Fish Species
This popular panfish, known for its orange-red breast, is one of the most widely caught freshwater fish in North America.
Bluegill
This type of artificial lure mimics a wounded baitfish with a side-to-side wobbling action when retrieved.
Crankbait
This type of slow-moving, shallow water body with abundant aquatic vegetation is prime habitat for largemouth bass and pike.
Marsh / Wetland / Lily pad flat
This classic live bait technique involves threading a nightcrawler onto a hook and drifting it along the bottom for walleye.
Bottom bouncing / Lindy rigging
This mandatory document, required in every U.S. state and Canadian province, must be in your possession while fishing.
Fishing license
This torpedo-shaped apex predator is often called the 'water wolf' and is the largest member of the pike family.
Muskellunge (Muskie)
A terminal tackle component that keeps your bait suspended at a set depth and signals a strike by going underwater.
Bobber / Float
In river fishing, this term describes a calm, slow section of water adjacent to fast current — a prime fish holding spot.
Eddy
Used for trout and panfish, this technique involves using an ultra-light rod to flick tiny lures or flies into small streams.
Ultralight fishing
This term refers to the practice of returning a caught fish unharmed to the water, now a cornerstone of sport fishing ethics.
Catch and release
This bottom-feeding fish, introduced from Asia, has become an invasive threat in the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin.
Asian Carp (or Bighead/Silver Carp)
This soft plastic bait, rigged weedless on a wide-gap hook, is the most popular lure for largemouth bass fishing.
Worm (Texas-rigged plastic worm)
Lake trout, cisco, and lake whitefish thrive in this deep, cold, oxygen-rich layer of a stratified lake in summer.
Hypolimnion
This fly fishing cast sends the line rolling forward in a loop — essential when trees behind the angler prevent a backcast.
Roll cast
The world record largemouth bass, weighing 22 lbs 4 oz, was caught in this southern U.S. state in 1932.
Georgia (Montgomery Lake)
Named for its distinctive spotted pattern and found only in clear Appalachian streams, this trout is actually a char.
Brook Trout
Named for a small insect larvae, this tiny jig under 1/32 oz is a staple for catching crappie and panfish through the ice.
Teardrop jig (or ice jig)
This Great Lake is the only one located entirely within the United States and is famous for its walleye fishery.
Lake Michigan (or Lake Erie — accept either; Erie is more famous for walleye)
This ice fishing technique involves using a rod to rapidly jig a lure up and down to attract and trigger strikes from walleye or perch.
Jigging
This conservation method, required on many bodies of water, limits the number and size of fish an angler can keep per day.
Bag limit / Creel limit / Size limit
This highly prized game fish hybridizes naturally with striped bass to create the popular 'wiper' or 'whiterock bass.'
White Bass
This reel design, favored for long casts with light lures, has a fixed spool that the line spirals off of during a cast.
Spinning reel
This phenomenon, when a lake's temperature layers flip in fall or spring, oxygenates the depths and often triggers a feeding frenzy.
Lake turnover
This catfish technique involves anchoring a large, weighted rig on the bottom overnight using cut bait or stink bait on multiple hooks.
Jug fishing / Limb lining / Trotlining
Caught in 1949 in Tennessee, the all-tackle world record for this hard-fighting river species stands at 97 lbs 4 oz.
Blue Catfish (or Flathead Catfish — accept Blue Catfish as it holds the IGFA record)