Travelling is a great way to experience different cultures and fish new waters. In foreign lands, we discover fresh perspectives, different techniques and exotic languages. Anglers all over the world target the same fish. But go as far as the next county and you may find your favorite target species called by a foreign name. Sometimes these local fish names are quaint, endearing or even amusing. Other times, they can lead to a frustrating communication gap.
Playing the Name Game with Local Fish Species
When travel-fishing, locals are always a great source of information. However, they occasionally rely on some creative naming conventions and there may be need for interpretation. Sure, using the scientific name would avoid confusion. Genus and species are accepted around the world and are descriptive of the species, as long as you remember your high school Latin. But if you walk into a bait store and ask, “What would you recommend for catching Ictalurus punctatus?” you may be told to ask the pharmacist down the street.
Some common names describe the fish reasonably well. Another name for black crappie is papermouth because they require a soft hookset. Folks in western Pennsylvania call freshwater drum grinders because of the hefty pharyngeal pads in the back of the throat used to crush crayfish—which Pennsylvanians call crab.
Say What?
Other common names can be head-scratchers, except to the locals. In southern Louisiana, crappie are sac-a-lait, French for milk bag. I’ve heard bowfin called lawyer-fish. I also heard a burbot called a lawyer. Both species are hardheaded and ugly.
In the Missouri Ozarks, a rock bass is a goggle-eye. That doesn’t sound politically correct.
In Kansas and Oklahoma, a sunfish can suddenly become a perch. And another name for a smallmouth in Missouri is a blue pancake.
Then there is the curious fact that many fish seem to want to be like northern pike: A gar is a gar pike, a sauger is called sand pike and I’ve heard walleye referred to as walleye pike. At the same time, deep in pike country, the toothy fish are simply called northerns.
Some common fish names describe the color. Steelhead are chromes. White-whiskered, white catfish are known as whitey. And pods of common carp can be elevated to golden ghosts by fly anglers.
In other places, we can’t even agree on a color. In Michigan a smallmouth bass is a bronzeback, but in Missouri, it may be called a brownie. Then there is the poor blue catfish. It isn’t blue at all. In fact, the only way to distinguish a blue catfish from a channel catfish is to count the rays of the anal fin, which wouldn’t make for a very flattering common name.
Strictly by the Book
There are many more examples, but the only common names that really matter are those printed in the state fishing regulations. When you travel, pick one up immediately and use it to help communicate with the locals, even if it means just pointing at pictures. And if someone offers to set you up with some snot rockets, you may want to hear him out.
Feature photo: Michal Dziekonski/Unsplash
