I was wondering about what your local/regional fish names are. I was inspired by a reply on the esox americanus thread I posted.
In New Hampshire it goes like this. (note shortened names such as bass instead of largemouth bass are only added when it is used equally to other local names instead of the dominant one)
COMMONLY USED NAME local name
BULLHEAD: Hornpout
BROOK TROUT: brook trout, also brookie, squaretail, and rarely speckled trout or spec.
LAKE TROUT: Laker
ATLANTIC SALMON: landlock salmon, landlocks (for landlocked populations only)
BURBOT: Cusk (note, also a saltwater fish called a cusk)
FALLFISH: Dace, river dace
SHINERS: shiners (regardless of species).
SUNFISH: Pumpkinseed (regardless of species), sunnies, sunfish
CRAPPIE: Calico bass, strawberry bass, as well as crappie
A few one time terms I heard (not sure if this is one time beleifs by individuals or even more localized regional names).
I knew someone who once called white perch white fish.
I met someone who when I was stumped on a sunfish ID suggested kivvie. That was the only time I heard it in NH so far but I heard it is a more common term in mass.
I know someone from mass near the border who works where I work who distinguishes between bullhead and yellow bellies which do not taste as good. Unsure if that was brown vs yellow bullhead or not.
I had a relative who swears that largemouth bass are rare in NH, and a local pond has smallmouth bass and black bass (which is swears are their own species and have darker coloration). However he is the only one I met with that view.
Local names
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, Oct 09 2011 02:31 PM
22 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 02:58 PM
Alright, I'll throw in some of the names I've run into between Texas and Louisiana. The ones from South LA are the pretty sounding ones. There's a definitely an east/west and north/south gradient with these names.
Amia calva - bowfin, grinnel, grindle, choupique
Pomoxis annularis or nigromaculatus - crappie, papermouth, white perch, sac-au-lait
Morone chrysops - white bass, sand bass, barfish (also for M. mississippiensis)
Pylodictus olivarus - flathead catfish, yellow cat, opelousas cat, and some other Cajun name I can't think of
Fundulus grandis - Gulf killifish, mudminnow, cocahoe minnow
Brevoortia patronus - Gulf menhaden, pogie
Micropterus punctulatus - spotted bass, Kentucky spotted bass, Kentucky bass
Lepomis gulosus - warmouth, goggle eye
Lepomis microlophus - redear sunfish, stumpknocker, shellcracker, chinquapin
Ameirus natalis or melas - bullhead, mudcat
One I really like that's not a fish - down here they call American coots "pouldeau" (sounds like pool-dew)
I was out with a Cajun doing some work and we were running by a bunch of creek chubsuckers. He asked what they were and I told him. He then said, "yeah, but what would I call it?"
I said, "I have no idea, if you don't eat it, I guess you'd call it bait."
Amia calva - bowfin, grinnel, grindle, choupique
Pomoxis annularis or nigromaculatus - crappie, papermouth, white perch, sac-au-lait
Morone chrysops - white bass, sand bass, barfish (also for M. mississippiensis)
Pylodictus olivarus - flathead catfish, yellow cat, opelousas cat, and some other Cajun name I can't think of
Fundulus grandis - Gulf killifish, mudminnow, cocahoe minnow
Brevoortia patronus - Gulf menhaden, pogie
Micropterus punctulatus - spotted bass, Kentucky spotted bass, Kentucky bass
Lepomis gulosus - warmouth, goggle eye
Lepomis microlophus - redear sunfish, stumpknocker, shellcracker, chinquapin
Ameirus natalis or melas - bullhead, mudcat
One I really like that's not a fish - down here they call American coots "pouldeau" (sounds like pool-dew)
I was out with a Cajun doing some work and we were running by a bunch of creek chubsuckers. He asked what they were and I told him. He then said, "yeah, but what would I call it?"
I said, "I have no idea, if you don't eat it, I guess you'd call it bait."
Edited by rjmtx, 09 October 2011 - 02:59 PM.
