Fishing Terms Explained

HOOK:

(1) A curved piece of metal used to catch fish.

(2) A clever advertisement to entice¹ a fisherman to spend his life savings² on a new rod and reel.

(3) The punch administered by said fisherman's wife after he spends their life savings (see also, Right Hook, Left Hook).

LINE:

Something you give your coworkers when they ask on Monday how your fishing went the past weekend.

LURE³:

An object that is semi-enticing to fish, but will drive an angler into such a frenzy⁴ that he will charge his credit card to the limit before exiting the tackle shop.

REEL:

weighted object that causes a rod to sink quickly when dropped overboard.

ROD:

An attractively painted length of fiberglass that keeps an angler from ever getting too close to a fish.

SCHOOL:

A grouping in which fish are taught to avoid your $29.99 lures⁵ and hold out for leftovers⁶ instead.

TACKLE:

What your last catch did to you as you reeled him in, but just before he wrestled⁷ free and jumped back overboard.

TACKLE BOX:

A box shaped alarmingly like your comprehensive first aid kit⁸.

Only a tackle box contains many sharp objects, so that when you reach in the wrong box blindly to get a Band Aid, you soon find that you need more than one.

Your friends can gauge⁹ the number of Band Aids you need by the number of times you use the four lettered word... it begins with F and isn't fish!

TEST:

(1) The amount of strength a fishing line affords an angler when fighting fish in a specific weight range.

(2) A measure of your creativity in blaming "that darn line" for once again losing the fish.