Part 2 — Answer key

Compare your answers after you have finished Part 1.

1. You are shore fishing and want to stay legal. What term means the maximum number of fish you can keep in a single day?
   Bag limit
2. A slot limit is typically used to protect fish in a specific middle size range.
   True
3. You keep snapping off around rocks, not on the knot. What is a leader mainly used for in that situation?
   Add abrasion resistance near the hook
4. “Panfish” refers to one specific species of fish.
   False
5. A guide points to a muddy estuary and says the water is brackish. What does “brackish” mean?
   A mix of fresh and salt water
6. You are tying a lure directly to braided line and want a simple, strong knot. Which knot is a go-to choice?
   Palomar
7. When used properly, circle hooks are designed to reduce deep hooking compared with J-hooks.
   True
8. You want your soft plastic to hover just off bottom while the weight stays on bottom, great for finicky fish. Which rig is built for that?
   Drop shot
9. You are fishing a coastal river mouth where the current is tidal and the water tastes slightly salty. Which fish is especially associated with these brackish, moving-water zones?
   Striped bass
10. Fluorocarbon fishing line generally floats better than monofilament.
    False
11. A reel’s drag setting is mainly about controlling how fast you retrieve the lure.
    False
12. A sign says the creek is managed for “salmonids.” Which of these is a salmonid?
    Brook trout
13. If you plan to release a fish, wetting your hands before handling it helps protect the fish.
    True
14. You spot thick weed beds in a warm, still pond and hear loud surface strikes at dusk. Which species best fits that scene?
    Largemouth bass
15. On a fly reel, what is “backing”?
    Thin line under the fly line
16. You spool braid as your main line but want a clear fluorocarbon leader for stealth. Which knot is commonly used to connect the two lines directly?
    Double uni
17. In rivers, fish often hold near current breaks like rocks or seams because food drifts to them while they use less energy.
    True
18. You want your hard bait to swing more freely because fish are following but not committing. Which knot is specifically chosen to leave a small loop at the lure for better action?
    Non-slip loop knot
19. You are pitching a soft plastic into heavy weeds and want it to slide through without snagging. What feature of a classic Texas rig makes it “weedless”?
    The hook point is buried in the plastic
20. You are surf fishing and your rig keeps rolling down the beach with the waves. Which sinker shape is designed to dig in and hold bottom in moving surf?
    Pyramid sinker
21. Keeping a fish out of the water for about a minute rarely affects its survival after release.
    False
22. You hike to a cold, clear alpine lake that is deep and stays chilly even in summer. Which species best fits that habitat clue?
    Lake trout
23. You are fishing bait on bottom and want a fish to be able to pick it up with less resistance before you feel the bite. Which setup does that by using a sliding sinker above the hook?
    Fish-finder rig
24. Braided fishing line generally stretches more than monofilament.
    False
25. You are wading a brackish marsh with oyster bars and grass edges, and you see bronze-colored fish tailing in the shallows. Which species is the classic match?
    Red drum
26. A possession limit can be higher than a daily bag limit because it can cover what you have kept across more than one day.
    True
27. A creek is spring-fed and stays cold and clear year-round, even when nearby ponds warm up. Which fish is most strongly associated with that kind of water?
    Trout
28. You are flipping a lure into thick vegetation and need maximum bite detection and pulling power. Which main line choice best matches that job?
    Braided line
29. You are fishing a shallow flat next to a channel and notice bait draining off the flat. Which tide stage most often creates that “food funnel” effect along edges?
    Outgoing tide
30. You reel up a fish from deep water and it cannot swim down, it floats on the surface and looks bloated. What is the best practice to improve its chance of survival?
    Use a descending device to recompress it
31. A report says the bite is hot for “temperate bass,” not sunfish-family bass. Which species matches that clue?
    Striped bass
32. You want a very slim, strong braid-to-fluorocarbon connection that casts smoothly through guides, popular with saltwater and bass anglers. Which knot best fits?
    FG knot
33. Using barbless hooks guarantees you will lose more fish than with barbed hooks.
    False
34. On a summer lake, your sonar shows a sharp temperature change layer, and fish marks stack near it. Where are they most likely holding?
    Near the thermocline
35. You want to drag a bait along bottom, but keep the weight separated from the bait so it looks more natural and moves freely. Which rig is described by a sliding weight, then a swivel, then a leader to the hook?
    Carolina rig
36. You are casting metal spoons and keep getting cut off by a fish with sharp teeth and fast, slashing strikes. What leader material most directly solves that problem?
    Wire leader
37. You switch to circle hooks for live bait because you want cleaner hookups and easier releases. What is the most effective hook-setting move with a circle hook?
    Reel steadily until the line comes tight
38. You catch a powerful, chrome-bright fish that looks like a rainbow trout but it came from the ocean and ran upstream. What is a “steelhead” in plain terms?
    An ocean-run rainbow trout