#3
Guest_MichiJim_*
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 03:52 PM
A few off the top of my head:
Amia calva: dog fish, cotton fish
Lota lota: lawyer, eel pout
Any sunfish in Florida: brim or bream
Sculpins: Miller's Thumb
Largemouth bass: green trout
Brown trout (Salmo trutta): German trout
Lake Trout: fatties
Pink Salmon: lumpies, slumpies
One that drives my nuts but is common where I grew up is calling walleye (Zander vitreum) walleyed pike or pickerel
Amia calva: dog fish, cotton fish
Lota lota: lawyer, eel pout
Any sunfish in Florida: brim or bream
Sculpins: Miller's Thumb
Largemouth bass: green trout
Brown trout (Salmo trutta): German trout
Lake Trout: fatties
Pink Salmon: lumpies, slumpies
One that drives my nuts but is common where I grew up is calling walleye (Zander vitreum) walleyed pike or pickerel
#4
Guest_Yeahson421_*
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 04:01 PM
Bowfin- Dogfish, Mudfish
Bullhead- bullhead, Mudcat
Warmouth- Rock Bass, Red Eye Bass
Rock Bass- Rock Bass, Red Eye Bass
Pumpkinseed, Bluegill- Bluegill, Gill, Sunfish, Sunnies
Green Sunfish- Hybrid Sunfish
Flathead- Mudcat
Any "minnow"- Minnow, Shiner, Sucker
Hornyhead and Creek Chub- Creek Chub, Redtail Chub
Freshwater Drum- Sheephead
It's hard not to try to correct the "old guys" that have been using these names for more than half a century. I tried it once, even showing them the "accepted" common names in the Peterson Field Guide, but he insisted that the book was wrong. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks!
Bullhead- bullhead, Mudcat
Warmouth- Rock Bass, Red Eye Bass
Rock Bass- Rock Bass, Red Eye Bass
Pumpkinseed, Bluegill- Bluegill, Gill, Sunfish, Sunnies
Green Sunfish- Hybrid Sunfish
Flathead- Mudcat
Any "minnow"- Minnow, Shiner, Sucker
Hornyhead and Creek Chub- Creek Chub, Redtail Chub
Freshwater Drum- Sheephead
It's hard not to try to correct the "old guys" that have been using these names for more than half a century. I tried it once, even showing them the "accepted" common names in the Peterson Field Guide, but he insisted that the book was wrong. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks!
#5
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 04:06 PM
Lepomis microlophus - redear sunfish, stumpknocker, shellcracker, chinquapin
In Georgia... we also say shellcracker... and mean the same fish as you do...
But when we say stumpknocker... we mean Lepomis puctatus
Also, in reading some old scientific papers, circa 1880, it is really interesting to see some of the common names... the one that really confuses me is the indication that almost all bass were referred to by local people in the south as 'trout'.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#6
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 05:32 PM
The one fish that comes to mind when I think of different names is Micropterus dolomieu.
I've heard or read;
smallmouth bass, smallmouth, smallie, green trout, bronzeback, bronze bass, mossy back, black bass, brown bass, brownie, bareback bass, oswego bass, redeye, smallmouth black bass, and green bass. Some actually make sense and some really don't make any sense at all. I remember reading an article one time that stated that this fish actually holds the record for having the most nick names, but I sure can't find it now. Around here, we just call them smallmouth, but the one I keep as a pet is named Brownie.
Steve.
I've heard or read;
smallmouth bass, smallmouth, smallie, green trout, bronzeback, bronze bass, mossy back, black bass, brown bass, brownie, bareback bass, oswego bass, redeye, smallmouth black bass, and green bass. Some actually make sense and some really don't make any sense at all. I remember reading an article one time that stated that this fish actually holds the record for having the most nick names, but I sure can't find it now. Around here, we just call them smallmouth, but the one I keep as a pet is named Brownie.
Steve.
#7
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 05:32 PM
I grew up with common names but today they always present an unknown factor to me. The fishing sign near a park I fish says it contains Brim and Bream. So do they consider this two different fish? And if so, what is what? The sign is supposed to tell me what is in the water but it is no help which is why I frequent there and keep track of the different kinds of Lepomis species I catch. Also, I find the term Perch applied to a lot of different fish.
Usil
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#8
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 06:21 PM
One more...
Aplodinotus grunniens - freshwater drum, gaspergou, or just goo
Aplodinotus grunniens - freshwater drum, gaspergou, or just goo
#9
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 08:45 PM
Walleye: Pickerel (or "al" as the ending)
Bowfin: Dogfish
Bowfin: Dogfish
#10
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Posted 09 October 2011 - 08:51 PM
Also, in reading some old scientific papers, circa 1880, it is really interesting to see some of the common names... the one that really confuses me is the indication that almost all bass were referred to by local people in the south as 'trout'.
I did a lot of digging through historical documents in TX a few years ago. The common names were all over the place, and the one that stuck in my head was "Parrot Minnow." It's a bullhead minnow, but the old name is much more fitting because whenever we were looking for a rare fish, we'd always get bullhead minnows in the seine that would catch our eyes for just a minute because they looked enough like whatever we were looking for.
