All fish species.
Every species we cover. Not sure what you caught? Try the fish identifier. Pick a category to browse the full profiles within, put two head to head in the Fish Face-Off, see the year-round season chart or what's biting this month, build the right rig, or new to it all? Follow the path to your first fish. Putting them back? Read catch & release done right.
Freshwater Fish
120 speciesHabitat, seasons, tackle, baits and technique for every freshwater fish.
Saltwater Fish
106 speciesHabitat, seasons, tackle, baits and technique for every saltwater fish.
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Freshwater
What do fish eat?
It depends on the fish, and on its size: most of the species below eat insects and small crustaceans when young and more fish as they grow. In the sea, menhaden, anchovies, shrimp and crabs come up again and again; in lakes and ponds, insects, crayfish and smaller fish. The table gives ten species, each from the source named in its row. For the baits that copy these foods, see the bait guides.
| Fish | Water | What it eats | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Largemouth bass | Fresh water | In larger lakes, adults eat almost only smaller fish (shad, yellow perch, shiners, sunfish), and crayfish; prey can be half their length | Wikipedia |
| Bluegill | Fresh water | Mostly insects, plus small fish, crayfish and snails; they feed by sight and take mayflies at the surface | Missouri Department of Conservation |
| Warmouth | Fresh water | Crayfish, aquatic sowbugs, immature aquatic insects and small fish | Missouri Department of Conservation |
| Brown trout | Fresh water | Insects, crustaceans, molluscs and worms from the streambed, other fish, frogs and tadpoles, sometimes mice | Wikipedia |
| Rainbow trout | Fresh water | Aquatic insects at every stage, land insects, fish up to a third of their length, crayfish, shrimp and fish eggs | Wikipedia |
| Guadalupe bass | Fresh water | Juveniles and very old fish lean towards insects | Wikipedia |
| White sturgeon | Fresh water | Small ones eat amphipods, mysids and other bottom invertebrates; adults over 2 ft eat fish such as herring, shad, smelt, anchovy, lamprey and salmon | Wikipedia |
| Redfish (red drum) | Sea, coast | Adults: menhaden, spot, anchovies, blue crab and speckled crab; juveniles: shrimp, young spot, mud minnows and small crabs | South Carolina DNR |
| Snook | Sea, coast | Mostly smaller fishes and crustaceans such as shrimp, occasionally crabs; larger prey as they grow | Wikipedia |
| Spanish mackerel | Sea, coast | Small schooling fish at the surface (menhaden, anchovies, herring, shad, small jacks, pompano), some squid and shrimp | South Carolina DNR |
Freshwater tackle
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