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Regional fish names, decoded

Ask what is biting and you might hear specks, sac-a-lait, goggle-eyes or gaspergou - and the same word can mean a different fish two states over. Here are 61 dockside names mapped to the actual species, with where you will hear each one. Each links to the full profile so you know exactly what you are rigging for.

What you heard	What it is	Where	The story
Bream / brim	Bluegill and other small sunfish	The South	No relation to the European bream - down South every hand-sized sunfish is a bream.
Shellcracker	Redear sunfish	The South	Named for the way it crunches snails and small clams off the bottom.
Sunny	Any small sunfish	Northeast	Usually a pumpkinseed or bluegill off a dock.
Goggle-eye	Rock bass - or a warmouth	Ozarks & the South	Two different big-eyed panfish share this name depending on the county.
Sac-a-lait	Crappie	Louisiana	Cajun French, roughly "sack of milk" - a nod to the white, delicate flesh.
Papermouth	Crappie	Widespread	The thin mouth tissue tears easily - which is why slow, soft hooksets land more of them.
Slab	A big crappie	Widespread	Any crappie worth bragging about.
Calico bass	Black crappie	Northeast	On the California coast the same words mean kelp bass - a completely different fish.
Speck	Spotted seatrout - or a crappie	Gulf Coast / Mid-South	On the coast a speck is a seatrout; a few hundred miles inland it is a crappie.
Gator trout	A big spotted seatrout	Gulf & SE coast	The oversized loners that eat mullet, not shrimp.
Pickerel	Walleye (in Canada) - or an actual pickerel	Canada & border states	Canadian "pickerel" is a walleye; the true chain pickerel is a small pike relative.
Jack salmon	Walleye	Ozarks & mid-South	Not a salmon. Old river-town name that stuck.
Walleyed pike	Walleye	Older usage, Midwest	A misnomer - the walleye is the biggest member of the perch family, not a pike.
Sand pike	Sauger	Missouri & Ohio river systems	The walleye's smaller, spottier river cousin.
Jackfish	Northern pike - or a chain pickerel	Canada & the North / the South	Up North a jackfish is a pike; in the South "jack" often means a chain pickerel.
Hammer handle	A small northern pike	The North	Skinny, snaky and exactly the shape the name suggests.
Ski / lunge	Muskellunge	Upper Midwest	The fish of ten thousand casts, whatever you call it.
Bucketmouth	Largemouth bass	Widespread	Open one's mouth and the name explains itself.
Green trout	Largemouth bass	Old Louisiana usage	Not a trout - old bayou name you still hear from older anglers.
Bronzeback / smallie	Smallmouth bass	Widespread	For the copper-bronze flanks; "brown bass" in some circles.
Channel bass / spottail	Red drum	Atlantic & Gulf coasts	Puppy drum are the juveniles, bull reds the big breeders - all one species.
Rockfish / rock	Striped bass	Chesapeake Bay	On the Pacific coast "rockfish" means dozens of unrelated bottom fish - context is everything.
Linesider	Striped bass - or a snook	Northeast / Florida	Both fish wear a bold lateral stripe, so both claimed the name.
Sand bass	White bass	Texas & Oklahoma	"Silver bass" around the Great Lakes. The spring river runs are legendary.
Wiper	Hybrid striped bass	Reservoir country	A hatchery cross of white bass and striped bass - fights above its weight.
Sheepshead (lakes)	Freshwater drum	Great Lakes & Midwest	Inland "sheepshead" is a drum; the true sheepshead is the striped, tooth-filled coastal fish.
Gaspergou / goo	Freshwater drum	Louisiana & Texas	From the French casse-burgau, "clam cracker".
Convict fish	Sheepshead	Gulf & Atlantic coasts	Black prison stripes and a record for stealing bait clean off the hook.
Choupique / grinnel	Bowfin	Louisiana / mid-South	Also mudfish, dogfish and cypress trout - one living fossil, five names.
Horned pout	Brown bullhead	New England	The "horns" are the pectoral spines - mind them when you unhook one.
