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Freshwater Fish 🎣

110 detailed profiles covering identification, habitat, seasons, tackle, baits and technique for every freshwater fish.

110 shown
Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass

The largemouth bass is the most popular freshwater game fish in the United State…
Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth Bass

If the largemouth is the king of weeds and cover, the smallmouth bass is the bru…
Rainbow Trout

Rainbow Trout

The rainbow trout is the iconic American cold-water game fish - beautiful, widel…
Bluegill

Bluegill

The bluegill is the quintessential American panfish - the fish that launches mor…
Crappie

Crappie

The crappie is one of America's most beloved panfish - a slab-sided, paper-mouth…
Channel Catfish

Channel Catfish

The channel catfish is the most widely distributed and most heavily fished catfi…
Walleye

Walleye

The walleye is the prized cool-water game fish of the northern United States - a…
Northern Pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike is the toothy apex predator of cool northern waters - a long, …
Brown Trout

Brown Trout

The brown trout is the wary, intelligent, and most challenging of America's comm…
Brook Trout

Brook Trout

The brook trout is the jewel of America's coldest, cleanest headwater streams - …
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Gizzard Shad

The gizzard shad is an abundant open-water baitfish that forms the forage base f…
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White Crappie

The white crappie is the black crappie's slightly more turbid-water cousin, an a…
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Alabama Bass

The Alabama bass is a hard-fighting black bass native to the Mobile River basin,…
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Florida Bass

The Florida bass is the trophy-growing strain of largemouth, now often recognize…
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Lahontan Cutthroat Trout

The Lahontan cutthroat is the largest cutthroat trout in the world, a Great Basi…
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Yellow Bullhead

The yellow bullhead is a small, hardy catfish of ponds, creeks and weedy lakes, …
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Black Bullhead

The black bullhead is a tough, adaptable little catfish of muddy ponds, rivers a…
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Threadfin Shad

The threadfin shad is a small open-water baitfish that forms the primary forage …
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Sacramento Perch

The Sacramento perch is California's only native sunfish, a handsome, hardy panf…
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Flannelmouth Sucker

The flannelmouth sucker is a large native sucker of the Colorado River basin, in…
Yellow Perch

Yellow Perch

The yellow perch is one of North America's most beloved panfish - a scrappy, sch…
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Northern Hog Sucker

The northern hog sucker is a bottom-hugging native of clean, rocky streams, an o…
Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) - Freshwater & Hybrid

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) - Freshwater & Hybrid

The striped bass is the heavyweight of America's freshwater open-water scene.
Muskellunge

Muskellunge

The muskellunge - "musky" to the anglers obsessed with it - is famously called "…
Blue Catfish

Blue Catfish

The blue catfish is the giant of North American catfish - the largest member of …
Flathead Catfish

Flathead Catfish

The flathead catfish is the loner and the predator of the catfish world.
White Bass

White Bass

The white bass is the freshwater angler's fast-action favorite - a scrappy, hard…
Spotted Bass

Spotted Bass

The spotted bass - "spot," "spotty," or "Kentucky bass" to those who chase it - …
Lake Trout

Lake Trout

The lake trout is the great deep-water predator of cold northern lakes - North A…
Chinook Salmon

Chinook Salmon

The Chinook salmon - also called the "king salmon" - is the largest of the Pacif…
Coho Salmon

Coho Salmon

The coho salmon - widely known as the "silver salmon" - is the acrobatic, hard-c…
Steelhead

Steelhead

Steelhead are the sea-run, or in the Great Lakes the lake-run, form of rainbow t…
Cutthroat Trout

Cutthroat Trout

Cutthroat trout are one of the West's most iconic native fish - a beautiful, wil…
Chain Pickerel

Chain Pickerel

The chain pickerel is the smaller cousin of the northern pike and muskellunge, b…
Redear Sunfish

Redear Sunfish

The redear sunfish - known across much of the South as the "shellcracker" - is t…
Pumpkinseed Sunfish

Pumpkinseed Sunfish

The pumpkinseed is one of the most beautiful fish in North American fresh water …
Rock Bass

