A poster below asked about a "steelhead dictionary" to help him to understand the terms that make up our steelhead culture. Here goes a few...

He asked about "Lurker"- a lurker is someone who follows what happens on bulliten boards such as this, but doesn't contribute unless he/she feels the need to bag on a particular person or ***** about a particular topic. Not really seen as a good thing on a bulliten board...

"Cracker"- a very important term for a newbie to know, especially so as to not be one. A cracker is someone who has no idea what they're doing, but thinks they do, or worse, wanders around the river or boat launch telling everyone how much they (don't) know. There are some good signs to see if someone is a cracker or not.
1. sneakers and jeans on riverbank, or hip boots, or sneakers over neoprenes.
2. spinning rod, especially if yellow, with the rod upside down, reel on top. Also, calling a fishing rod a "pole". A "pole" is generally of a bright color, red or green, and comes as a combo in April for about ten to twenty bucks. If they really are using a pole, then they really are a cracker. No need to look any closer.
3. piece of yarn tied to rod tip so they can see when they have a "bite".
4. getting a "bite"-steelhead are not lake rainbows. They don't bite, they hit.
5. yellow rain jacket
6. using a Buzz Bomb for river chums
7. using a big red corky and long green yarn to fish for steelhead during very low, clear, water flows.
8. tackle box on riverbank
9. "boot" on stringer (see below)
10. issue of FHN in back pocket (j/k, couldn't help myself)

You don't need all of these to be a cracker, but if you notice more than one or two of these characteristics in someone, they are likely a cracker. Not a good thing to be.

"chromer"-a bright, fresh fish. a.k.a. "two-toner"

"boot"-not a chromer. An old salmon or steelhead. Sometimes very old. Often seen in one of three places; a. dead, washed up on riverbank, b. spawning, or c. hanging from a stringer being carried by a cracker.

"long-liner"-someone who thinks that the best fishing is always at the extreme limit of their casting ability, especially if that spot is within four feet of where you're standing. Also, a float fisherman who lets his float drift from the creek at Reiter damn near to the cable hole.

"fin clip"- hatchery fish missing adipose fin, or ventral fin

"bonk"- to kill a fish. See also, "applying the wood shampoo", "whack", "deliver", etc.

"schmeg"-the stuff an egg fisherman gets all over his waders, rods, reels, vest, rocks around him, trees around him, and all over the boat. For me, it generally seems to be everywhere except on the very clean rag hanging from my belt.

"keeper"- fin clipped chromer

"partner"- someone who pays for gas, coffee, bait, and loans gear. At least pays for their own. Good thing to have.

"leech"-someone who fishes with you who is not a "partner".

"expert"-someone who caught a fish this morning.

All right guys, let's hear some more, either useful or humorous. Preferably both.

Fish on...

Todd.

Bow Boy- A Partner that doeswnt catch any fish for a trip or two, but still is very good at pulling the bow anchor.

Wait, Wait, Wait, I've got to interject something here. First, let me start by saying that I own a pair of $70.00 wading boots that I cant stand.... They hurt my feet like crazy, so I took an old pair of my younger brother's converse High tops (about three sizes larger than what I usually wear) and tried them on over my waders.... I love them! Does that mean I'm a cracker?! God I hope not! If that's what everyone thinks when I come down to the riverbank then it looks as though I'm going to have to throw those things away and put on my very expensive yet uncomfortable wading boots just so that people wont think I'm a cracker. Man, I hope no one saw me wearing those tennis shoes.

Good topic Todd!

- nates: native steelhead (or guys named Nate)
- brats: hatchery steelhead (why brats instead of hats?)
- flossing: using really long leaders to float thru lots of stacked up fish, trying to hook the fish on the outside of the jaw
- snagger: ultra cracker lowlife that can't get fish to bite legally
- doughball: clutz that can't fish worth a crap
- moderator: target
- columnist: target
- BB opinion expresser: target
- butt wax: Prep H on plugs (fishing plugs - it works!)
- smoker: grey to brown fish that should be released
- bait robbers: bullhead mud-dobbers, sqawfish, coho, egg whores low on eggs

Lots more.

All right, I'll take a few shots at myself before someone else gets it in their mind to!!

"elitist"-someone who thinks everyone else is a cracker (since I've fingered 95% of the fishermen as being one! Thanks, Marsha! )

"high-brow, fly-flinging, scotch-drinking, cigar-smoking, down-nose-looking, fish-harrassing, spawner-targeting, catch and release advocating, yuppie Puget Sound computer executive, elitist"- somehow I get characterized as this since I'm a firm c-n-r advocate for native steelhead. The reality is that my brow is quite low, I don't flyfish much, use pounds of eggs per week, scotch tastes like kerosene and beer is good, I hate the taste of cigars but can put down a can of Copie on a long day of fishing, I don't target spawners, I don't work on computers, and I swear a lot when I fish, though mostly in good humor.

