Browse 70 fish species across North America. Learn their habits, average sizes, water types, and where to catch them.
Micropterus henshalli
Formerly known as the spotted bass of the Mobile River drainage, the Alabama bass is a distinct black bass native to the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Warrior systems. Aggressive and highly adaptable, it thrives in deep, clear reservoirs and is a popular but ecologically disruptive fish where it has spread beyond its native range.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee · Average size: 13 inches
Oncorhynchus apache
Arizona’s state fish is native to cold streams in the White Mountains. Apache trout have golden-yellow to olive bodies, dark spots, and two dark marks beside the pupil that can look like a band across the eye. They feed on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Stocked fishing opportunities and protected native populations must not be confused: check access and regulations for the specific water.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Arizona · Average size: 11 inches
Salvelinus alpinus
A cold-water char of the far north, the Arctic char is the most northerly-ranging freshwater fish and a prized sport fish of Labrador and northern Newfoundland. Sea-run and landlocked forms occur, with silvery flanks that flush to brilliant orange-red at spawning and pale pink or cream spots.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Alaska, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut · Average size: 24 inches
Thymallus arcticus
Instantly recognized by its huge, iridescent sail-like dorsal fin, the Arctic grayling is a graceful native of B.C.'s northern rivers. A voracious dry-fly taker in the Omineca, Peace and Skeena, it is managed with tight quotas and catch-and-release rules to protect slow-growing populations.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Manitoba, Montana, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon · Average size: 13 inches
Salmo salar
Known as the 'king of fish' among fly anglers, the Atlantic salmon migrates from the ocean into eastern Canadian rivers to spawn, providing a legendary and highly regulated fishery. Its powerful runs and leaps make it one of the most sought-after game fish in the world.
Water types: river, coastal · Found in: British Columbia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Brunswick, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Rhode Island, Wisconsin · Average size: 30 inches
Ictiobus cyprinellus
The largest of North America's sucker family, the bigmouth buffalo is a heavy, deep-bodied fish with dull bronze-olive flanks and a distinctive terminal, forward-facing mouth. Native to Saskatchewan's southern rivers and prairie lakes, it is an extraordinarily long-lived fish — some individuals exceed 100 years — and carries a province-wide limit of zero.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Saskatchewan · Average size: 24 inches
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
A deep, papery-mouthed panfish speckled with dark green blotches, the black crappie is a favourite of spring and ice anglers for its schooling habits and sweet white fillets. It hovers around submerged wood, weed edges, and docks throughout southern and central Ontario.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 10 inches
Ictalurus furcatus
The largest catfish in North America, the blue catfish is a slate-blue, deeply forked-tailed giant that can exceed 100 pounds. It roams the deep channels and tailwaters of Alabama's big rivers and Tennessee River reservoirs, where it is prized by trophy anglers drift-fishing cut bait over open water.
Water types: river, lake, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia · Average size: 25 inches
Lepomis macrochirus
One of the most common and accessible panfish in North America, the bluegill is often a young angler's first catch. Its round, flattened body and dark ear flap make it easy to identify, and it readily bites on worms, crickets, and small jigs around docks and vegetation.
Water types: pond, lake · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 7.5 inches
Prosopium gemmifer
A small, slender silver whitefish found nowhere on earth but Bear Lake on the Idaho-Utah border, the Bonneville cisco is the lake's signature fish. Rarely longer than seven or eight inches, it has a streamlined trout-like body, a small mouth, an adipose fin and large silvery scales over an olive-green back. Each January and early February huge spawning schools crowd the eastern shore, where anglers famously scoop them with dip nets through the ice in one of Idaho's most distinctive fisheries. In Idaho waters of Bear Lake the cisco daily limit is 30.
