Fishing Terms Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to Tackle

Swimbait, leader, suspending minnow: fishing tackle descriptions can sound like another language when you’re starting out. Understanding a few key terms makes it easier to compare lures, choose suitable line and work out how to fish your gear.

Here’s a plain-English guide to common fishing terms, with examples from the Cast N Go range and practical tips for using them.

Swimbait: a lure that imitates a swimming fish

A swimbait is designed to imitate a baitfish through its shape and swimming action. Swimbaits can be soft plastics or hard-bodied lures, including jointed designs. A paddle-tail soft plastic is one common example: its tail kicks as you retrieve it.

The Kingdom T-Tail Swimbait is a 120mm, 38g pre-rigged soft plastic. “Pre-rigged” means it already has its weight and hooks fitted, rather than requiring you to add a separate jig head.

Start with a steady retrieve and vary the speed to see how the lure swims. With a sinking model, allowing more time before winding can help you explore deeper water. Check that its weight is within your rod’s casting range.

Leader: the line between your main line and lure

A leader is a separate length of line connected between your main fishing line and your lure or hook. Depending on the material and setup, it can add abrasion resistance, provide stretch or make the final section of your rig less conspicuous.

Nylon monofilament and fluorocarbon are common leader materials. Neither is bite-proof, so fishing for sharp-toothed species may call for a different leader setup.

The SeaKnight NT40 Nylon Leader Line is a nylon option listed in strengths from 25lb to 200lb. That range covers very different applications, so choose for your target fish, structure and tackle rather than automatically selecting the strongest line.

What do lb and breaking strain mean?

“Lb” means pounds and is commonly used to describe a line’s rated breaking strain. It is not a guarantee of the size of fish you can catch. Knots, wear, drag settings and how you fight a fish all affect the load your line can handle.

Minnow lure: a slender baitfish imitation

A minnow lure has a slim, baitfish-shaped profile. Many hard-bodied minnows have a diving bib, also called a lip, that helps create their swimming action and pulls them below the surface during a retrieve. Minnow lures can be floating, suspending or sinking, so check the action as well as the size.

The Kingdom SP Shadow Suspending Minnow Lure comes in 80mm, 95mm and 110mm options. It’s an example of a minnow designed to hang in the water during a pause.

Try a steady wind first, then add gentle twitches and pauses. Watch what the lure does beside you before making a full cast. This helps you judge how much rod movement it needs.

Floating, suspending and sinking: what happens on the pause?

These terms describe a lure’s buoyancy and help you understand what it does when you stop retrieving.

Floating

A floating lure tends to rise towards the surface when paused. A floating diving minnow can still swim below the surface while you wind it in. “Floating” does not necessarily mean it is only a surface lure.

Suspending

A suspending lure is designed to remain at roughly the same depth on the pause. In practice, water temperature, salinity, hooks and leader can make it rise or sink slowly. A pause can keep the lure near fish for longer without constantly moving it forward.

Sinking

A sinking lure drops through the water when you stop retrieving. This lets you explore different depths by changing how long you let it sink and how quickly you retrieve it. Keep track of the bottom and nearby snags rather than letting it fall unchecked.

The Kingdom Sinking Minnow Lure is available in 45mm/3.6g and 60mm/7g sizes. It’s an example of a compact hard-bodied minnow that sinks rather than floating back up during a pause.

Sinking pencil or stickbait: a bibless baitfish lure

A pencil lure or stickbait generally has an elongated baitfish profile without a diving bib. The terms can overlap between brands. Some stickbaits float for surface fishing; others sink for subsurface presentations.

A sinking stickbait is not limited to deep-sea fishing. Depending on its weight and design, it can be used from a boat, shore or rocks to reach fish feeding below the surface.

The Noeby Heavy Sinking Pencil Stickbait comes in 115mm/64g and 130mm/81g options. These are heavier lures, so check your rod’s casting-weight rating before using them.

Let the lure sink to a suitable depth, then try controlled rod sweeps or short twitches with pauses. Retrieve style, current and line angle all affect its action and depth. Avoid assuming that the same countdown reaches the same depth in every spot.

Retrieve, twitch and strike zone: three more useful terms

Retrieve

The retrieve is how you bring the lure back after casting. A “slow roll” is a slow, steady wind. A “stop-and-go” retrieve alternates winding with pauses.

Twitch

A twitch is a short movement of the rod tip used to change the lure’s action. Start gently: a small lure may need much less input than a large stickbait.

Strike zone

The strike zone is the area where a fish is likely to take your lure. It might be beside structure, above weed or at the depth of a bait school. Choosing the right buoyancy and retrieve helps you keep the lure in that area.

How to use these terms when choosing tackle

Start with where you’ll fish, the species you’re targeting and the baitfish or prey you want to imitate. Then compare lure length, weight, buoyancy and swimming depth. Match the lure weight to your rod and choose a leader suited to your setup and the structure you’ll encounter.

You don’t need to learn every fishing term before your next session. Knowing what your lure does on the retrieve and on the pause is a useful place to start. Explore the linked tackle at Cast N Go and check each product’s specifications to find a match for your fishing.