that swims on top of the water. Often used in thick, scummy areas.
Football Jig - A jig shaped like a football that is used when fishing deep-water bass.
Gear ratio - Retrieve speed of reel determines how much line is reeled in one revolution of the reel's handle
Grub – Slang for a soft plastic bait with a curly tail best known as a Mr. Twister tail.
Hawg - Slang for a large bass
Hook Set – Motion of sweeping your fishing rod to the side or overhead that causes the hook point to penetrate the mouth of a fish.
In-line Spinner – A lure consisting of a single straight piece of wire with a spinner blade above a treble hook that is typically dressed with some type of animal hair. Not as weedless as a safety-pin style spinnerbait.
Jerkbait – Jerkbait There are two types: soft and hard. The soft style is similar to a baitfish profile and rigged with a large worm hook. Hard jerkbaits resemble more of a minnow baitfish.. Both style lures are fished by twitching or jerking the lure forward, hence the name.
Jig – A single hook with lead poured around the eye of a hook forming a head that is typically dressed with some type of plastic body such as a twister tail.
Jig-And-Frog – Simply a bass style jig dressed up with a plastic or pork-rind frog. Jig-And-Pig – Term used to describe a bass fishing jig with a plastic body or pork rind attached
Laydown – A tree that has fallen over on the shoreline into a lake or river.
Ledge – A area of a lake or river between to drop-offs.
Levelwind – A mechanism on a baitcaster fishing reel that winds the line across the spool evenly as the line is retrieved.
Line Tie – An eye-let of a lure where the fishing line is tied.
Lipless Cankbait — A crankbait that does not use a lip in the front of the lure to make it wobble and dive.
Lunker - Slang for large bass.
Mat – Term to describe heavy vegetation growing in the water that forms a blanket across the surface of the water
Medium Runner – A crankbait that dives 5-9 feet
Paddle-Tail - Plastic body that has a large flat tail that wobbles when retrieved.
Pattern – A set of conditions such as weather, wind, water temperature, and water depth when the bass bite the best, or when a given lure, or presentation work the best.
Pattern Fishing – The practice of fishing an identified set of conditions, lure, or technique that works the best under certain conditions.
Pegging – Term that describes using a toothpick to keep a slip sinker on a Texas rigged work from moving up and down the line.
Pitch Skip - A casting technique that by which a lure is pitched and skips underneath a a boat dock or similar cover.
Pitching – A casting technique just like Flipping, but allowing the spool to rotate, thus extending the casting distance.
Plastic Worm – A plastic version of a nightcrawler available in different lengths, shapes, and colors.
Polarized sun glasses Sunglasses with iodized lenses that block incident light (glare) and thus allow anglers to better see beneath the surface glare of water.
Popper - Artificial lure with a flat head and surface. Designed to run on the surface when retrieving or trolled which creates a lot of water surface distortion to attract predator fishes
Postspawn – A period of time after the spawning period and before the summer period.
Prespawn — Period of time between winter and spring when bass are staging very close to their spawning grounds.
Rattles - Glass or metal noisemakers added to lures in order to help bass find the lure easier.
Reaction Baits – Lures that cause bass to strike out of instinct or reflex such as spinnerbaits and crankbaits.
Ripping – Retrieving jerkbaits very quickly.
Riprap – Rocks that are piles along shorelines to prevent soil erosion
Shaking – Technique of fishing a plastic worm in which the bait is not retrieved, but just shaken in order to get a strike.
Shallow Runner – Crankbaits that dive less than 5 feet deep
Sight Fishing – Technique of only presenting a lure or bait to fish that you can see.
Skipping – A casting technique that involves skipping a lure across the surface of the water in order to get it under a dock or other cover.
Slip Shotting – A variation of split shotting which utilizes a cylindrical weight held in place on the line by a stands of rubber.
Slip Sinker – A lead fishing weight that slides on the line such as bullet or egg sinker.
Slow Rolling - Method of retrieving a spinnerbait in which the speed of the retrieve is just enough to make the spinner blades rotate.
Snap Set – A quick jerking motion used to set the hook versus a longer sweeping motion.
Spawn – A period of time when female bass are laying eggs on spawning beds
Spinnerbait – Typical references a clothes-pin or V shaped wire lure that has a spinner blade on one end of the V and a hook on the other end that is dress with a plastic skirt and as a lead head.
Stickworm – A plastic worm that is designed to sink. Typicaly Texas or wacky rigged and fishing with a jigging motion
Strike Zone – A distance surrounding a lure that a bass will strike within. An active bass will have a much larger strike zone than an in-active bass.
Structure – Term used to describe brush piles, fallen trees along a shoreline, points, and ledges of a lake.
Suspended – Occurs when the bass are not relating directly to the bottom but rather several feet of bottom, or even in the middle of the water column.
Swimbait – Typically referred to as larger plastic baits that are put on a jig head.
Texas Rig – Method of attaching a plastic worm to a hook that is weedless
.
Topwater Lure – Lure that typically floats such as a Heddon Spook and is fished across the surface of the water.
Trailer hook - Either a single or treble hook that is attached to the main hook of a lure or jig. Used to catch short striking fish.
Tube Bait – A variety of plastic body where the jig head is inserted into the bait.
Wacky Rig – Method of rigging a plastic worm through the middle of the bait without any sinker attached to the line.
Walking The Dog – A technique used when retrieving a lure such as the Heddon Spook that causes the lure to be retrieved in a zigzag pattern
Weedless - A description of a lure designed to be fished in heavy cover with a minimum amount of snagging
Yo-Yoing – A bass fishing retrieval technique much like a jigging retrieve that causes the fishing lure to be fished in an up and down motion
Nb: Some data gathered over the net and over personally written