D

DFO - Department of Fisheries and Oceans
A federal government department responsible for the protection and management of fish stocks and their habitat.

Dace
A small, silvery shoal fish found mainly in flowing water. Often confused with chub, the dace has a much smaller mouth and a concave rather than convex anal fin. It averages only around 100g (a few ounces) and a 0.45kg (1lb) fish is an outstanding specimen.

Damp leem
A fine-textured, dampened, clay that, when mixed with groundbait, makes heavy balls that sink straight to the bottom and break up very slowly. It is widely used in matches by pole anglers, in conjunction with jokers as feed, to create an attractive bed of food on the bottom. It is also used as a binder for neat joker.

Deadbait
A dead sea, game or coarse fish used as a hookbait, usually for pike, but sometimes also for zander, catfish, eels, perch and chub.

Deadbait needle
A tool for threading a deadbait on to the line or wire trace before attaching the hook or hooks.

Dead Sticking
A technique that is primarily used with the Slug-Go or other soft jerk baits but you can use this with other lures or plastic worms. You cast out your lure and let it sit on the bottom without moving it for as long as you can standi it and then let it sit even longer. When you do move it move it just ever so slightly

Deep-diving plug
A plug with a slightly angled plastic vane so that it dives steeply when retrieved.

Deep-water zone
The main basin of a lake or the channel of a river or reservoir

Dendrobena
A large variety of brandling that is only available from tackle shops.

Depth control
Controlling your lure or bait at a specific depth

Descaling
A condition in which a fish has lost a certain percentage of scales. Disco maggots
Maggots that are dyed with fluorescent colours are sometimes known as disco maggots.

Dibber
A small pole float, usually made from peacock quill or balsa, with a bulbous tip. Dibbers are mainly used on canals, with casters as bait, to catch roach from the bottom of shallow far-bank swims.

Disgorger
A small plastic tool for unhooking fish, a disgorger has a slotted head which slides down the line and over the eye or spade of the hook. Disgorgers with different-sized heads are available for different-sized hooks.

Distal
Away from the point of attachment or origin.

Diving plugs
These are floating lures which have vanes at the front which make them dive on the retrieve. The larger the vane and the shallower the angle, the deeper the dive.

DNR
Short for Department of Natural Resources.

Dog biscuits
Dog biscuits are a commonly used floating bait for carp, and can also be crushed and added to groundbait, or made into a paste.

Domed-top stick float
A stick float with a domed top is easier to see at long range than one with a pointed top. It offers greater buoyancy and stability, making it more suited to fishing overdepth.

Domhof knot
A knot used to tie hooklengths to spade-end hooks.

Dorsal fin
The fin situated on the back of the fish

Dotting
Shotting a float so that only the smallest possible amount of tip is visible above the surface.

Double-handled fixed-spool reel
A double handle on a fixed-spool reel is preferred by some anglers for legering because it is better balanced than a single handle and therefore allows finer adjustment of the tension in the line.

Double-ringed balsa slider
A balsa float with a small side ring on the top and bottom in place of float rubbers, to allow it to be used as a sliding float.

Downrigger
A metal device, resembling an oversized rod, that is mounted to the decking of a boat and can be lowered or raised on a metal cable; used to present lures in deep water on light lines

Drag
an adjustable mechanism that allows a hooked fish to take the line off the reel to avoid break-offs.

Drift
the movement of a lure, natural food, or a boat when they move naturally with the flow of water or prevailing winds.

Drilled bullet
A spherical leger weight with a hole through the middle to thread direct on to the line.

Drop-back bite
When a biting fish dislodges the leger weight or swimfeeder, causing the line to slacken and the bite indicator to drop back.

Drop-off
A point where there is sharp increase in depth

Drop-off bite alarm
A bite indicator that combines an electronic bite alarm with a large bobbin. It is mainly used when legering for pike.

Dropper shot
One or more small shot that are spread between the hook and the float, or between the hook and the bulk shot. It aids bite detection because as soon as the fish moves it, the movement shows up on the float.

Dry fly
A fly which floats on the surface of the water and imitates mature aquatic insects