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!
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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."