Fish Species

Micropterus salmoides

The largemouth bass is the undisputed king of North American freshwater fishing. Aggressive, territorial, and found in almost every state — these fish are everywhere, which is exactly why they're the perfect starting point for any angler. They hit hard, they jump, and when a big one ambushes your lure from under a dock, you'll understand the obsession.

Micropterus dolomieu

Pound for pound, the smallmouth bass is the hardest fighting fish in freshwater. They go absolutely ballistic when hooked — multiple jumps, head shakes, and drag-burning runs that feel way bigger than the fish actually is. River smallmouth especially are in a league of their own.

Micropterus punctulatus

The underdog bass. Spotted bass get overshadowed by largemouth and smallmouth, but they're a legitimate species with their own personality — tolerant of current, able to thrive where the habitat between largemouth and smallmouth overlaps, and genuinely aggressive when they're on the feed. Learn to ID them correctly and you'll start appreciating what makes them unique.

Pomoxis spp.

Crappie are the gateway drug of freshwater fishing. Easy to find once you locate the school, light tackle fun, great eating — and when they're biting, they're BITING. Find one, find 30. Some of the most consistent action in freshwater fishing happens when crappie are spawning shallow in spring.

Pomoxis annularis

The black crappie's southern cousin — and in stained or murky water, the better fish to target. White crappie tolerate lower water clarity and warmer temperatures than blacks, which means they dominate the panfish scene in southern reservoirs, river impoundments, and turbid Midwest lakes. The spring spawn pushes slabs into the shallows where a small jig under a bobber produces some of the most fun, accessible fishing in freshwater. And the fillets? Arguably the best-tasting freshwater fish, period.

Lepomis macrochirus

If you learned to fish, there's a good chance a bluegill was responsible. They're the fish that got us all hooked — aggressive, plentiful, and easy enough for a 7-year-old on a cane pole. But don't sleep on big 'gills — a 12-inch bull bluegill on 4 lb test will test your skills and fry up into one of the best meals you'll ever eat shore-side.

Lepomis microlophus

The biggest sunfish you'll ever catch, and the one serious panfish anglers get obsessed with. Redear sunfish — called "shellcrackers" because they literally crush snail shells with specialized throat teeth — grow larger than bluegill, fight harder, and inhabit deeper water. A 2-lb redear on ultralight tackle is a legitimate battle. Southern reservoirs and farm ponds produce shellcrackers that would make any bluegill envious, and they're absolutely delicious on the plate.

Lepomis gibbosus

If you could frame a fish and hang it on a wall purely for its beauty, the pumpkinseed would be it. Electric blue cheek lines, a fiery orange-red ear flap spot, olive and gold body with iridescent flecks — they look hand-painted. Found in clear ponds and lakes across the Northeast and Midwest, pumpkinseeds are the classic "first fish" for generations of anglers. They're small but stunning, cooperative, and endlessly fun on ultralight gear.

Lepomis cyanellus

The scrappy little brawler of the sunfish world. Green sunfish may be small, but they hit like they think they're bass — aggressive, fearless, and willing to attack lures that are half their body length. They're the most widespread sunfish in North America, thriving in everything from pristine streams to drainage ditches. If you fished as a kid with a cane pole, the angry little green fish that kept stealing your worm was almost certainly a green sunfish.

Lepomis gulosus

The tough guy of the sunfish family. Warmouth look like they've been in a bar fight — thick body, big red-orange eyes, and a mouth noticeably larger than most sunfish. They inhabit the murkiest, most tangled swamp habitat that other sunfish avoid. If you're pulling a jig through cypress stumps in a Louisiana bayou and something slams it with surprising aggression for its size, you've probably got a warmouth.

Ambloplites rupestris

The "red-eye" — named for its distinctive crimson iris. Rock bass are the underappreciated workhorses of northeastern and midwestern rivers. They live exactly where their name suggests — on rocky bottoms, around boulders, and in the cobblestone runs of clear streams. They're aggressive, easy to catch, and make excellent live bait indicator fish. Where you find rock bass, smallmouth bass are usually nearby.