Rock Bass

The rock bass is a stocky, red-eyed panfish that blurs the line between sunfish …
Common Carp

Common Carp

The common carp is one of the most misunderstood fish in American fresh water.
Sauger

Sauger

The sauger is the walleye's smaller, river-loving cousin - a member of the perch…
Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee Salmon

The kokanee is the landlocked, freshwater-resident form of the sockeye salmon.
Bullhead Catfish

Bullhead Catfish

The bullhead is the everyman's catfish - small, abundant, hardy, and almost univ…
Bowfin

Bowfin

The bowfin is one of the most ancient fish swimming in North American waters, th…
Longnose Gar

Longnose Gar

The longnose gar looks like something that swam straight out of the Cretaceous, …
Alligator Gar

Alligator Gar

The alligator gar is the largest fish in most of the waters it swims, a true fre…
Freshwater Drum

Freshwater Drum

The freshwater drum is one of the most widely distributed yet least appreciated …
Arctic Grayling

Arctic Grayling

The Arctic grayling is one of the most beautiful fish that swims in North Americ…
Tiger Muskie

Tiger Muskie

The tiger muskie is the apex predator of many North American lakes - a striking,…
Burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the strange one.
Peacock Bass

Peacock Bass

The peacock bass is, despite its name, not a bass at all - it is a large, brilli…
Northern Snakehead

Northern Snakehead

The northern snakehead is the most notorious invasive fish in American fresh wat…
White Perch

White Perch

The white perch is a small, scrappy, abundant fish that punches well above its w…
Green Sunfish

Green Sunfish

The green sunfish is one of the most widespread and adaptable panfish in North A…
American Paddlefish

American Paddlefish

The American paddlefish is one of the most ancient and unmistakable fish in Nort…
Lake Sturgeon

Lake Sturgeon

The lake sturgeon is a living fossil and one of North America's most awe-inspiri…
Bull Trout

Bull Trout

The bull trout is one of the most iconic and most threatened native fish of the …
Sockeye Salmon

Sockeye Salmon

The sockeye salmon is the most prized of the Pacific salmon at the table and one…
White Sturgeon

White Sturgeon

The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish in North America and one of th…
Guadalupe Bass

Guadalupe Bass

The Guadalupe bass is a small, hard-fighting black bass found nowhere else on ea…
American Eel

American Eel

The American eel is one of the strangest and most fascinating fish an East Coast…
Golden Trout

Golden Trout

The golden trout is California's state freshwater fish and one of the most beaut…
Shoal Bass

Shoal Bass

The shoal bass is a hard-fighting river black bass native to a small corner of t…
Spotted Gar

Spotted Gar

The spotted gar is one of the most ancient fish an American angler can catch, a …
Tiger Trout

Tiger Trout

The tiger trout is one of the most striking fish you can catch in fresh water: a…
American Shad

American Shad

The American shad is the largest member of the herring family, a silvery, deep-b…
Blue Tilapia

Blue Tilapia

The blue tilapia is a hardy African cichlid that has become one of the most wide…
Smallmouth Buffalo

Smallmouth Buffalo

The smallmouth buffalo is a big, heavy-bodied native sucker that ranks among the…
Grass Pickerel

Grass Pickerel

The grass pickerel is the smallest member of the pike family in North America, a…
Warmouth

Warmouth

The warmouth is a chunky, big-mouthed member of the sunfish family that fishes m…
Longear Sunfish

Longear Sunfish

The longear sunfish is one of the most beautiful freshwater fish in North Americ…
Lake Whitefish

Lake Whitefish

The lake whitefish is a cold-water native of the deep northern lakes, a silvery,…
Dolly Varden

Dolly Varden

The Dolly Varden is a beautiful, cold-water char of the Pacific Northwest, Alask…
Splake

Splake

The splake is a fascinating fish: a man-made hybrid between a male brook trout a…
Grass Carp

Grass Carp

The grass carp is a giant, plant-eating fish native to Asia that has become a co…
Bigmouth Buffalo