#11
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Posted 10 October 2011 - 10:05 AM
When I was a kid, I heard drab darters and sculpins called "johnny darters" and colorful darters called "molly darters".
Some other Tennessee terms:
paddlefish = spoonbill cat
any gar = alligator gar
bowfin = mud fish
river or redtail chub = gravel chub
stoneroller = hornyhead
flathead catfish = shovelhead
sunfish = perch OR bream
rock bass and warmouth are both called redeye or goggle eye
spotted bass = Kentucky bass
Coosa bass = redeye
striped bass = striper or rockfish
white bass = stripe
yellow bass = funny-looking stripe
Some other Tennessee terms:
paddlefish = spoonbill cat
any gar = alligator gar
bowfin = mud fish
river or redtail chub = gravel chub
stoneroller = hornyhead
flathead catfish = shovelhead
sunfish = perch OR bream
rock bass and warmouth are both called redeye or goggle eye
spotted bass = Kentucky bass
Coosa bass = redeye
striped bass = striper or rockfish
white bass = stripe
yellow bass = funny-looking stripe
#13
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Posted 10 October 2011 - 03:44 PM
Hogsucker: Boxhead Trout, Hoover, Da Lo Gee ( Cherokee )
Bowfin: Scaly Cat ( That is from Alabama folk )
Tangerine Darter: Riverslick
A Darter you cannot catch... Percina Ellusivi
Several of these are from Ed Scott, a longtime TVA fisheries biologist.
I like some of the common names NANFA members have proposed:
The Coal Miners Darter
Moon Shiner
When i cook Freshwater Drum i call it Casper's Gaspergou.
I heard JR refer to Rainbow Trout as River Chickens.
As for proper common names you never want to argue with an old timer, just ask as many questions of him as you can think of!
Bowfin: Scaly Cat ( That is from Alabama folk )
Tangerine Darter: Riverslick
A Darter you cannot catch... Percina Ellusivi
Several of these are from Ed Scott, a longtime TVA fisheries biologist.
I like some of the common names NANFA members have proposed:
The Coal Miners Darter
Moon Shiner
When i cook Freshwater Drum i call it Casper's Gaspergou.
I heard JR refer to Rainbow Trout as River Chickens.
As for proper common names you never want to argue with an old timer, just ask as many questions of him as you can think of!
#14
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Posted 10 October 2011 - 04:03 PM
And we all though that Ed Scott was the only Riverslick...
#15
Guest_fritz_*
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Posted 10 October 2011 - 05:45 PM
wait until you get into the marine/estuarine fishes. Many are inappropriate to post, e.g. the hogchoker and lizardfish nicknames. 
#16
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Posted 11 October 2011 - 12:09 AM
wait until you get into the marine/estuarine fishes. Many are inappropriate to post, e.g. the hogchoker and lizardfish nicknames.
Are they any more inappropriate than the accepted common name of Halichoeres bivittatus
#17
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Posted 11 October 2011 - 06:11 AM
Rio Grande Cichlid (Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum) - Texas Rios, Rio Grandes, Rio Perch, Rios, Bulls, Texas Perch, Rio Grande Perch.
Usil
#18
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Posted 11 October 2011 - 10:36 PM
Why - I do declare! Ain't none of y'all heeerd a da bugle mouth bass? We got em down here in da Lake a da Ozarks!
(It's the black carp - and I believe it began years ago as a ploy to get tourists to spend a coin in a gumball machine dispensing floating fish food).
And a bit off subject, but perhaps worth the thought...
Now I knows y'all got some big fish whaar you is from, but dem big cats at da bottom right der in front a da dam is big enough ta swaller one a dem divers dat went down to fetch up dat guy who drownd hisself a couple years back...
Every fisherman I know of (save for you and me - and sometimes I wonder about you) has a yardstick that must be 9 feet long... at least the way he tells his fish stories.
OK, back on subject:
Any fish that has the general shape of a bluegill (can include crappie): bluegill, perch, brim, bream, panfish, baitstealers (and a couple other names I cannot post) - in some locations, redear is considered a separate fish, others it is not
Any fish that is shorter than your little finger: minnow, minner. This can have qualifiers attached, such as bluegill minnow.
