Walleye fishing, like many other sports has developed a language of it's own. Learn the lingo so you can have intelligent discussions with fellow walleye fisherman at the ramp, bait store, or online. If you have some walleye "lingo" that you would like to add to our site, just drop me an e-mail with the word and definition.
Bouncers Bottom Bouncer. Weight used to bring your lure to or near the bottom and keep it there. Might be anywhere from one ounce to four ounces. See the "Walleye 101" or "Video" sections of this site for more information Back to Top
Bump When you get a hit. Could be on a jig or even on a planner board when it falls back but you don't hook up a fish. Back to Top
Box Another word for livewell or cooler. "We have three fish in the box" Back to Top
Bullet When you catch a steelhead when fishing for walleyes Back to Top
Can Another name for a buoy marking a channel, border, or boundary. An area of Lake Erie known as Camp Perry has Cans from "A" to "K" marking the off limits boundary. You might also hear this for other lakes and rivers where a shipping channel runs through a particular area. Back to Top
Charts Another word for map. Used to find an area of a lake, channel, or drop off. We like to mark our favorite spots on the map. Back to Top
Colors This refers to how much lead core line you have let out. Every 10 feet is a different color. Someone might say "I was fishing three colors of lead" Back to Top
Crawler Harness What is normally used when walleye fishing with worms. They come in many colors of beads and blades and usually have 2 hooks (somethimes a third hook is used as a stinger hook). Back to Top
Dink Dink means a fish that is just short of the 15" minimun size required to keep a walleye Back to Top
Double When you have two fish in your boat at the same time Back to Top
Dropped One You lost a fish - usually near the boat Back to Top
Flag A red flag that tells you when you have a bite on the planer board. Back to Top
FOW FOW stands for "Feet of Water" and usually refers to a fishing report like "I caught three walleye in 36 FOW near the sandbar" Back to Top
GPS Global Position System. Used to determine your location on the earth - accurate to within a few feet of the exact location. Commonly reported as a latitude and longitude position. A GPS can also be used to more accurately monitor your trolling speed as compared to a standard marine speedometer. Back to Top
Inline Weight A weight that is snaped to the line to bring a light weight lure like a crawler harness or spoon deeper with less line out. You can control the depth of the lure by the amount of line you let out. Back to Top
Jet Diving plug used to take a light weight spoon or spinner down to a desired depth. Might be used in a sentence like "ran our jets 80 feet back over 30 feet of water". This means you attached a spoon to a jet diver and let out 80 feet of line before hooking your line to a planner board. Jets come in several sizes (eg 10's, 20's, 30's, 40's) Back to Top
Jigs Usually a colored lead head and single hooked used for walleye fishing in a river or weed bed. Range in sixe from 1/16th ounce to over one ounce. People sometimes add a stinger hook (treble) when fishing in the Detroit River. Back to Top
Junk Everything you catch but walleyes. Usually means catfish, sheephead, white bass, white perch, or rock bass, etc Back to Top
Kicker Motor A kicker motor is used for trolling from the back of the boat. It is able to keep you moving at a very slow speed (less than 1 MPH) or a faster speed for trolling bigger baits. Most kicker motors are either 8 or 9.9 horsepower. Back to Top
Laid an Egg Means you caught nothing "0" Back to Top
Line Counters Large baitcating type reels used to measure the exact amount of line let out from the rod and reel. Very imnportant item in being able to fish in a consistent way. Back to Top
Meat What walleye fishermen say when the fish are biting on crawlers. "I caught mine on meat" Back to Top
Monkey Puke Example of a color of a spoon Back to Top
Planner Boards Used to get the line and lurers away from the boat. See "Video" or "Walleye 101" section of this site for more info. Back to Top
Pulling Another way of saying trolling Back to Top
Sock A drift sock. Used when drifting or trolling to slow you down. For more information check out the "Walleye 101" or "Video" sections of this website. Back to Top
Sonar Also know as a depth finder. Can be very help in finding the right depth, fish, bait, weeds, water temp. You can also see if there is a thermocline.
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Thermocline Thermocline is an area of low oxogen in the water colum were fish will not live in. Only happens in deeper water (over 30 feet) during calm times in the summer. Back to Top
