Fish Species Guide

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

The largemouth bass is the undisputed king of North American freshwater fishing. Aggressive, territo...

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Crappie

Pomoxis spp.

Crappie are the gateway drug of freshwater fishing. Easy to find once you locate the school, light t...

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Channel Catfish

Ictalurus punctatus

Channel catfish are the night shift workers of freshwater fishing. Set up on the bank after dark wit...

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Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

If you learned to fish, there's a good chance a bluegill was responsible. They're the fish that got ...

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Flathead Catfish

Pylodictis olivaris

Flatheads are the lone wolves of the catfish world. While channel cats will scavenge anything, flath...

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Blue Catfish

Ictalurus furcatus

The largest catfish in North America and one of the most powerful fish in any freshwater river. Blue...

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Spotted Bass

Micropterus punctulatus

The underdog bass. Spotted bass get overshadowed by largemouth and smallmouth, but they're a legitim...

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Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Call them trash fish if you want — carp anglers will smile and keep their spots to themselves. Commo...

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Alligator Gar

Atractosteus spatula

A living dinosaur. Alligator gar have been swimming North American rivers for 100 million years — th...

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White Crappie

Pomoxis annularis

The black crappie's southern cousin — and in stained or murky water, the better fish to target. Whit...

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Redear Sunfish

Lepomis microlophus

The biggest sunfish you'll ever catch, and the one serious panfish anglers get obsessed with. Redear...

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Warmouth

Lepomis gulosus

The tough guy of the sunfish family. Warmouth look like they've been in a bar fight — thick body, bi...

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Green Sunfish

Lepomis cyanellus

The scrappy little brawler of the sunfish world. Green sunfish may be small, but they hit like they ...

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Pumpkinseed

Lepomis gibbosus

If you could frame a fish and hang it on a wall purely for its beauty, the pumpkinseed would be it. ...

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Freshwater Drum

Aplodinotus grunniens

The most common fish most anglers know nothing about. Freshwater drum are found in virtually every m...

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Black Bullhead

Ameiurus melas

The farm pond catfish. Black bullheads are the catfish you're most likely to encounter in small pond...

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Northern Snakehead

Channa argus

The fish that made national headlines as an invasive "Frankenfish" — and then quietly became one of ...

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Bowfin

Amia calva

A living fossil. Bowfin are the last surviving member of an ancient fish family that swam alongside ...

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Longnose Gar

Lepisosteus osseus

Another living fossil — longnose gar have been swimming in North American rivers for 100 million yea...

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Grass Pickerel

Esox americanus vermiculatus

The smallest member of the pike family — a miniature predator rarely exceeding 12 inches. Grass pick...

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Smallmouth Bass

Micropterus dolomieu

Pound for pound, the smallmouth bass is the hardest fighting fish in freshwater. They go absolutely ...

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Walleye

Sander vitreus

Ask any Midwestern angler what the best eating freshwater fish is and they'll say walleye without bl...

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Northern Pike

Esox lucius

Northern pike are ambush machines with a mouthful of razor teeth and zero hesitation. They'll eat an...

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Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy

"The fish of 10,000 casts." You can fish all day, every day, for weeks and never get a follow. Then ...

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Yellow Perch

Perca flavescens

Yellow perch are the MVP of ice fishing. Sweet, firm, white meat that gives walleye a run for its mo...

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White Bass

Morone chrysops

The most underrated spring event in freshwater fishing. When white bass make their spawning run up r...

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Sauger

Sander canadensis

The walleye's grittier, more overlooked cousin. Sauger thrive in murkier, faster water than walleye ...

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Striped Bass (Freshwater)

Morone saxatilis

When striped bass are landlocked in reservoirs, something remarkable happens — they become relentles...

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Tiger Muskie

Esox masquinongy × Esox lucius

Take a muskie and a northern pike, cross them, and you get something meaner than both parents. Tiger...

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Rock Bass

Ambloplites rupestris

The "red-eye" — named for its distinctive crimson iris. Rock bass are the underappreciated workhorse...

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Hybrid Striped Bass

Morone chrysops × M. saxatilis

Take a white bass and cross it with a striped bass, and you get a "wiper" — a stocked hybrid that co...

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Chain Pickerel

Esox niger

The pike family's northeastern representative. Chain pickerel are everything northern pike are — amb...

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American Shad

Alosa sapidissima

The "poor man's salmon." Every spring, millions of American shad leave the Atlantic Ocean and run up...

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Goldeye

Hiodon alosoides

A Canadian prairie classic that most American anglers have never heard of. Goldeye are silvery, herr...

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Rainbow Trout

Oncorhynchus mykiss

Rainbow trout are possibly the most widely distributed sport fish in the world thanks to stocking pr...

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Brown Trout

Salmo trutta

The chess player of trout. Brown trout are smarter, more suspicious, and harder to fool than any oth...

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Lake Trout

Salvelinus namaycush

Lake trout are the deep-water kings of cold, clear lakes. Built for the abyss — living in 60–150 ft ...

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Brook Trout

Salvelinus fontinalis

Ask any serious trout fisherman what their favorite fish is, and the honest ones say brook trout. Th...

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Steelhead

Oncorhynchus mykiss

A steelhead is a rainbow trout that chose violence. Same species, completely different animal. After...

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Burbot

Lota lota

The freshwater cod that nobody talks about — until ice fishing season. Burbot are the only true fres...

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Tiger Trout

Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis

Cross a brown trout with a brook trout and you get a tiger trout — a sterile hybrid with wild vermic...

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Chinook Salmon (King)

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

They're called "kings" for a reason. Chinook salmon are the largest Pacific salmon — fish that routi...

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Kokanee Salmon

Oncorhynchus nerka

Landlocked sockeye salmon — smaller than their ocean-going relatives but with the same brilliant cri...

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