B

B-run steelhead
Summer steelhead crossing Bonneville Dam after August 25.

Backlash
A tangle of line caused by spool overrun on a baitcasting reel.

Back lead
A sliding weight that you clip on to the line between the rod top and leger rig after casting. It holds the line on the bottom, so that fish are not alarmed by seeing the line or bumping into it. It also prevents line bites.

Back-shot.
One or more small split shot pinched on the line a few inches above the float. You can use back-shot to stabilize the rig when pole fishing in windy conditions, to help sink the reel line when waggler fishing in windy conditions.

Backing
line added to the back of the line, so when spooled it fills the reel

Backtrolling
a system of boat control whereby a craft is moved in reverse while running lures or baits

Backwinding
Allowing a running fish to take line from a fixed-spool reel by winding the handle backwards.

Bag Limit
The number of fish an angler may legally keep per day.

Bail arm
That part of a fixed-spool reel, comprising a wire bar and roller, that rotates around the spool as you turn the handle, so winding the line on to the spool.

Bait additive
Any liquid or powder used to colour or flavour a bait, or otherwise increase its attraction to fish.

Bait apron
An apron with pouches for bait and pockets for disgorgers, spare hooks, catapults and other small items. It allows you to have such things to hand when wading.

Bait box
A plastic container designed to hold maggots, casters or worms, but useful for other baits as well. The lid is perforated to allow the bait to breathe.

Bait box holder
A plastic tray that screws into a bank stick and has moulded receptacles to hold your bait boxes securely. It allows you to keep your bait close to hand, as well as small items such as disgorgers and catapults.

Baitcasting reel
A fishing reel in which the spool is not stationary during a cast, but revolves

Bait colourings
Various powder and liquid dyes are available to colour a variety of baits, including maggots, pastes and boilies. The commonest colours are red, yellow and orange.

Baitdropper
A small, weighted plastic or metal device for feeding groundbait or particle baits accurately under the rod or pole tip. You simply attach it to the line, fill it with bait and lower it into the water. On hitting the bottom it releases its contents.

Baitfishing
Technique using the natural prey of other species

Bait flavourings.
There are hundreds of different concentrated liquid bait flavourings. Most are designed to flavour boilies for carp fishing, but you can use any of them to flavour other baits, such as maggots and pastes, as well as groundbait.

Baitrunner
A fixed-spool reel with an optional free-spool mode. This allows the spool to rotate freely while the bail arm is closed, giving fairly resistance-free line to a taking fish. Just before you strike, a flick of a switch disengages the baitrunner.

Balanced tackle
Tackle is balanced when the test curve of the rod, the breaking strain of the line, and the size and strength of the hook are all compatible.

Balling in
Throwing or catapulting in a large quantity of groundbait all in one go - usually at the start of a session.

Ballooning
Attaching an inflated balloon to a pike rig with a paper clip, then letting the wind drift it beyond casting range. When the balloon reaches the required spot, you strike it off the line, leaving your rig where you want it.

Balsa float
An all-balsa float fished top and bottom with a large bulk shot. Its thick tip and heavy shotting capacity allows you to long-trot a big bait in fast, deep, turbulent water.

Balsa waggler
A short, all-balsa waggler tapering to a fine tip. In sizes up to no more than about 2BB, they are designed for fishing on the drop with fine tackle and small baits, mainly on canals, drains and still waters.

Banana plug
A pike plug shaped like a banana that wobbles enticingly through the water, mimicking a sick or injured prey fish.

Bank stick
A metal pole with a point at one end, to push into the ground, and a screw thread at the other end, to take an accessory such as a rod rest, bait box holder or keepnet.

Barbed hook
A hook with a barb cut into it near the point that helps keep the bait on the hook and ensures that fish stay hooked.

Barbel
A slender tactile process or fleshy projection located around the head.

Barbless hook
A hook with no barb, that miminizes damage to delicate baits, ensures full penetration of the point into the mouth of a fish, and allows easy removal of the hook without damaging the fish.

