How-To

Ken’s 10: Bass Words

This Ken's 10 is all about the special language spoken by bass anglers.

Posted on
This Ken's 10 is all about the special language spoken by bass anglers. Full of jargon, slang and terms of art, it has its own eloquence and style once you learn it. The language of bass fishing not only facilitates our communication, it also acts as a litmus test when sizing up others who claim to be a part of the sport. If someone can't talk the talk, they probably can't walk the walk, either. Bass words are important. They define us almost as critically as we define them. Before this degenerates into an edition of
This Ken’s 10 is all about the special language spoken by bass anglers. Full of jargon, slang and terms of art, it has its own eloquence and style once you learn it. The language of bass fishing not only facilitates our communication, it also acts as a litmus test when sizing up others who claim to be a part of the sport. If someone can’t talk the talk, they probably can’t walk the walk, either. Bass words are important. They define us almost as critically as we define them.

Before this degenerates into an edition of “cranky bass writer,” here are 10 bass words that are critical to any angler’s vocabulary — listed alphabetically.

1. Bass - When a
1. Bass – When a “bass” angler says “bass,” he means a member of the Micropterus genus — one of the “black bass.” He’s not talking about a sea bass or a white bass or even a striped bass … though every bass angler should know that a “bass” is not a bass at all, biologically speaking.
2. Cover - Anglers confuse cover and structure all the time — using them interchangeably when they should not.
2. Cover – Anglers confuse cover and structure all the time — using them interchangeably when they should not. “Cover” is an object, such as a stump, rock or vegetation, that creates an ambush point for a predator, like a bass. Structure is entirely different … as you’ll see if you read on.
3. Finesse - Just exactly what makes a technique a
3. Finesse – Just exactly what makes a technique a “finesse” technique is tough to put your finger on. Traditionally, finesse methods involved small lures and light lines used to generate feeding strikes from lethargic bass. For some highly skilled anglers, though, throwing a giant swimbait on 25-pound fluorocarbon can be a finesse method. It’s more about the painstaking efforts to draw a feeding strike than anything else.
4. Flippin' - This is a fixed-line presentation technique (line does not revolve off the reel when you're flippin') by which a lure (usually a jig or soft plastic bait) is propelled underhand in pendulum fashion to a point a short distance (usually about 15-18 feet) away. It was invented by California's Dee Thomas more than 40 years ago. For the record, there's never, ever a
4. Flippin’ – This is a fixed-line presentation technique (line does not revolve off the reel when you’re flippin’) by which a lure (usually a jig or soft plastic bait) is propelled underhand in pendulum fashion to a point a short distance (usually about 15-18 feet) away. It was invented by California’s Dee Thomas more than 40 years ago. For the record, there’s never, ever a “g” in flippin’, and flippin’ isn’t pitching.
5. Lunker - This is a slang term for a large fish of any species, but especially a bass. First used in 1867, it's going to outlast
5. Lunker – This is a slang term for a large fish of any species, but especially a bass. First used in 1867, it’s going to outlast “toad,” “hawg,” “slounch” and all the other less attractive terms that gain a little traction before disappearing from our language. Books, baits and even board games have used it as a title.
6. Pattern - Roland Martin is the father of pattern fishing. He even defined the term, which has been one of the key bass words for more than 40 years:
6. Pattern – Roland Martin is the father of pattern fishing. He even defined the term, which has been one of the key bass words for more than 40 years: “A pattern is the exact set of water conditions such as depth, cover, structure, temperature, clarity, current, etc., which attracts fish to that specific spot and to other similar spots all over the same body of water.”
7. Pitching -
7. Pitching – “Pitching” is an underhanded casting method which resembles a modified flippin’ presentation. The bait is swung forward by raising the rod tip quickly, and the lure — most commonly a soft plastic bait or jig — pulls line from the spool (pitching is not a fixed-line technique). Pitching gained popularity as a method that could quietly and accurately present baits to targets that are just outside the range of conventional flippin’, but for many anglers it’s the only shallow water, heavy cover presentation technique they use. Just because pitching became popular after the arrival of flippin’ doesn’t mean it’s newer, though. In the 1880s, James Alexander Henshall advocated a style of casting described as “dropping the tip of the rod below the elbow and checking the reel with the thumb.” That’s pitching!
8. Power - When you're using big, horizontally-moving lures and covering a lot of water trying to create reaction bites, you're power fishing. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, crankbaits and lipless crankbaits are all traditional power fishing lures. If you're power fishing, you're not trying to tempt every bass in the area to bite; you're trying to catch every bass that wants to feed or that can be triggered into striking a fast-moving bait. If you know an angler who has a reputation for fishing fast, you can bet he's a power fisherman.
8. Power – When you’re using big, horizontally-moving lures and covering a lot of water trying to create reaction bites, you’re power fishing. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, crankbaits and lipless crankbaits are all traditional power fishing lures. If you’re power fishing, you’re not trying to tempt every bass in the area to bite; you’re trying to catch every bass that wants to feed or that can be triggered into striking a fast-moving bait. If you know an angler who has a reputation for fishing fast, you can bet he’s a power fisherman.
9. Professional - A true bass fishing professional is more than someone who casts for cash and enters (or even wins) a few tournaments. A true professional is someone who represents his sponsors with grace and dignity. A true professional adheres to the letter of the rules as well as to their spirit and intent. A true professional can be identified by his accomplishments and reputation. There are lots of tournament jerseys out there, but not enough true professionals to wear them.
9. Professional – A true bass fishing professional is more than someone who casts for cash and enters (or even wins) a few tournaments. A true professional is someone who represents his sponsors with grace and dignity. A true professional adheres to the letter of the rules as well as to their spirit and intent. A true professional can be identified by his accomplishments and reputation. There are lots of tournament jerseys out there, but not enough true professionals to wear them.
10. Structure - Contour changes on a lake's or stream's substrate — channels, ledges, flats and points — are structure. A brushpile or stump is cover, not structure. Cover and structure are two different things, and bass anglers who know what they're talking about know this.
10. Structure – Contour changes on a lake’s or stream’s substrate — channels, ledges, flats and points — are structure. A brushpile or stump is cover, not structure. Cover and structure are two different things, and bass anglers who know what they’re talking about know this.

Related