Fishing Lingo ...

is that special language that anglers use when in the presence of each other. Anyone within hearing distance not associated with the dialect may be left in the dark. You need the basic interpretation skills that will let you in on the deep dark secrets of Fishing Fever.

Let's just say, while standing in a tackle store, you overhear two people discussing the previous days fishing trip. It would be something like this:

(Note: Reading aloud with a southern accent might help)

"Well Bill, we sure hammered 'em yesterday at the Nock. O, yea! Waageh catchemon Fred? Well, it tookabit to figure out the pattern but after that it was non-stop action! The water was bout fifty-seven so we were slow rolling spinner baits with Colorado blades near the ten foot weed line. All it took was a slight pause and they were wackin' it on the drop. Wow, gehget any decent ones? They were all keepers but Jim got a real hawg that went over six on the deliar! ....."

Ok, so exactly what just happened there? Lemme splane it to ya...

Seems old Bill missed a pretty good day of fishing at Lake Nockimixon. His attention was peeked when he was told that they "Hammered 'em". Which means they caught a lot of fish. After Jim and Fred tried a few different lures at various speeds and depths it became obvious that the fish were close to the weeds and ten feet down. This was the "Pattern". Since the water temperature was pretty cool, fifty-seven degrees, they retrieved their lures slow but stopped for just a second to let it slightly fall. There are different shaped blades on Spinner baits and a Colorado Blade will send out strong vibrations or signals that the fish will pick up on. That slow rolling retrieve attracted the fish and the pause triggered their reflex to hit it. Jim caught the biggest one, the "Hawg", and weighed it on a hand held scale referred to as a "De-Liar" that recorded it to be over six pounds.

So now let's break the code on some other phrases that you may eavesdrop upon...

Jagetout? ... Did you go fishing yesterday?
Werdjago? ... Where did you go?
The Skook ... The Schuylkill River.
We hit the Marsh ... A local reference to Marsh Creek Lake (near Downingtown)
Up Blue Marsh ... Another code for Blue Marsh Lake (near Reading)
Catchsum? ... Did you catch any?
Wudjause? ... What lure or bait did you use?
Cranks 'n Wackys' ... A crankbait (usually a lure that has a plastic lip that dives when retrieved. A Wacky is a special Rubber Worm.
How deep werday? ... At what depth did you find the fish?
On the wood ... The fish were hanging around submerged logs.
Colorjause? ... What color lures did you use?
Any hawgs? ... Did you catch any big ones?
Two over five pounds! ... One was three and a half pounds.
Get any eyes or skis? ... Did you catch any Walleyes or Musky?
How many jacatch? ... How many fish did you catch?
Bout a dozen or so ... They caught three.
Keepany? ... Did you keep any?
Nah, they're still swimmin' ... Practicing "Catch & Release"

I could go on and on but this little introduction should help. Now just for fun and to see if you were paying attention here is a little test. Tell me what this next little tale reveals.

I hit the Marsh yesterday and did pretty good. They were hittin' green wackies but holding tight to the wood. Got about a dozen and had a five pound hawg get off at the boat! Had a Skie follow my diving jointed rapala but he didn't hit it. All in all a good day and left 'em all swimmin'.

I'ma waitin' on ya!

Next time ... Get ready for Trout! The first day is hectic but family fun can be had in the weeks leading up to the opening day.