Sander vitreus

Ask any Midwestern angler what the best eating freshwater fish is and they'll say walleye without blinking. Sweet, flaky white meat that fries up perfect — walleye are the holy grail of the dinner table. They're also light-sensitive and largely nocturnal, which is why most serious walleye anglers fish after sunset.

Perca flavescens

Yellow perch are the MVP of ice fishing. Sweet, firm, white meat that gives walleye a run for its money — and they travel in massive schools, which means when you find them, you can catch a meal fast. In open water they're schooling fish on structure; on ice they're arguably the #1 target species in the northern states and Canada.

Sander canadensis

The walleye's grittier, more overlooked cousin. Sauger thrive in murkier, faster water than walleye and are seriously underappreciated by most anglers. But veteran river fishermen know the truth — during winter and early spring, sauger stack in tailwaters below dams in mind-boggling numbers and hit jigs just as hard as walleye. Same great table fare, significantly fewer crowds.

Esox lucius

Northern pike are ambush machines with a mouthful of razor teeth and zero hesitation. They'll eat anything — fish, frogs, ducks, and the occasional small mammal. Big pike give a freight-train hit followed by a run that will test your drag. They're one of the top ice fishing species in North America and a bucket-list fish for good reason.

Esox masquinongy

"The fish of 10,000 casts." You can fish all day, every day, for weeks and never get a follow. Then one morning a 50-inch prehistoric predator materializes out of the depths behind your lure and eats it boatside. There is nothing like muskie fishing. It's an obsession that rewires you permanently.

Esox masquinongy × Esox lucius

Take a muskie and a northern pike, cross them, and you get something meaner than both parents. Tiger muskies are sterile hybrids stocked by state agencies specifically for trophy fishing — they grow fast, fight hard, and display one of the most striking color patterns in freshwater: bold dark bars over a golden-green body that looks painted on. Because they're sterile, they dump all their energy into growth instead of reproduction, which means they pack on weight faster than either parent species.

Esox niger

The pike family's northeastern representative. Chain pickerel are everything northern pike are — ambush predators with sharp teeth and explosive strikes — just in a smaller, more accessible package. They're the top predator in countless New England ponds and lakes where pike never established, and their distinctive chain-link pattern makes them one of the most beautiful esocids. On ice, they're one of the most popular tip-up species in the Northeast.

Esox americanus vermiculatus

The smallest member of the pike family — a miniature predator rarely exceeding 12 inches. Grass pickerel are the pike you catch by accident while panfishing in weedy ponds, and they're a genuine delight when you recognize what they are. Same torpedo body shape as a northern pike, same ambush hunting behavior, same explosive strike — just scaled down to pocket size. They're perfect for teaching kids about predator fish on ultralight gear.

Oncorhynchus mykiss

Rainbow trout are possibly the most widely distributed sport fish in the world thanks to stocking programs that put them in cold-water streams across nearly every state. A wild rainbow tail-dancing across a clear mountain stream is one of fishing's great images. They're finicky, technical, and beautiful — a completely different game than bass or panfish fishing.

Salmo trutta

The chess player of trout. Brown trout are smarter, more suspicious, and harder to fool than any other trout species — which is exactly why dedicated trout anglers obsess over them. A big brown holding in an undercut bank will let a dozen bad presentations drift by before it commits. When you finally trick a 20-inch brown, you've earned every inch of it.

Salvelinus fontinalis

Ask any serious trout fisherman what their favorite fish is, and the honest ones say brook trout. They're the most strikingly beautiful freshwater fish in North America — dark green backs with red spots haloed in blue, bellies that turn fire orange in fall. And they live only in the coldest, cleanest streams. Finding brook trout means you've found somewhere genuinely wild.

Salvelinus namaycush

Lake trout are the deep-water kings of cold, clear lakes. Built for the abyss — living in 60–150 ft of water for most of the year, chasing cisco and whitefish through the darkness. But when ice forms and the water column turns over, they become accessible and aggressive in a way that makes ice anglers seriously addicted. A 20-lb laker hammering a jigging spoon 60 feet down is something you don't forget.