Water types: lake · Found in: Idaho · Average size: 7 inches
Salvelinus fontinalis
A true native trout of eastern North America, the brook trout displays vivid worm-like markings on its back and vibrant orange fins edged in white. It requires the coldest, cleanest water of any stream fish and is often used as an indicator of pristine watershed health.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 9 inches
Salmo trutta
Brown trout have brown to golden flanks marked with dark spots, often accompanied by orange or reddish spots. They support cold-water river and lake fisheries, including the White River tailwater in Arkansas. Brown trout can reproduce successfully in Arkansas’s cold tailwaters; their presence does not mean harvest is allowed. Current limits and release requirements vary by reach.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 14 inches
Salvelinus confluentus
A native char of B.C.'s cold interior rivers and lakes, the bull trout wears pale cream and pink-orange spots on an olive-bronze body and has no black markings. A slow-growing top predator sensitive to habitat change, its fishing rules vary by water and population. Do not infer permission to target or retain bull trout from its presence; check current closures and species-specific rules.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Yukon · Average size: 20 inches
Lota lota
The only freshwater member of the cod family, the burbot is an eel-shaped, mottled bottom fish with a single chin barbel. A cold-water predator active under the ice, it is a popular winter catch across interior and northern B.C. and is renowned for its sweet, firm flesh.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Ohio, Saskatchewan, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Yukon · Average size: 20 inches
Cichla ocellaris
A brilliantly colored tropical cichlid introduced to the canals of southeast Florida in the 1980s to control non-native forage fish, the butterfly peacock bass has a golden-yellow body marked with three dark vertical bars and a distinctive black, gold-ringed eyespot on the tail. Hard-fighting and aggressive, it is prized by anglers in the urban canals of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, where warm water keeps it thriving.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Florida, Hawaii · Average size: 14 inches
Esox niger
The chain pickerel is a slender, aggressive member of the pike family named for the dark chain-link pattern on its greenish flanks. Introduced and now widespread through the Saint John River system and southern New Brunswick, it is a hard-striking ambush predator — considered invasive in the province, where anglers are required to keep the ones they catch in designated waters.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia · Average size: 20 inches
Ictalurus punctatus
An adaptable bottom-feeder with sensitive whisker-like barbels used to locate food by smell and taste, the channel catfish thrives in warm rivers, reservoirs, and lakes across the continent. It's a favorite for night fishing with cut bait or stink bait near deep holes and current breaks.
Water types: river, lake, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 20 inches
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
The largest Pacific salmon species, also known as king salmon, Chinook make dramatic upstream migrations from the Pacific Ocean into rivers along the western coast of North America. They are prized both for their size, often exceeding 30 pounds, and their rich, fatty flesh.
Water types: river, coastal · Found in: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Ontario, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Yukon · Average size: 36 inches
Oncorhynchus keta
The chum salmon, also called dog salmon, is the second-largest Pacific salmon and completes one of the longest freshwater migrations of any salmon, running far up the Yukon River drainage. Spawning fish develop bold reddish and greenish vertical bars and enlarged canine-like teeth.
Water types: river · Found in: Alaska, Yukon · Average size: 24 inches
Oncorhynchus kisutch
A hard-fighting Pacific salmon prized for its acrobatic runs, the coho (silver) salmon returns to B.C.'s coastal and interior rivers in fall, its chrome flanks flushing to deep red at spawning. Non-tidal coho fisheries open only during announced DFO windows and require a Salmon Conservation Stamp to retain fish.
Water types: river · Found in: Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin, Yukon · Average size: 24 inches
Cyprinus carpio
Common carp are heavy-bodied members of the minnow family with barbels beside the upper jaw and a long dorsal fin. Their colour ranges from brassy green to golden brown or silver. Native to Europe and Asia and introduced widely in North America, they are omnivores that live in ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. They are distinct from grass carp. Check local fishing and invasive-species rules before fishing; never move live fish between waters.
Water types: lake, pond, river, stream · Found in: Idaho, Illinois
Oncorhynchus clarkii
Cutthroat trout are identified by orange-red marks beneath the lower jaw and dark spots on a lighter body. Several subspecies occur in western North America, including coastal, westslope and Yellowstone cutthroat. Colour and spotting vary, and subspecies can be difficult to distinguish. They inhabit cold streams and lakes; some coastal populations also migrate to salt water.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wyoming · Average size: 14 inches
Salvelinus malma
A close cousin of the bull trout, the Dolly Varden is a sleek char sprinkled with small pale pink and cream spots. Common in coastal and northern B.C. drainages, it includes sea-run forms that follow salmon runs upriver to feed on drifting eggs.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon · Average size: 14 inches
Pylodictis olivaris
A large, solitary predator with a broad flattened head and protruding lower jaw, the flathead catfish hunts live prey in deep holes and around submerged timber. Mottled yellow-brown in color, it grows to trophy sizes in Alabama's rivers and reservoirs and is a favorite target of nighttime bank anglers.