Barbs
Most hooks have one of three sizes of barb. Barbless hooks have a smooth point for better penetration, bait presentation and hooking. Barbed hooks help keep fish on the hook during the fight.

Barrel lead
A streamlined, barrel-shaped weight that is threaded lengthways on the line. It is most useful in rigs for pike.

Barspoons
An artificial lure comprising a metal spoon revolving about a metal bar, and used mainly to catch pike and perch.

Basiobranchial
The small bones behind the tongue on which the gill arches articulate.

Bass bugs
Large, floating flies with deer hair and/or cork bodies

Batting
Quickly winding line back on to a centrepin reel by spinning the drum with the palm of your hand.

Beachcaster rig
Presenting a floating bait above a leger weight with the rod propped high in the air. This keeps the line clear of the water and so avoids spooking wary carp.

Beads
Ordinary plastic beads of various sizes have a variety of uses. They can be used to prevent sliding floats jamming against stop knots, and they can be incorporated into swimfeeder and leger rigs to protect knots.

Beans
Beans of all types are a superb bait for carp, but you must soak and cook them, otherwise they can swell up inside a carp's stomach and kill it.

Bedchair
A portable, adjustable bedchair gives you a combined bed and chair for long-stay sessions.

Bedding-in
This is when line being wound on to a reel becomes trapped under coils of line already wound on to the spool. It most often occurs when playing a large fish with a closed-face reel that is loaded with too much line.

Bend
Bait such as maggots sit directly below the point with a crystal bend hook, while bigger baits such as luncheon meat fit on a round bend hook much better.

Benthic
Living at or near the bottom of a body of water.

Bent hook rig
A carp rig that originally featured a hook with a bent shank, which improved the hook-up rate of self-hooking rigs. Bent hooks have been banned on some waters, so they have been replaced by rigs in which the bend has been replaced by a length of stiffened bend braided line.

Betalight
A small, clear plastic tube containing an artificial glowing light source. It is fixed to a float, bobbin or rod top for fishing at night. They remain bright for years.

Biological reference points
Fishing mortality rates that may provide acceptable protection against growth overfishing and/or recruitment overfishing for a particular stock. They are usually calculated from equilibrium yield-per-recruit curves, spawning stock biomass-per-recruit curves and stock recruitment data. Examples are F0.1, Fmax and Fmed.

Biomass The aggregate amount of living matter or a specific species within a specific habitat. The total number of a specific species in a specific habitat.

Bird seed
An ingredient commonly used in boilie and paste mixes for carp and tench.

Birdsnest
A birdsnest is when the line on your reel becomes badly tangled around the spool.

Bivvy
A small, dome-shaped tent that can accommodate a bedchair. It is mainly used by long-stay carp anglers.

Blank The main component of a finished fishing rod, minus the guides and handle.

Bleak
A small, silvery, surface-feeding fish found in large shoals in some rivers. It usually grows to no more than 28g (1oz), and so is mainly of interest to match anglers, who have developed techniques for amassing large weights of the fish using the whip.

Block-end swimfeeders
A swimfeeder with end caps, one of which is removable, for filling with particle baits such as maggots or hemp. It is punched with holes to allow the release of its contents in the water.

Bloodknot
An easy to tie and commonly used knot for joining two lengths of line.

Bloodworm
The small, red larvae of midges, found in the silt at the bottom of most still waters, canals, drains and slow rivers. The staple diet of many species of fish, bloodworm are mainly used by match anglers on canals as a hookbait for small fish.

Bloodworm scraper
A tool used to collect bloodworm. It comprises a long handle and an angled metal blade. The bloodworm stick to the blade when it is scraped through the silt at the bottom of ponds.

Blue Bird Skies A term used to describe bright, sunny, blue sky conditions that often makes fishing tougher.

Boat control
The process of placing a boat in the correct position with relation to the fish -- and keeping it there -- in order to facilitate the most effective presentation

Bobber
A device which floats on the surface and allows an angler to suspend baits at various depths and helps to signal a strike; also called a "float"

Bobbin
A bite indicator hung on the line above the reel when legering. Traditionally a lump of dough, the top from a bottle of washing-up liquid, or a piece of silver paper, various commercially made bobbins are now available.