Mudcat	Bullhead - or a flathead catfish	Varies by region	In some rivers a mudcat is a 1 lb bullhead, in others a 40 lb flathead. Ask before you brag.
Shovelhead / yellow cat	Flathead catfish	Mississippi basin	The live-bait-only giant of the catfish clan.
Fiddler	An eating-size channel catfish	Mid-South	The perfect size for the fryer, so the name survives at every fish house.
Hardhead	Atlantic croaker	Chesapeake & mid-Atlantic	In the Gulf, "hardhead" usually means the bait-stealing sea catfish instead.
Whiting	Southern kingfish	Atlantic & Gulf surf	No relation to the European whiting - a surf-zone drum that loves fresh shrimp.
Kingfish	King mackerel	SE Atlantic & Gulf	Confusingly, the little surf "whiting" above is also officially a kingfish.
Ringed perch	Yellow perch	Great Lakes & Northeast	"Lake perch" on Friday-night menus around the Great Lakes.
Brookie / squaretail	Brook trout	Northeast & Canada	Also called speckled trout up North - not the coastal seatrout.
Togue	Lake trout	Maine	"Mackinaw" out West, "grey trout" in parts of Canada - all the same deep-water char.
German brown	Brown trout	Widespread	A nod to the 1880s stockings that brought them from Europe.
Bow	Rainbow trout	Widespread	A steelhead is the same species that went to sea (or a great lake) and came back bigger.
King / tyee	Chinook salmon	Pacific coast	A tyee is a 30 lb+ chinook in British Columbia; "blackmouth" is a Puget Sound resident king.
Silver	Coho salmon	Pacific coast	Bright, acrobatic and happy to hit a spinner.
Red / blueback	Sockeye salmon	Alaska & Pacific NW	A kokanee is the landlocked, lake-sized version of the same fish.
Humpy	Pink salmon	Alaska & Pacific NW	Spawning males grow the hump that named them.
Dog salmon / keta	Chum salmon	Alaska & Pacific NW	The spawning canines are real - so is the fight on light gear.
Eelpout / lawyer	Burbot	The North	A freshwater cod that looks like an eel. Minnesota throws it a festival.
Lemonfish / ling	Cobia	Gulf Coast	"Ling" is also a burbot up North and a lingcod on the Pacific - three fish, one word.
Dorado / dolphinfish	Mahi-mahi	Offshore, everywhere warm	A fish, not the mammal - menus switched to "mahi" to stop the confusion.
Ono	Wahoo	Hawaii	Hawaiian for "delicious", which settles that argument.
Fluke	Summer flounder	Northeast	A "doormat" is any fluke big enough to cover one.
Tog / blackfish	Tautog	Northeast	On the Gulf coast "blackfish" often means a tripletail instead.
Chopper	A big bluefish	Atlantic coast	Snapper blues are the juveniles; the name chopper is earned - watch your fingers.
Silver king / poon	Tarpon	Florida & Gulf	A hundred pounds of chrome that jumps like it is personal.
Grey ghost	Bonefish	Florida flats	Named for the way it vanishes over light sand while you are still pointing at it.
Robalo	Snook	Florida & Gulf	The Spanish name, standard from Texas south through Latin America.
Tiderunner	A big weakfish	Mid-Atlantic	"Weak" refers to the soft mouth tissue, not the fight.
Needlenose	Longnose gar	Widespread	A rope lure with no hook at all will tangle in those teeth.
Golden bonefish	Common carp	Fly-fishing slang	Half a joke, half sincere - on the flats of a reservoir they are genuinely hard to fool.
Poor man's tarpon	Ladyfish	Gulf & Florida	Jumps like its giant cousin, at one-hundredth the weight.
Albie	False albacore (little tunny)	Northeast & mid-Atlantic	The fall-run speedster that empties fly shops. Not the canned albacore.

Same name, different fish

The classic arguments. If someone swears blind your ID is wrong, one of these is probably why.

These are the names we hear most; every river system has a few of its own, and we would rather leave one out than invent one. Caught something you cannot place? Run it through What did I catch?, check the anatomy clues, or browse all species profiles.

Regional fish names, decoded

Same name, different fish

"Speckled trout"

"Pickerel"

"Sheepshead"

"Blackfish"

"Ling"

"Jack"

"Kingfish"

"Goggle-eye"

Tight lines, every week.