Water types: river, lake, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 25 inches
Aplodinotus grunniens
A deep-bodied, silver-grey fish with a distinctive humped back and a long dorsal fin, the freshwater drum (or 'silver bass') is named for the drumming sound males make with their swim bladder. Abundant in Manitoba's Red and Assiniboine rivers and Lake Winnipeg, it feeds on the bottom for insects, clams, and small fish and pulls hard on light tackle.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Michigan, Nebraska · Average size: 16 inches
Oncorhynchus aguabonita
One of the most beautiful and elusive fish in Alberta, the golden trout glows with golden-yellow flanks, a crimson lateral stripe, and dark parr marks. Native to California's Sierra Nevada and stocked into a handful of remote high-alpine lakes in the Rockies, it survives only in the coldest, clearest headwater basins and carries a strict one-fish limit.
Water types: lake · Found in: Alberta · Average size: 9 inches
Hiodon alosoides
A silvery, deep-bodied fish of Alberta's prairie and boreal rivers, the goldeye is instantly known by its large, brilliant gold-rimmed eye adapted to hunting in turbid water. A hard-hitting sport fish that rises to flies and lures, it has long been prized smoked as the famous 'Winnipeg goldeye.'
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan · Average size: 13 inches
Lepomis cyanellus
Green sunfish have a relatively large mouth, a heavy body and dark green to bluish upper sides, often marked with turquoise spots and faint vertical bars. Adults feed on insects and small fish. They tolerate variable conditions in streams and ponds, and can hybridize with other sunfish, making identification more difficult. Despite regional nicknames, green sunfish are not rock bass. Check the rules for the exact water before fishing or retaining fish.
Water types: stream, pond, lake · Found in: Idaho, Illinois
Micropterus treculii
The official state fish of Texas, the Guadalupe bass is a small, scrappy black bass found only in the clear, spring-fed streams of the Texas Hill Country. It behaves like a smallmouth of the rapids, holding in flowing water around cypress knees and limestone ledges, and is a favorite of kayak and fly anglers on the Guadalupe, San Marcos, Colorado and Llano rivers.
Water types: river · Found in: Texas · Average size: 10 inches
Morone saxatilis x chrysops
A stocked cross between striped bass and white bass, the hybrid striped bass (often called a 'wiper') is a stocky, hard-pulling fighter with broken horizontal stripes. Alabama stocks hybrids in many reservoirs, where they school in open water and provide fast action for anglers casting or trolling for schooling fish.
Water types: reservoir, lake, river · Found in: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia · Average size: 18 inches
Stenodus nelma
The inconnu, or sheefish, is a large predatory member of the whitefish family and the giant of the group, reaching well over a metre in the big rivers of the north. Silvery and pike-like in profile with a large underslung mouth, it is prized as a hard-fighting sport fish of the Yukon and Porcupine river drainages.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alaska, Northwest Territories, Yukon · Average size: 30 inches
Oncorhynchus nerka
The landlocked form of the sockeye salmon, the kokanee is a streamlined, silvery-blue plankton feeder that turns brilliant red at spawning. It supports hugely popular lake fisheries across the B.C. interior and is the key forage fish behind many trophy trout waters.
Water types: lake · Found in: British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Yukon · Average size: 11 inches
Acipenser fulvescens
A living relic that can live over a century and exceed two metres, the lake sturgeon is an ancient, bottom-feeding fish armoured with bony scutes. Populations are of conservation concern. Ontario has closed seasons for lake sturgeon in many zones: a closed season prohibits targeting, including catch-and-release fishing. An incidental catch during a closed season must be released immediately at the place of capture. Check current rules for the exact water and jurisdiction.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alberta, Kentucky, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Wisconsin · Average size: 48 inches
Salvelinus namaycush
The largest of the char species, lake trout are deep, cold-water dwellers that can live for decades and grow to enormous sizes in the Great Lakes and large northern lakes of Canada. Anglers typically target them by trolling or jigging deep structure in summer.