Any small catfish not a channel cat, blue or flathead; and especially if caught at night or in turbid waters: mudcat
Crappie: some very localized names can be brim, bream, panfish and very occasionally perch - as well as the previously mentioned common names
Striped bass or hybrid striped bass: striper
LMB: bass (this is often the only bass called "a bass")
SMB: smallie, bronzeback, bronze
paddlefish: paddlenose
black carp: sucker carp (bugle mouth bass)
red horse sucker: sucker (no other sucker fishes seem to count as a "sucker" - they tend to all be "carp")
crayfish: crawfish, pincher
any planktonic growth regardless of type: algae, slime, scum (can be defined by location in the water column, such as bottom slime/scum) - can have qualifiers such as brown algae (slime), green algae (slime)
any aquatic plant that grows mainly or completely underwater: underwater weeds
any aquatic plant that has a circular or large leaf (forgive the broad usage of the term "leaf") floating on the water or projecting somewhat above it: water lilly, frog pad, lilly pad (this includes arrowheads)
any large fish that can be embellished in a fisherman's story: lunker (size is often less than what is being bragged about)
Locations:
coy pond: carp pond
small riverlet or creek: crick, brook (these can be intermittent or continuous flow as long as they are small)
"over there" or "that direction": yonder, over yonder
small valley or very deep ditch: draw, hollow, hollar
typical fishing methods:
seine: net
pole and line: fishing
trotline: trout line
limb line: can also be called trotline, trout line
throw line, bank line: limb line or trotline
bait traps, live traps, trammel nets: trap
jug line: jugging
hand fishing: noodling
well, that's all i can think of atm... now go to McDonalds and enjoy a McCarp sandwich!
(It's the black carp - and I believe it began years ago as a ploy to get tourists to spend a coin in a gumball machine dispensing floating fish food).
And a bit off subject, but perhaps worth the thought...
Now I knows y'all got some big fish whaar you is from, but dem big cats at da bottom right der in front a da dam is big enough ta swaller one a dem divers dat went down to fetch up dat guy who drownd hisself a couple years back...
Every fisherman I know of (save for you and me - and sometimes I wonder about you) has a yardstick that must be 9 feet long... at least the way he tells his fish stories.
OK, back on subject:
Any fish that has the general shape of a bluegill (can include crappie): bluegill, perch, brim, bream, panfish, baitstealers (and a couple other names I cannot post) - in some locations, redear is considered a separate fish, others it is not
Any fish that is shorter than your little finger: minnow, minner. This can have qualifiers attached, such as bluegill minnow.
Any small catfish not a channel cat, blue or flathead; and especially if caught at night or in turbid waters: mudcat
Crappie: some very localized names can be brim, bream, panfish and very occasionally perch - as well as the previously mentioned common names
Striped bass or hybrid striped bass: striper
LMB: bass (this is often the only bass called "a bass")
SMB: smallie, bronzeback, bronze
paddlefish: paddlenose
black carp: sucker carp (bugle mouth bass)
red horse sucker: sucker (no other sucker fishes seem to count as a "sucker" - they tend to all be "carp")
crayfish: crawfish, pincher
any planktonic growth regardless of type: algae, slime, scum (can be defined by location in the water column, such as bottom slime/scum) - can have qualifiers such as brown algae (slime), green algae (slime)
any aquatic plant that grows mainly or completely underwater: underwater weeds
any aquatic plant that has a circular or large leaf (forgive the broad usage of the term "leaf") floating on the water or projecting somewhat above it: water lilly, frog pad, lilly pad (this includes arrowheads)
any large fish that can be embellished in a fisherman's story: lunker (size is often less than what is being bragged about)
Locations:
coy pond: carp pond
small riverlet or creek: crick, brook (these can be intermittent or continuous flow as long as they are small)
"over there" or "that direction": yonder, over yonder
small valley or very deep ditch: draw, hollow, hollar
typical fishing methods:
seine: net
pole and line: fishing
trotline: trout line
limb line: can also be called trotline, trout line
throw line, bank line: limb line or trotline
bait traps, live traps, trammel nets: trap
jug line: jugging
hand fishing: noodling
well, that's all i can think of atm... now go to McDonalds and enjoy a McCarp sandwich!
Edited by LincolnUMike, 11 October 2011 - 10:43 PM.
#19
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Posted 12 October 2011 - 03:35 AM
I remember Bugle Mouth Bass. Grew up in Illinois on the Mississippi and fed them in the Ozarks along with the intelligent chickens many times.
Usil
Usil
#20
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Posted 13 October 2011 - 10:14 AM
Correction: this is the common carp. Sorry for being dead tired and trying to post.Why - I do declare! Ain't none of y'all heeerd a da bugle mouth bass? We got em down here in da Lake a da Ozarks!
(It's the black carp - and I believe it began years ago as a ploy to get tourists to spend a coin in a gumball machine dispensing floating fish food).
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