Fishing Crossword Puzzle Printable

Print a criss-cross fishing crossword of tackle, bait, fish and fishing spots, with its answer key.

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Fishing Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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Answer key: Fishing Crossword

1F2LYI3NE4T5BI6TEA7CRC8SALMONKTULFTEI9C10ST11REAMHET12PERCHLH

Across 1 FLY · 3 NET · 5 BITE · 8 SALMON · 10 STREAM · 12 PERCH

Down 2 LINE · 4 TACKLE · 6 TROUT · 7 CATFISH · 9 CATCH · 11 REEL

Next step Print the fish word searchFind fishing words in a word search

All 142 clues

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Tackle and Boats 35

  • Anchor Heavy device dropped to the bottom to keep a boat from drifting
  • Bail Wire arm of a spinning winder that picks the cord up again when you crank
  • Barb Small backward point on a fishhook that keeps a fish from slipping off
  • Bobber Small floating ball that dips under when a fish takes hold
  • Bucket Pail of water for keeping small live fish
  • Canoe Slim open boat, pointed at bow and stern
  • Cooler Insulated box of ice for the trip home
  • Creel Wicker basket for carrying what you caught
  • Drag Winder setting that keeps steady tension on a fish making a long run
  • Eye Small ring at the top of a fishhook, where the cord is tied on
  • Float Light piece of cork or plastic that holds the baited end at a chosen depth
  • Guides Rings along a pole that the cord runs through
  • Hook Sharp, curved piece of wire with a point at one end
  • Kayak Narrow boat with a small cockpit, where you sit low and face forward
  • Leader Short, strong final length tied on in front of the main cord
  • Life jacket Sleeveless buoyant garment worn to stay afloat
  • Line Thin, strong cord, often clear nylon, that everything else is tied to
  • Net Mesh bag on a hoop with a handle, slipped under a tired fish
  • Oar Long pole with a blade at one end, pulled to row
  • Outboard Engine clamped to the back of a small boat
  • Paddle Short pole with a broad blade, held in both hands and not fixed to the boat
  • Pliers Gripping tool that helps free a deep-set point
  • Reel Winder with a crank, mounted on the pole
  • Rod Long, springy pole held in the hands
  • Rowboat Small open boat moved by rowing
  • Shank Straight part of a fishhook, between the tying ring and the bend
  • Sinker Weight that pulls the baited end down
  • Skiff Small, light, flat-bottomed open boat
  • Sonar Sound pulses that show fish and the bottom on a screen
  • Spool The part of a winder that the cord wraps around
  • Stringer Cord threaded through caught fish to keep them in the water
  • Swivel Two rings on a pivot that keep the cord from twisting
  • Tackle All the gear for a day's fishing, taken together
  • Tippet Finest, thinnest end section, the part tied to a fur-and-plume imitation insect
  • Waders Waterproof boots that reach the hip or higher, worn to stand in the water

Bait and Lures 21

  • Bait Food put on the point to tempt a fish
  • Crayfish Small freshwater relative of the lobster, also called a crawdad
  • Cricket Chirping insect
  • Feather Bird plume wound on to give an imitation insect its wings
  • Fly Imitation insect tied from fur, feathers and thread
  • Grasshopper Long-legged jumping insect
  • Grub Fat, soft beetle larva
  • Jig Lead-headed imitation fished with short up-and-down hops
  • Lure Artificial imitation of prey, with no food on it
  • Mayfly Delicate insect whose wings do not fold flat and whose adult life is very short
  • Minnow Small freshwater fish that swims in large shoals
  • Nightcrawler Big earthworm that comes to the surface after dark
  • Nymph Imitation of the young, underwater form of an insect
  • Plug Hard-bodied imitation shaped like a small fish, also called a crankbait
  • Popper Surface imitation with a hollowed face that splashes when twitched
  • Shiner Small freshwater fish of North America, usually silver or gold and iridescent
  • Shrimp Small ten-legged shellfish with long whiskers and a muscular tail
  • Spinner Imitation with a metal blade that whirls as it is pulled
  • Spoon Curved slip of metal that wobbles and flashes like a small fish
  • Streamer Long imitation of fur and plumes, tied to look like a small swimming fish
  • Worm Long, soft wriggler that lives in the ground

Fish to Catch 29

  • Barracuda Long hunter of warm seas with fang-like teeth
  • Bass Game fish; the largemouth and the smallmouth are two popular kinds
  • Bluegill Small, round sunfish with a black flap, called an ear, behind each gill cover
  • Carp Freshwater food fish of Europe and Asia; koi are an ornamental kind
  • Catfish Whiskered bottom feeder with smooth, scaleless skin
  • Cod Cold-water food fish of the North Atlantic and the northern Pacific
  • Crappie Popular fish that comes in black and white kinds
  • Eel Slippery fish as long and thin as a snake
  • Flounder Flat fish that lies on the bottom on one side
  • Gar Long fish with a snout full of needle teeth and hard, armor-like scales
  • Grouper Stout, big-mouthed fish that swallows prey whole
  • Halibut Largest of the flatfish, with both eyes on one side
  • Mackerel Swift fish with tiger-like stripes on its back
  • Marlin Ocean fish with a spear-like bill
  • Panfish Any fish small enough to fry whole in a skillet
  • Perch Fish with dark bars down its sides and a spiny fin on its back
  • Pike Long, toothy hunter that lurks in the weeds
  • Sailfish Billed ocean fish with a very tall fin stretching down its back
  • Salmon Fish that is born in fresh water, grows up at sea and returns upstream to lay its eggs
  • Sardine Small oily fish often sold in tins
  • Shad Member of the herring family that leaves the sea and swims up rivers to breed
  • Smelt Small fish, often fried and eaten whole, sometimes taken through holes in the ice
  • Snapper Reef fish of warm seas; the red kind is an important food fish off the Gulf Coast
  • Sturgeon Ancient fish with rows of bony plates in place of scales
  • Swordfish Fish whose upper jaw is a long, flat blade
  • Tarpon Large silvery fish that jumps clear of the water
  • Trout Coldwater fish of cool, clear streams and lakes
  • Tuna Fast, powerful ocean fish; the bluefin kind is huge
  • Walleye Fish named for its pearly, glassy eyes

