Forage fish angled for trout and salmon which they called "game fish". Fish other than game fish were disdained as "coarse fish". These days, "game fish" refers to Salmonids (other than grayling) — that is, salmon, trout and char. Coarse fish are made up mostly of the larger species of Cyprinids (carp, roach, bream) as well as pike, catfish, gar and lamprey. Coarse fish are no longer disdained; indeed, fishing for coarse fish has become a popular pastime. Forage fish are sometimes referred to as "bait fish" or "feeder fish". Bait fish is a term used particularly by recreational fishermen, although commercial
Fish or cut bait the task of fishing, and that of cutting the bait, were considered equally important to the goal of catching fish. Failure to contribute is not one of the offered alternatives, although "go ashore" and "go overboard" are sometimes offered as clarifying alternatives. Writer Jan Freeman in the "Boston Globe" summarizes with the characterization that, "It's sort of a maritime version of 'Lead, follow, or get out of the way'". She followed up the following day with an expansion of her analysis of this phrase, including quotes from "Literary Digest" from 1899: "The thousands of Cuban soldiers yet in idleness will