Bigmouth Buffalo

The bigmouth buffalo is one of North America's most remarkable native fish, and …
White Catfish

White Catfish

The white catfish is the middle child of the American catfish family, sitting ne…
Brown Bullhead

Brown Bullhead

The brown bullhead is the small, tough, whiskered catfish that has introduced mo…
Pink Salmon

Pink Salmon

The pink salmon is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon, and in …
Chum Salmon

Chum Salmon

The chum salmon is the bruiser of the Pacific salmon runs, a strong, deep-bodied…
Atlantic Salmon

Atlantic Salmon

The Atlantic salmon is often called "the leaper," and for good reason - it is on…
Redhorse Sucker

Redhorse Sucker

The redhorse sucker is one of the most overlooked native game fish in America, a…
Clown Knifefish

Clown Knifefish

The clown knifefish is one of the strangest and most exciting fish an angler can…
Mayan Cichlid

Mayan Cichlid

The Mayan cichlid is a small, gorgeous, and pugnacious fish that has become a fa…
White Sucker

White Sucker

The white sucker is one of the most common native fish in North America, yet it …
Cisco

Cisco

The cisco, also known as lake herring or tullibee, is a slender, silvery member …
Mountain Whitefish

Mountain Whitefish

The mountain whitefish is a native gem of the cold, clear rivers of the American…
Redbreast Sunfish

Redbreast Sunfish

The redbreast sunfish is one of the most beautiful and spirited panfish in North…
Bighead Carp

Bighead Carp

The bighead carp is a giant, invasive Asian carp that has spread through much of…
Silver Carp

Silver Carp

The silver carp is the infamous "flying carp" - the invasive Asian carp that lau…
Quillback

Quillback

The quillback is a handsome native sucker, a member of the carpsucker group, oft…
Goldeye

Goldeye

The goldeye is a striking silvery river fish best known for its large, brilliant…
Spotted Sunfish

Spotted Sunfish

The spotted sunfish is a small, hardy panfish of the southern United States, aff…
Hybrid Striped Bass

Hybrid Striped Bass

The hybrid striped bass, widely called the "wiper," is a hard-fighting cross bet…
Yellow Bass

Yellow Bass

The yellow bass is a small, brassy member of the temperate-bass family, a scrapp…
Shortnose Gar

Shortnose Gar

The shortnose gar is a prehistoric, armor-scaled predator of slow rivers and bac…
Florida Gar

Florida Gar

The Florida gar is a boldly spotted, armor-scaled predator of the Southeast's wa…
Redfin Pickerel

Redfin Pickerel

The redfin pickerel is the smallest member of the pike family, a feisty little p…
Flier

Flier

The flier is a handsome, disc-shaped sunfish of southern swamps and blackwater, …
Apache Trout

Apache Trout

The Apache trout is a golden-yellow native of Arizona's high White Mountains, on…
Gila Trout

Gila Trout

The Gila trout is a rare golden native of the mountain streams of New Mexico and…
Hickory Shad

Hickory Shad

The hickory shad is a hard-fighting, acrobatic member of the herring family that…
Saugeye

Saugeye

The saugeye is a stocked hybrid of walleye and sauger that thrives in murky rese…
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Black Crappie

The black crappie is one of America's most beloved panfish, a schooling favorite…
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Redeye Bass

The redeye bass is a hard-fighting stream black bass of the southern Appalachian…
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Suwannee Bass

The Suwannee bass is a small, rare black bass found only in a few north Florida …
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Shovelnose Sturgeon

The shovelnose sturgeon is the smallest and most abundant North American sturgeo…
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Arctic Char

The Arctic char is the northernmost freshwater fish in the world and one of the …
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Inconnu (Sheefish)

The inconnu, or sheefish, is a large predatory whitefish of the far north, nickn…
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Round Whitefish

The round whitefish is a slender, bronze-backed member of the whitefish family f…
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Fallfish

The fallfish is the largest native minnow in eastern North America, a silvery, h…
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Rainbow Smelt

The rainbow smelt is a small, silvery, cucumber-scented fish that runs up coasta…

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