Casting and Catching 28

  • Angler Person who fishes for sport
  • Backlash Snarl that forms when a free-spinning winder overruns
  • Bite What a fish does when it takes the offering in its mouth
  • Cast To throw the baited end out over the water with a flick
  • Catch The fish you have landed, counted or weighed at day's end
  • Dawn Daybreak
  • Derby Fishing ___: another name for a local contest among anglers
  • Drift To let the boat move along with the current
  • Dusk Fading light at the end of the day
  • Fillet Boneless side of a fish, ready for the pan
  • Knot The clinch is a common one for tying on
  • License Government permit to fish
  • Limit The most fish the rules let one person keep in a day
  • Lunker Slang for an unusually big fish
  • Nibble Small, cautious taste a fish takes
  • Patience Calm waiting, the skill every beginner needs most
  • Release To let a fish go alive after landing it
  • School Large group of fish swimming together
  • Season The part of the year when a kind of fish may be kept
  • Snag Sunken branch or rock that grabs the end of your cord
  • Spawn To lay eggs, as fish do
  • Strike A fish's sudden hit
  • Tangle Messy snarl of cord that takes time to undo
  • Tide Slow rise and fall of the sea along a coast
  • Tournament Contest often won by the heaviest total weight
  • Troll To fish by towing the baited end slowly behind a moving boat
  • Wade To walk out into shallow water
  • Weigh To find how heavy your prize is

Where to Fish 29

  • Bank Land along the edge of running water
  • Bayou Slow, marshy backwater of the Gulf Coast
  • Cove Small sheltered bay
  • Creek Narrow flow of running water, bigger than a brook
  • Dam Barrier that holds back running water and floods the valley behind it
  • Dock Platform at the water's edge where boats tie up
  • Eddy Swirl of water turning back behind a rock
  • Estuary Broad mouth where fresh water mixes with salt
  • Harbor Sheltered water where boats lie safe
  • Hatchery Place where young fish are bred and raised before they are set free in the wild
  • Inlet Narrow arm of water reaching into the land
  • Jetty Long barrier of stone or timber running out from land to protect a boat channel
  • Lake Large body of water lying in a basin, with land on every side
  • Marina Small-boat basin with moorings, fuel and repairs
  • Marsh Wetland of grasses, rushes and reeds, with few trees
  • Pier Deck on posts built out over the water
  • Pond Small, quiet body of fresh water, often on a farm
  • Pool Deep, slow stretch of running water
  • Rapids Fast, steep, white stretch of running water
  • Reservoir Body of stored water made by blocking a valley
  • Riffle Shallow, choppy stretch of running water
  • River Wide flow of fresh water on its way to the sea
  • Shallows Places where the water is not deep
  • Shanty Small hut set up on the ice for winter fishing
  • Shoal Sandbar or shallow place
  • Shore Land along the edge of a sea or a big body of still water
  • Stream Small flow of running water between banks
  • Surf Waves breaking on a beach
  • Wharf Landing place where ships load and unload

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site. Tackle, lure and fish facts were checked in English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), and every word in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org), in October 2026. No brand is named. Limit, Season and License are clued as words only: fishing rules differ from place to place, so check the regulations where you fish. Licence: own work

How it works

This fishing crossword puzzle printable opens on the words of a first trip: Rod, Reel, Hook, Bait, Cast. It is a vocabulary crossword, with five more sets for anglers who already know their tackle.

Read the full guide

Five sets and an easy one

Tackle and Boats has Swivel, Tippet, Creel and Skiff. Bait and Lures has Jig, Spinner, Popper and Nightcrawler. Fish to Catch has Walleye, Bluegill, Tarpon and Halibut. Casting and Catching has Troll, Backlash, Nibble and Lunker. Where to Fish has Riffle, Eddy, Jetty and Bayou.

Fish clued by a mark

A fish clue gives something to know the fish by: a Sturgeon has rows of bony plates in place of scales, and a Halibut has both eyes on one side. No tackle brand is named, and Limit, Season and License are clued as words, with no state's rules.

  • For a camp or scout group, lay out real gear beside the Tackle and Boats puzzle and match each piece to its clue.

Questions and answers

Does the fishing crossword print with an answer key?

Yes. The key prints last, on a sheet of its own, with every answer in its squares. It prints on Letter or A4.

Is the fishing crossword easy enough for kids?

Easy Fishing Words is: Rod, Net, Worm, Lake, Trout. It suits grades 2 to 4 in our judgment, which is not a published standard. The other sets suit older children and adults who fish.

Does it have saltwater fish or only freshwater fish?

Both. Fish to Catch has Trout, Bass, Catfish and Walleye from fresh water and Marlin, Tarpon, Grouper and Halibut from the sea. Where to Fish runs from Pond and Creek to Jetty and Estuary.

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