Evolution or Devolution of Fish Size Terms...

Way back when, before I moved off Long Island to the vast, salt-less Midwest, the size-related names of fish were burned into my memory banks. With my return to the Atlantic coast now 9 years ago, I've noticed a change in some terms, listed below. Anything else change???

Striped Bass - Back in the day, a "Schoolie" was any fish that ranged in size to from keepers to high teen weight fish. Now a "schoolie" is any non-keeper. The term schoolies was defined by bass size that probably meant they were concentrated in schools, unlike the larger fish which travel in alone or in smaller groups. Some folks now use "Cow" for 40" fish, but in my mind it's still 30+ lb fish.

Cod - It seems that term of "Scrod" for smaller keeper cod has disappeared from the lexicon and any keeper cod is considered a "Market Cod", which is usually used for cod from 3.5 lbs up to around 10 lbs when they are consider "Large". And if anyone was to use the terms "Hanger" or "Steaker" for big azz cod now, it's sad, but the younger generation wouldn't have a clue.

Funny you mentioned bass when I was a kid, I’m in my 30s now, if someone caught a bass it was like seeing the Loch Ness monster. I never remember hearing about even schoolers back then

I hear scrod on the menus in restaurants sometimes.

Actually, the term Scrod was an invention by a chef at the Parker House Hotel in Boston. Back in the day they didn't know what fish would be brought in but last caught was the freshest (and most expensive). Menus had to be prepared ahead of time so they just called the catch of the day 'Scrod'.