Fishing guides spend a lot of time together in remote places. Over time, a guide staff’s dialect develops to the point of becoming close to a foreign language.
If you’re heading to Alaska West this summer, learning the terms in this handy glossary will help you understand what the heck your guide is talking about.
Tiddler – n. A particularly small fish. “I tried to get my flesh fly in front of Walter [see below], but a tiddler grabbed it first.”
Blub – v. To briefly break the surface of the water, as done by a king salmon. “I knew I was about to hook up when I started seeing all those kings blub.”
Mega – adj. Big, many, or extremely. “That king was mega!” “There were mega silvers stacked up at Zoo Bar.” “Billy was mega frustrated when his brother kept catching fish behind him.”
Gagger – n. A big fish.
Slab – n. A big fish, particularly one with big shoulders.
Pig – n. A big fish.
Choker – n. A big fish.
Toad – n. A big fish.
Hawg – n. A big fish.
Torpedo – n. A big fish.
Gack – n. A gross, slimy substance. “I need to get this salmon gack off my hands before dinner.”
Walter, Jerry, Jethro, et al – n. A specific particularly large fish, usually a rainbow trout, or a mythical giant fish. “I know that Walter lives down by Puppy Bar, and I’m going to try to catch him today.”
Tumbler – n. A spawned-out salmon tumbling downriver. “I got gack all over my waders when I got hit by that tumbler.” See also Chumbler.
Chumbler – n. A spawned-out chum salmon tumbling downriver. “There were chumblers everywhere– flesh flies worked good.”
Critter – n. A resident fish (e.g. trout, grayling). “My arms are tired – let’s go fish for some critters.”
Critter – v. To move with stealth. “I crittered my way along the high bank, looking for Big Jerry.”
Crittery – adj. Shaky, unsure. “He must have had a rough night – he looked awfully crittery on the river this morning.”
Farm – v. To lose a fish once hooked, usually due to angler error. “I can’t believe I farmed Jethro this morning.”
Grocery hole – n. The gaping mouth of a giant protein-fed rainbow trout. “You should have seen the grocery hole on the choker that ate my mouse yesterday.”
Got ’em all memorized? Come on up!
You understand the nature of the fly fisher immensely when you see there are seven different terms in their dictionary for ‘big fish’.
I love it.
Agreed. It took a lot of restraint to not draw the eskimos/snow – anglers/big fish analogy…oops, I did it.
I would like to add one from Southeast Alaska Guidespeak.
Carpet Bomb – Verb. To hook most of the fish (particularly steelhead) in a particular hole or run. "Don't bother fishing there, Steve and Mike carpet bombed the place this morning."
BC:
Gator- A large male steelhead with big shoulders and enlarged jaws.
Bombed- When a fish absolutely destroys the fly on the take and proceeds to tear off with your line rod and arm in tow.
You forgot Bubba and Bruiser.
Truck: n. A big fish. Usually farmed. See. Farmed…..
Campbell’s Soup Can = colored up steelhead buck or king
Dog shakes = what those big bucks are doing as they rub the fly against the bottom
Crocodile = big buck steelhead with kype
Elvis = the biggest Chinook in the pod
“Does your husband fish, too” = when someone’s babying a fish
“Pull on him! PULL ON HIM LIKE YOU’RE PULLING BIN LADEN OFF YOUR GRANNY’S BACK!”
“Get that fish to shore before he spawns out there!”
“Next time, put your purse down before setting the hook.”
“Hey! Don’t horse him!” = Said when someone is getting spooled
“Get that rod tip up, we’re not hunting!” = client is pointing the rod at the fish
“You should have played him tighter!” = Said after Walter breaks off
“They don’t eat from that end” = To someone making a poor case sight fishing
“Can you smell it? It’s the crack of dawn” = A sunrise favorite
“Gimme an Attorney!” = Request for an egg sucking leech
And finally . . .
“Why bother checking [the Internet for weather/ water levels], you know we’re going fishing anyway.”
Mung – n. A gross, slimy substance. Gack. ”I need to get this salmon mung off my hands before dinner.”
Just picked up on this old post – fun!
Amused by the “row boater” speak – A term for a guide vs. just another person floating a river. Guides row, and seldom fish.
and one from this area “Sticker” = fish that is feeding in a regular pattern so he should eat your presentation.
Have fun!