—Glossary

Glossary

Terms with their Chinese and Japanese equivalents. Many terms used by Chinese anglers come from Japanese or English, so knowing the originals makes it easier to look things up and read product specs.

Term	日本語	Category	Definition
Lure fishing	ルアーフィッシング	General	Fishing with artificial lures that imitate prey to trigger strikes from predatory fish.
Target species	—	General	The fish species you are targeting on a given trip.
Depth zone	レンジ	General	The depth range the lure is running in, usually split into surface, upper, mid and bottom.
Structure	—	General	Changes in underwater terrain, such as slopes, ledges, ditches, points and submerged channels.
Cover	—	General	Physical objects fish can hide in or under, such as weeds, fallen trees, rock piles, docks and duckweed.
Blow-up	—	General	The splash a predator makes when it attacks baitfish or a lure at the surface.
Skunked	—	General	Angler slang for going a whole day without catching a single fish.
Catch & release	キャッチ＆リリース	General	Returning a caught fish to the water quickly and with as little harm as possible.
Polarized sunglasses	—	General	They cut surface glare so you can see structure and fish underwater, and protect your eyes from flying hooks.
Fish finder	—	General	An electronic sonar device that shows depth, bottom type and fish.
Power	—	Rod	How much force it takes to bend the rod; it sets the usable lure weight and line size. Common ratings: UL / L / ML / M / MH / H / XH.
Action	テーパー / 調子	Rod	Where the rod bends under load. Extra-fast rods bend only at the tip; slow rods bend through the whole blank.
Casting rod	ベイトロッド	Rod	A rod for baitcasting reels, with a trigger under the reel seat and small guides on top of the blank. Model codes often start with C or B.
Spinning rod	スピニングロッド	Rod	A rod for spinning reels: the reel hangs under the blank and the first guide is large. Model codes often start with S.
Guides	ガイド	Rod	The rings along the rod that guide the line.
Tip	ティップ	Rod	The very end of the rod, responsible for feel and subtle lure control.
Mid section	ベリー	Rod	The middle of the rod, which affects how power is transferred when casting and fighting fish.
Butt	バット	Rod	The rear section, the thickest and stiffest part, providing most of the power for hooksets and controlling fish.
Reel seat	—	Rod	The part that holds the reel to the rod.
Solid tip	—	Rod	A tip made of solid material. It is softer than a tubular tip and fish are less likely to feel resistance, making it ideal for finesse soft plastics and small fish.
Lure weight	—	Rod	The recommended lure weight range printed on the rod, e.g. "Lure 5–21 g" or "1/8–3/4 oz".
Spinning reel	スピニングリール	Reel	The spool stays still while you reel (it only turns when the drag slips) and a rotor wraps line around it. On the cast, line spirals off the front of the spool, so it can't backlash from spool overrun like a baitcaster, though loose loops and wind knots can still happen.
Baitcasting reel	ベイトリール	Reel	A reel whose spool spins as line pays out, with a low, teardrop-shaped body. It needs brakes and thumb control or it will backlash.
Round baitcaster	丸型ベイトリール	Reel	A baitcaster with a round frame, high line capacity and rugged build, used for big lures and saltwater.
Backlash	バックラッシュ	Reel	When a baitcaster's spool spins faster than line is leaving it, the excess line balloons up and tangles on the spool. Also called a bird's nest.
Brake	ブレーキ	Reel	A system that keeps a baitcaster's spool from overrunning; types include centrifugal, magnetic and digital.
Spool tension knob	メカニカルブレーキ	Reel	A knob on the side of a baitcaster that applies friction along the spool shaft. A common setting: let the lure drop from the rod tip, and the spool should stop when the lure hits the ground.
Drag	ドラグ	Reel	When the pull exceeds the setting, the spool slips and gives line so it doesn't break. Spinning reels usually have a front drag knob; baitcasters have a star drag next to the handle.
Gear ratio	ギア比	Reel	How many times the spool (or rotor) turns for one turn of the handle, e.g. 7.1:1.
Retrieve per crank	—	Reel	Line recovered per handle turn, roughly gear ratio × π × effective spool diameter.
Bail	ベール	Reel	The metal arm on a spinning reel that flips open and closed. Open, line can come off; closed, it guides line onto the spool.
Level wind	—	Reel	The guide on the front of a baitcaster that moves side to side to lay line evenly on the spool.
BFS	—	Reel	Baitcasters with ultralight spools that can cast lures of just a few grams (the name comes from a Shimano product line).
Left / right-hand retrieve	—	Reel	Named for the side the handle is on. With a left-hand retrieve, you crank with your left hand and hold the rod in your right.
Braid (PE)	PEライン	Line	Line braided from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene fibers: very strong, low stretch, poor abrasion resistance.
Fluorocarbon	フロロカーボン	Line	Fluorocarbon monofilament: abrasion resistant, sinks, and is hard to see underwater.
Mono	ナイロン	Line	Nylon (polyamide) monofilament: supple, stretchy and cheap.
Leader	リーダー	Line	A length of fluorocarbon or mono tied to the end of a braided main line for abrasion resistance, stealth and shock absorption.
Go	号	Line	The Japanese line size standard. For mono and fluorocarbon, #1 has a standard diameter of 0.165 mm.
Pound test (lb)	—	Line	A line's rated breaking strength; 1 lb ≈ 0.4536 kg.
Lip	リップ	Lure	The plate on the front of a hard bait that sets its diving depth and action.
Treble hook	トレブルフック	Lure	A hook with three points, common on hard baits.
Offset / EWG hook	オフセットフック	Lure	A single hook with a bend near the eye, used to rig soft plastics weedless (Texas rig, weightless, etc.).
Weed guard	—	Lure	A brush of nylon fibers in front of the hook point that reduces snags.
Floating / suspending / sinking	—	Lure	How a lure behaves at rest, usually marked F / SP / S.
Soft plastic	ワーム	Lure	A lure made of soft plastic or elastomer, fished on a hook, weighted or weightless. Some tail shapes have built-in action, and the rig changes the presentation.
Paddle tail	—	Lure	A soft plastic with a paddle-shaped tail that kicks side to side on the retrieve.
Curly tail	—	Lure	A soft plastic with a curled, hook-shaped tail that swims even at slow speeds.
Rattle	ラトル	Lure	Small beads inside a hard bait that roll around and make noise.
Rig	リグ	Rig	How the hook, weight and soft plastic (plus swivels, beads, etc.) are put together.
Texas rig	テキサスリグ	Rig	Bullet weight plus an offset hook with the point buried; very snag resistant.
Drop shot	ダウンショット	Rig	The hook is tied above a weight at the end of the line, so the soft plastic hovers off the bottom.
Finesse	フィネス	Rig	An umbrella term for using light line, light weights, small baits and subtle action to catch inactive fish.
Hookset	フッキング	Technique	Sweeping the rod after you feel a bite to drive the hook point into the fish's mouth.
Fighting	ファイト	Technique	Using the rod and drag to tire out a hooked fish until you can land it.
Jerk & pause	ジャーク	Technique	Sharp rod jerks followed by a pause.
Walk the dog	ドッグウォーク	Technique	Making a pencil bait or other topwater zigzag side to side as it comes in.
Count down	カウントダウン	Technique	Counting while a sinking lure falls to control how deep it runs.
Tension fall	テンションフォール	Technique	Keeping slight tension on the line as the lure falls, so it swings down in an arc and bites are easier to feel.
Free fall	フリーフォール	Technique	Giving the lure completely slack line so it drops straight down faster; you can only detect bites by watching the line.