Origin of Phrases - F
Fish or cut bait
Meaning: Focus on what you are doing or stop doing it altogether.
Example: You've been sliding along getting "D"s in school for 2 years. It's time to fish or cut bait.
Origin: The phrase can be confusing if one thinks of bait that requires cutting up. In fact fisherman often use cut up pieces of fish as bait.
Fisherman also use live bait. Cutting bait in this case means to cut loose your bait allowing it to swim free. If you are done fishing, you let the bait go free.
"Fish or cut bait" is a phrase that one fisherman might say to another who is spending too much time talking and not enough time fishing.