Seems these days all you have to do is say "catch and release" and all the rest comes with it.

Hmm...what else? I'm out of self-deprecating remarks now. Do I even need to ask for help, or is it forthcoming anyway? :p

Have at it!

Todd.

Horse - To force a fish in too fast

Milk - To play a fish too long

Hen - female fish

Buck - male fish

Hawg - a really big fish

(there seems to be a farm theme here)

Hog line - boats or bankies stretched across a river in a line

Bait ball - school of bait fish

Broom stick - very stiff fishing rod

on my home river we call a cracker a newt...don't know where it came from.

another definition for a cracker - someone who always grabs the net but usually ends up knocking the fish off "oops, sorry dude!" Is there another term for this?

Also, what do you call someone who seem to be fishing right, has all the right stuff, seems to know their stuff, casts in the right places but never seems to catch anything. I have a couple relatives like this....I just call them fishless!!

Beak-----> Canadian version of a cracker....our version loves a spinning reel and camo waders, may sometimes be confused with an Yank.

Bullet----> same as chromer

Guts-------> roe, eggs

Snakes------> pink rubber worms

Doe------> hen steelies

Coffee Grinder-----> spin cast reel

Yank-----> Usually spotted with a coffee grinder and rod under 9'...loves crowds, friendly, thinks the Vedder is a wilderness experience(no offence 4Salt!)

None taken Matt

You mean to tell me that the Vedder ain't no wilderness river? Well I'll be dipped in sh!t!

p.s. My rod is DEFINITELY longer that 9 feet! And when I was a lot younger, I was known to *Yank* it every now and then.

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: 4Salt ]

FOP-- generally seen driving a cartopper around Tillamook bay and spending most of their time looking behind them. (stands for f@$%&*@ old people)
Dope on a rope--Jackass that ties up a good run by anchoring right in the middle of it.
Bank Maggot-- usually standing in my hole when I come around the bend in the drift boat

Aunty, Aunty, Aunty, you're killing me.

More:

Leader: The guy who always hits the hole first in your fishing group. The length of your leader depends on how many more fish he catches, i.e., since I was catching few fish, I switched over to a shorter leader.

Leader Dispenser: Usually a line like "Hey! I just saw two roll back here!", it is intended to bring the leader back to your position, so you can get in front, thereby "dispensing with the leader".

Pulling Plugs: Digging into a pouch of RedMan

Good on the Sticks: Like John Bonham, can weave through tangled melodies, keeping the ship straight.

Guides: The things on your rod that the line goes through (why do they advertise these for up to $300 bucks per day? Even my good rods only cost about that much, and I get to keep them at the end of the day).

Float fishing: Digging through the sale bin at GI Joe's for Thills and dinks.

Drift fishing: Racking your brain to follow the logic in some of these threads. Also known as trying to "catch the drift". Often harder than it sounds.

Practicing sound catch and release: Pulling your waders down every hour or so to "release" the "sounds" that have accumulated there after too much beer last night and too much coffee this morning.

Snagging: Grabbing the last jelly donut at Texaco.

Jig: A dance for celebrating a recent steelhead catch, or for getting feeling back in frostbitten feet. A Jigger is either the person doing the jig, or another name for the flask that also is intended to warm up the fisher's extremities.

Flossing: Wearing a g-string fishing.

Crackers: The softball sized rocks that are thrown at jet skiers in Sultan and Monroe.

Okie Drifter: Former bass fisherman from the Dustbowl, now fishes for steelhead from a Cataraft.

Driving: On your way to the river to fish.
Camping: Fishing with a tent.
Hiking: Travelling from hole to hole.
Shopping: Buying fishing gear.
Working: Thinking of fishing.
Sleeping: Wasting time when you could be fishing.
Watching Movies: "Quality Time" on the couch while you tie leaders and make slinkies.
Fishing: Sweating, swearing, bruising, scratching, drinking, smoking, swearing, farting, laughing, pointing, tripping, falling, spending time and money, freezing, grumbling, crying, all while trying to get a tug on your rod.

Ok, Ok...any serious ones?

slinky: parachute cord filled with buckshot, used for weight.

wool: yarn, eh.

Boondoggle: Drifting your boat at or about the same speed as the current so one cast runs the entire length of the run.

Zipperlip: I'd tell ya', but then I'd have to kill ya'. Secret fishing hole.

Lowholed: When someone steps in front of you as you move down a drift, or sets up their boat in front of you or your boat. Not nice.