Oncorhynchus mykiss

A steelhead is a rainbow trout that chose violence. Same species, completely different animal. After years of ocean feeding, these fish return to rivers as chrome-bright, powerful torpedoes that jump, peel drag, and test every piece of gear you own. Landing a winter steelhead in a rainy Pacific Northwest river is one of the peak experiences in all of fishing — and the reason people stand in freezing water for hours waiting for a single bite.

Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis

Cross a brown trout with a brook trout and you get a tiger trout — a sterile hybrid with wild vermiculated markings that look like a topographic map and an aggression level that exceeds both parents. Tiger trout are stocked in select waters across the Northeast and West specifically because they grow fast, hit hard, and provide a unique trophy opportunity. They're rarer than any other trout, which makes catching one genuinely special.

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

They're called "kings" for a reason. Chinook salmon are the largest Pacific salmon — fish that routinely exceed 30 lbs and can top 60 lbs in prime Alaskan rivers. When a king salmon takes your bait in heavy current, the initial run is genuinely alarming. They peel line with unstoppable force, using the river's current to multiply their power. In the Great Lakes, trolling for kings is a major fishery. In Pacific Northwest and Alaskan rivers, the king salmon run is the most anticipated fishing event of the year.

Oncorhynchus nerka

Landlocked sockeye salmon — smaller than their ocean-going relatives but with the same brilliant crimson spawning colors and arguably the best-tasting flesh of any freshwater fish. Kokanee are a western mountain lake specialty, stocked in cold, deep reservoirs and natural lakes from British Columbia to Colorado. They're a trolling and jigging fish that requires precision depth control, and when you find the school, the action can be fast and the freezer fills quickly.

Ictalurus punctatus

Channel catfish are the night shift workers of freshwater fishing. Set up on the bank after dark with some stink bait or cut shad, crack open a drink, and wait for the rod to double over. They fight hard, they're everywhere, and they're incredible on the table. A true American fishing tradition.

Pylodictis olivaris

Flatheads are the lone wolves of the catfish world. While channel cats will scavenge anything, flatheads insist on live, kicking prey. Big bluegill, live perch, small carp — these fish are ambush hunters that set up in the deepest holes of major rivers and wait for something alive to swim by. They grow to 100+ lbs and are the premier trophy for serious river catfish anglers.

Ictalurus furcatus

The largest catfish in North America and one of the most powerful fish in any freshwater river. Blues love current, open water, and cut shad — which makes them a completely different animal from flatheads. The Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri river systems hold fish that regularly top 50 lbs, and tailwaters below major dams produce trophy specimens year-round.

Ameiurus melas

The farm pond catfish. Black bullheads are the catfish you're most likely to encounter in small ponds, suburban lakes, and slow streams across the Midwest. They're small compared to channel, flathead, and blue catfish — but they make up for it with sheer availability and willingness to bite. A warm summer evening, a worm on the bottom, and a bucket of bullheads for the fry pan is one of American fishing's simplest and most satisfying traditions.

Morone saxatilis

When striped bass are landlocked in reservoirs, something remarkable happens — they become relentless schooling predators that blitz shad on the surface at dawn in explosive attacks anglers call "jump fishing." A school of reservoir stripers crashing shad at sunrise is one of the great spectacles in freshwater fishing. Big fish, big water, and action that demands you get there before sunrise.

Morone chrysops × M. saxatilis

Take a white bass and cross it with a striped bass, and you get a "wiper" — a stocked hybrid that combines the schooling, surface-blitzing aggression of white bass with the raw power and size of a striper. Wipers are stocked in reservoirs across the South and Midwest specifically to create exciting, fast-growing sport fisheries. When they crash bait on the surface at dawn, the explosion is unmistakable, and hooking a 10-lb wiper on medium tackle is a genuinely surprising fight.

