Bass Fishing Terms Every Beginner Should Know

Bass fishing comes with its own vocabulary. This glossary explains common terms in plain English, in alphabetical order, so the next fishing report or tackle-shop conversation makes sense. Tap a letter to jump.

Backlash

A tangle on a baitcasting reel when the spool turns faster than the line leaves it, usually because the spool tension is set wrong.

Bed

The nest a male bass builds for spawning. In Texas, TPWD says largemouth spawning starts in spring when the water reaches about 60°F; the males build nests in two to eight feet of water and guard the eggs, and the fry hatch in five to ten days.

Breakline

A place where one condition changes to another: one depth to another, one kind of cover to another, or one water temperature to another.

Bucketmouth

Slang for a largemouth bass.

Carolina rig

A soft-plastic rig with a sliding sinker kept away from the hook by a swivel (often with a bead in between), so a fish can pick up the bait without feeling the weight.

Catch and release

Letting a fish go after you catch it. Handling matters: wet hands, full support for the fish's body and as little time out of the water as possible. See releasing a big bass well.

Cover

Something a bass can hide beside to ambush prey, such as vegetation, a stump or a rock. Compare structure.

Crankbait

A hard lure, usually wood or plastic, built to swim under the surface like a baitfish, crawfish or other forage.

Daily bag limit

The number of fish of a species (or group of species) you may keep in a day. Each state sets its own, and some lakes have their own rules, so check the regulations for the water you fish.

Drag

The adjustable brake built into a reel that lets a pulling fish take line under controlled pressure instead of breaking it.

Drop shot

A rig with the hook tied onto the line above the sinker, so the bait is presented above the bottom.

Drop-off

An abrupt change in bottom depth, typically where a flat meets a channel. Also called a ledge.

Flipping

A close-range presentation in which a jig or soft plastic is swung underhand, pendulum-style, to a target a short distance away. Bassmaster credits Dee Thomas with inventing it.

Hawg

Slang for a large bass of any species. Same as lunker.

Hook set

Driving the hook into the fish's mouth once it bites.

Jerkbait

A lipped, minnow-shaped lure worked with jerks of the rod tip.

Jig

A lure with a weighted head molded onto the hook, dressed with a skirt of rubber, silicone or hair and often finished with a soft-plastic trailer.

Laydown

A tree along the shore that has fallen into the water. Also called a blowdown.

Leader

A length of line (monofilament, wire or another material) tied between your main line and the lure.

Livewell

A tank in a boat that keeps caught fish alive, usually with an aerator.

Lunker

Slang for a large bass of any species. There's no official weight; see What Is a Lunker Bass?

Pitching

An underhand cast like a modified flip: the bait swings forward as you raise the rod tip and travels out on line let off the spool.

Riprap

Rock piled along the banks of lakes and rivers and around bridge supports to stop erosion.

Schooling

Bass feeding in a group, chasing baitfish to the surface. Also called jumps.

Slot limit

A length range set by regulation. Most bass slots are protected slots (fish inside the range must be released), but some waters use harvest slots where only fish inside the range may be kept. Check the rules for the water you fish.

Soft plastic

A lure molded from soft plastic in the shape of a worm, lizard, crawfish, shrimp or baitfish.

Spinnerbait

A safety-pin-shaped wire lure with one or more spinning blades.

Structure

Changes in the shape of the bottom, such as channels, drop-offs, flats and points. Compare cover.

Swimbait

A lure built to look and swim like a baitfish, often a large one.

Terminal tackle

Everything tied at the end of your line: hooks, sinkers, floats, snaps, swivels and rigs.

Texas rig

A way of rigging a soft plastic weedless: a cone-shaped sinker slides on the line ahead of the hook, and the hook point is tucked back into the bait so it can be fished in cover.

Thermocline

A layer of water where the temperature changes faster with depth than in the water above or below it.

Topwater

A lure fished across the surface, usually one that floats.

Keep learning

Two terms above come up often enough to get their own articles: what makes a fish a lunker, and how to tell largemouth from smallmouth bass. And when you're ready to wear the hobby, browse our bass fishing shirts.