Bodied waggler
A waggler float with a balsa or polystyrene body at its base. The body increases the shot capacity of the float, allowing longer-distance casting, and provides greater stability in windy conditions.

Body-down pole float
A pole float with a teardrop-shaped (the thicker end towards the bottom of the float, hence 'body-down'), usually balsa, body. These floats show up on-the-drop bites well, and are mainly used for fishing still or slow water.

Body-up pole float
A body-up pole float is any pole float with an inverted teardrop-shaped body (the thick end is closer to the tip). It is mainly used to fish running water, where the body shape allows you to hold back without the float riding out of the water.

Boilie
A bait made by adding egg to a paste bait and then boiling it. This gives it a hard skin that deters the unwanted attention of small fish. Usually about the size of a marble, boilies are used mainly in carp fishing. They come in many colours.

Boilie baiting needle
A small, hand-held tool, like a thin crochet hook, for mounting a boilie on a hair-rig.

Boilie drill
A small, hand-held tool with a fine drill bit, for drilling holes in boilies or other particle baits for easy hair-rigging.

Boilie punch
A small, hand-held tool for making a large hole in a boilie in which to insert rig foam to create a buoyant bait.

Boilie stop
A small, angled piece of plastic that keeps the boilie on the hair.

Boilie boat
A radio-controlled boat with a motor that takes boilies out to your chosen swim and drops them there, allowing accurate feeding beyond the range of a throwing stick, catapult or boilie rocket.

Boilie catapult
A catapult with powerful elastic, a rigid cup, and often a wrist support, designed for feeding boilies.

Boilie mix
A commercially made mix of dry ingredients from which to make your own boilies.

Boilie rocket
A weighted, plastic container, similar to a baitdropper, for feeding boilies or other baits beyond the range of a catapult or throwing stick. Attached to the end of the line on a spare rod, it is cast to the required spot, and automatically releases the bait when it hits the water.

Boilie spike
Commercially made, spiked piece of plastic used instead of a hair to hold a boilie close to the hook in a hair-rig. The spikes hold the boilie in place when you cast.

Bolognese method
A method of float fishing deep, flowing water with a heavy pole-float rig on a running line. An extra-long rod of 4.6-6.1m (15-20ft) in length allows you to cast a fixed float set at full depth, and to control the float at long range.

Bolognese rod
An extra-long 4.6-6.1m (15-20ft), telescopic or take-apart float rod, specifically designed for fishing the Bolognese method.

Bolt rig
A leger rig, in which the fish hooks itself. When the hooks pricks the fish inside its mouth, the fish bolts, and the hook is pulled home by a line clip and heavy bite indicators such as monkey climbers or a heavy lead, or both.

Bomb rod
A light, 2.7-3.4m (9-11ft) leger rod for quivertipping with fine line, a small hook and a small Arlesey bomb. It can also cast small swimfeeders, and is mainly used in match fishing. A bomb rod can have built-in, push-in or push-over quivertips, depending on make and model.

Bottom-end float
Any float, but normally a waggler, that is attached to the line at the base only. The float may be attached with a sleeve of rubber tubing, it may have an eye in its base for threading on to the line and holding in place with locking shot, or you can use a float adaptor.

Bouncing bomb
A little used but sometimes devastatingly effective method of legering running water. By choosing a weight not quite heavy enough to hold bottom, and paying out a slight bow into the line, you can bounce your bait slowly down the river, searching the full length of your swim.

Bow method
A method of fishing a swimfeeder in running water. The swimfeeder is weighted so that it just holds bottom with a bow of line paid out from the reel and the rod propped high in the air to keep as much line as possible clear of the water. A biting fish dislodges the swimfeeder, giving a clear drop-back bite - and often hooking itself in the process.

Braided hooklength
A hooklength made from braided line, mainly used when fishing for carp, tench and barbel. The soft braid offers more natural bait presentation than relatively stiff ordinary line - especially line of 2.3 kg (5lb) or more breaking strain.