Farmin' 'em: Repeatedly missing strikes, as in "feeding the fish" all your bait.

Seam: "line" between fast and slow water, where the fish tend to line up.

Root Wad, or Root Ball: Stump in the water.

Knuckle Buster: A reel that either has no drag, or has the anti-reverse turned off, so that the reel handle spins backwards as line leaves the reel. Ouch.

River Names:

Nutsack-Nooksack
Big Muddy-Skagit
Stilly-Stillaguamish
Sky-Skykomish
The Cow-Cowlitz
Bogie-Bogachiel
Yokel-Tokul Cr.

Next.

Fish on...

Todd.

Here's a few

Wheeeee-A phoney expression of glee by someone who does not know much about fishing.
Yish,geesh and yip-See above
Scissorbill-Same as cracker,doughball
Blown-River condition when high and muddy or....
Egg whore-A good friend
Bobber down-Something Osprey has never experienced
Guide shop waitresses-For me and RT only
Pool cue-Same as broom handle
Camo colored-Dark fish

My god Todd, you missed your calling. You should write the fishing dictionary. Outstanding!

GREAT POSTS GUYS!

Thanks Todd, there's alot of great info here and it's very entertaining you should put it on paper it's award winning stuff.

All right I have to try some..

Spoongoon- one who casts spoons in your egg water.
Ratfish- Excess stacked up dark silvers
SauceBucket- Where the good stuff is
Secret sauce- One you put on that always produces
Bank Maggots- Ones who fish boat water
Trash fish- squawfish, dobbers, etc

I may try more later.
Keith

Tye - Chinook over 30 pounds
Orvis Boy - Female fishermen's whipping post

kelt - a spawned steelhead

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: bardo ]

Here's a few more:

Fish that fight really well:

Screamer
Ripper
Burner
Thumb Burner
A "hot" one

Fish that don't fight very well:

A real dog
boot
slug
sock
noodle

What happens when you get a hit:

takedown (plugs/baitdivers)
slammed
ripped
tatered
smacked
munched (bait fishing)
dunked (float fishing)
mauled

What happens when you miss a hit:

tanked one
farmed 'em
choked
whiffed
blew
waved

What you say when you hook up:

There's one!
Bam!
Fish!
Fish on!
Fish on! Fish! Fish! Fish on! Comin' down! Fish! Look out! Look out! Fish! Fish! (hooking up at Blue Creek, Barrier Dam, Reiter, Wind River, Cable Hole on Snoqualmie, Tokul Creek, and Whatcom Creek)

What do you say when you haven't caught a fish in a while and you catch a dark one?

She'll smoke up fine!

How about if you're fishing over a huge school of willing chum, especially at Hoodsport or anywhere on Hood Canal?

Oh. It's just another dog. (Duh. What'd you think it'd be?)

Good conditions?

Dialed in. Golden. Steelhead green. Emerald.

Bad?

Blown. Oatmeal. Chocolate. In the woods.
Low. Clear. Gin. Air-clear. Not there. Eye to eye fishing.

Keep 'em comin'...

Todd.

Great posts Todd!!! If you wouldn't mind, e-mail me your permission to use your posts in the Funny Fish Stories section of my book - with your name credit of course. Good stuff.

Aunty's is too - but they'd have to go into a non-fishing book.

Beek, down our way 'snake' is a long skinny spawned out hen steelhead. Boot is a dark fish.

Kunan, the guy who knocks your fish off with the net is called the "net cracker sheet". But your reference to 'horse' a fish in is right. But I continue to wonder why horses are so often used in this country for descriptive verse. Let's see ... there's:

Horse's ass - apparently a jerk; but what's wrong with an actual horse's ass? Everybody's got one!

Horse around - being playful.

Horse power - cars have hundreds of them.

Horse sh!t - not quite as bad of lie as bullsh!t?

Horse feathers/manure - the humble person's horse sh!t.

Horse face - A n g y.

Horse fly - you northern Canucks know all about those biters!

Horse d!ck - a big version of a d!ck float.

RT

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: RT ]

RT we gonna keep KB sufferin on that typo? Anyway a few of mine.

Piggy: Large chrome silvers

Poachers: Snaggers, Quillabilly, Cabbage Patchers

Quillabilly: snaggers,poachers, Cabbage Patchers

Got it in the mouth: gillplate, eye, throat. sometimes tail, dorsal fin, belly, ad nauseum.

Trout: downstream migrant chinook,coho and steelhead smolts.

Kuner'd them: Slayed'em

Hon'yachs: Quillabilly ad nauseum

E-moo: large black and white four legged critter

E-mew:small fourlegged cuddly furballof many color variations

Emu:large nasty two legged dinosaur looking thing

**** float:soft foam fishing device

Gooose