Morone chrysops

The most underrated spring event in freshwater fishing. When white bass make their spawning run up rivers and tributaries in April and May, the action is genuinely ridiculous — fish stacked from bank to bank, hitting anything thrown at them. One rod, one small jig, and you can land 50 fish in a morning. Every serious angler should experience a white bass run at least once.

Cyprinus carpio

Call them trash fish if you want — carp anglers will smile and keep their spots to themselves. Common carp are pound-for-pound some of the most powerful freshwater fish you can catch on rod and reel. A 20-lb carp in current on light tackle is a legitimate 15-minute battle. European anglers have elevated carp fishing to a serious art form. North American anglers are starting to catch on — especially sight fishing carp on clear flats like "freshwater bonefish."

Atractosteus spatula

A living dinosaur. Alligator gar have been swimming North American rivers for 100 million years — they predate the extinction of the T-Rex. These are the largest exclusively freshwater fish in North America, with confirmed specimens over 300 lbs and 8 feet long. They surface to gulp air like a primordial submarine, and hooking one on rod and reel is a genuine battle against a fish that does not tire easily. If you want a bucket-list freshwater experience, there is nothing else like it.

Lepisosteus osseus

Another living fossil — longnose gar have been swimming in North American rivers for 100 million years, and they look every bit of it. A long, cylindrical body covered in diamond-shaped ganoid scales that are genuinely armor-plated, topped by a narrow snout filled with needle-sharp teeth. They're virtually impossible to hook conventionally, which is why the legendary "rope lure" technique exists: a frayed nylon rope that tangles in their teeth where hooks can't penetrate.

Amia calva

A living fossil. Bowfin are the last surviving member of an ancient fish family that swam alongside dinosaurs 150 million years ago. They look prehistoric because they are prehistoric — armored heads, long undulating dorsal fins, and the ability to breathe atmospheric air using a specialized swim bladder. They fight with insane ferocity, stripping drag and thrashing at the surface. Anglers who dismiss bowfin as "trash fish" have never hooked one.

Aplodinotus grunniens

The most common fish most anglers know nothing about. Freshwater drum are found in virtually every major river system in the eastern US — and most people who catch one have no idea what they've got. They make a distinctive drumming sound using specialized muscles against their swim bladder, fight respectably on medium tackle, and can grow past 50 lbs. They're the only North American freshwater member of the drum and croaker family that dominates saltwater fishing.

Lota lota

The freshwater cod that nobody talks about — until ice fishing season. Burbot are the only true freshwater member of the cod family, and their meat tastes remarkably like lobster when prepared correctly. They're nocturnal, eel-shaped, slimy, and utterly bizarre looking. And yet, dedicated ice anglers across the northern US and Canada have discovered what may be the best-kept secret in freshwater fishing: burbot are most active in the dead of winter, at night, when everything else has shut down.

Channa argus

The fish that made national headlines as an invasive "Frankenfish" — and then quietly became one of the most exciting sport fish in the mid-Atlantic. Northern snakeheads fight like demons, hit topwater lures explosively, inhabit heavy cover that tests your gear, and they're legal (and encouraged) to harvest everywhere they're found. The Potomac River and its tributaries have become the epicenter of snakehead fishing in North America, drawing anglers who specifically target them for the fight and the excellent table fare.

Alosa sapidissima

The "poor man's salmon." Every spring, millions of American shad leave the Atlantic Ocean and run up East Coast rivers to spawn — the largest herring species in North America creating one of the most predictable and exciting fisheries of the year. They fight like fish twice their size, leaping and running on light tackle. A 5-lb shad on a 6-weight fly rod or ultralight spinner is a genuinely thrilling experience, and the fishing is accessible to anyone who can cast a small lure into current.

Hiodon alosoides

A Canadian prairie classic that most American anglers have never heard of. Goldeye are silvery, herring-like fish found in the large rivers and lakes of the northern Great Plains and Canadian prairies. They're famous not for their fighting ability but for their table quality — "Winnipeg goldeye" smoked fish is considered a regional delicacy, and the tradition of smoking goldeye dates back over a century. On light tackle, they're willing biters that provide consistent evening action.