Braided line
Braided line is far softer and more supple than ordinary monofilament, and is more abrasion-resistant. It also has very little stretch. It is mainly used to tie hooklengths for carp and other big fish.

Bran
A useful agent for cleaning and storing maggots, bran can also be used to bulk out a groundbait mix.

Brandling
A small (5-7.5cm/2-3in), striped worm found mainly in compost and manure heaps. It can be a good bait for many species of fish, especially bream and perch, and breeds well in a wormery.

Bread crust
An excellent legered bait for roach and chub in winter, and an excellent floating bait for carp, rudd and chub in summer. It is best fished on a large hook - at least a size 12. It can be flavoured and coloured.

Bread flake
Pinched on a large hook - at least a size 12 - bread flake is a slow-sinking bait that can be legered or floatfished. It catches all sorts of fish, and takes colours and flavours well.

Bread paste
Little used nowadays, but good for roach, rudd, tench and bream, bread paste is a traditional bait made by soaking stale bread in water and then kneading it to a doughy consistency. Flavours and colours work well with bread paste.

Bread punch
A bread punch is a small, hand-held tool for punching a compressed pellet out of a slice of bread. Different sizes are available for punching different-sized hookbaits.

Breadcrumbs
A common groundbait; both white and brown bread may be used.

Break line
A definite change in depth or cover or the area where two layers of water meet and differ in temperature, oxygen, and/or turbidity

Breakfast cereals
Various kinds of breakfast cereals, including puffed wheat, are used as floating baits, especially for carp.

Breaking strain
The strength of pull required to break line. Line is sold by both breaking strain (in kilograms and grams, or pounds and ounces) and diameter (thickness in hundredths of a millimetre or thousandths of an inch).

Bristle-tipped pole float
Pole floats with fine plastic bristle tips are very sensitive but cannot register the settling of dropper shots.

Bronze bream
A deep-bodied, bottom-feeding fish found in all types of water, but especially still or slow waters. Bream grow to 7.3kg (16lb) or more, but a 4.5kg (10lb) fish is an outstanding specimen. Smaller bream form huge shoals and can be caught in large numbers.

Brood stock
Adult fish used to propagate the subsequent generation of hatchery fish.

Brown crumb
Brown breadcrumbs form the basis of many groundbait mixes, particularly on still and slow waters for skimmers and bream. They can be used neat, or to bulk out more expensive Continental groundbait mixes.

Bubble float
A round, hollow float made of clear plastic, used as a controller float to present a floating bait for rudd or carp. You can partially fill them with water to provide casting weight.

Buccal
Pertaining to the cheeks or the cavity of the mouth.

Buck
A spawning male fish

Bucktail
Lure dressed with deer hair

Bug flies
A cork-bodied surface fly designed to imitate a variety of aquatic and terrestrial foods

Bullet Sinker A cone shaped piece of lead of varying weights that slides up and down the line.

Bulk shot
A heavy split shot, or group of split shot, usually placed on the line just below halfway between the float and the hook. Bulk shot are used mainly with pole floats, and top-and-bottom running line floats such as Avons and balsas, to get a hookbait quickly to the bottom.

Bullhead
A small bottom-feeding fish, also known as the miller's thumb.

Buoyancy
The tendency of a body to float or rise when submerged in a fluid.

Butt indicator
A hinged bite indicator, similar to a swingtip, that clips on to the rod just above the butt ring. Butt indicators are useful when legering still or slow water in very windy conditions, being easy to shelter with an umbrella.

Butt ring
The first ring on a rod above the reel fitting and handle - usually on the butt section. A butt ring needs to be large to facilitate casting.

Butt rest
A small, U-shaped rod rest head for holding the handle of a rod when legering or float fishing.

Butterfly rod rest
A butterfly rod rest comprises two flexible rubber loops that grip the front of your rod when legering, without trapping the line, but which readily release the rod when you strike.

Button-up fry
A salmonid fry that has not completely absorbed its yolk sac and has emerged from its spawning gravel.

Buzz bait
An artificial lure with propeller-style blades that stir up the water upon retrieve; a type of topwater lure.

Buzzer
See 'Electronic bite alarm'.