Water types: lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon · Average size: 24 inches
Coregonus clupeaformis
A silvery, deep-bodied member of the salmon family prized as a table fish and the backbone of many Great Lakes commercial and recreational fisheries. Lake whitefish feed on the bottom in cold, deep water and are a hugely popular winter target for ice anglers across Ontario.
Water types: lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, Indiana, Maine, Manitoba, Michigan, Montana, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Washington, Wisconsin, Yukon · Average size: 18 inches
Micropterus salmoides
The largemouth bass is North America's most popular freshwater game fish, prized for its aggressive strikes and acrobatic fights. It ambushes prey from cover like weed beds, docks, and fallen timber, and is most active in warm, shallow water during spring and early summer.
Water types: lake, pond, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 15 inches
Catostomus macrocheilus
Largescale suckers are native western freshwater fish with dark olive-gray backs and sides that change to a pale or yellowish underside. Their long-based dorsal fin usually has 13–15 rays, and the lateral line typically has 62–80 scales. They feed on organisms along the bottom and occur in both lakes and flowing waters. Similar sucker species require careful identification; check local fishing rules rather than treating a species record as permission to harvest.
Water types: lake, reservoir, river, stream · Found in: Idaho
Hiodon tergisus
A silvery, laterally compressed fish with a large, bright eye and a deeply forked tail, the mooneye is the goldeye's close cousin and shares its combined daily limit. Native to the Saskatchewan and Qu'Appelle river systems, it feeds on insects and small fish near the surface and gives light-tackle anglers a spirited fight.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Saskatchewan · Average size: 12 inches
Prosopium williamsoni
Mountain whitefish are slender, silvery salmon-family fish with a deeply forked tail and a small mouth beneath an overhanging snout. Native to western North America, they live in cold rivers and also occur in lakes and reservoirs. They feed mainly on aquatic insects, often taking food near the bottom, and gather to spawn over gravel in autumn. They are distinct from lake whitefish.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming · Average size: 12 inches
Esox masquinongy
Nicknamed the 'fish of ten thousand casts,' the muskellunge is the largest member of the pike family and one of the most elusive freshwater trophies in North America. Patient anglers targeting deep weed edges and rocky points in the Great Lakes region are occasionally rewarded with a fish over 40 inches.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 40 inches
Esox lucius
A voracious ambush predator with a torpedo-shaped body and duck-bill snout full of sharp teeth, the northern pike lurks in weedy shallows waiting to strike at baitfish, frogs, and even small waterfowl. It is found throughout cold northern lakes and rivers across the USA and Canada.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland and Labrador, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon · Average size: 24 inches
Ptychocheilus oregonensis
Northern pikeminnow are large native minnows of western North America, not northern pike. They have elongated bodies, large mouths, dark greenish backs and silvery undersides, without barbels. Young fish have a dark spot near the tail base. Adults eat aquatic invertebrates and small fish. Local management programs do not establish a general harvest rule: check current regulations for the exact water before fishing or retaining fish.
Water types: lake, reservoir, river, stream · Found in: Idaho
Astronotus ocellatus
A large South American cichlid introduced to Hawai'i and now established in island reservoirs, the oscar is a hard-fighting, aggressive gamefish popular with freshwater anglers. It has a deep, oval, laterally compressed body colored charcoal to olive and heavily marbled with rusty-orange blotches, long-based dorsal and anal fins, and a distinctive eyespot (ocellus) at the base of the tail — a black spot ringed in bright orange-red. In the Wahiawā Public Fishing Area the oscar carries a daily bag limit of one.
Water types: reservoir, lake · Found in: Hawaii · Average size: 10 inches
Salmo salar
The ouananiche is Quebec's landlocked Atlantic salmon — a hard-fighting, silvery salmon famous in Lac Saint-Jean, where it grows fat chasing rainbow smelt. Sleek and acrobatic, it is prized for spectacular leaping runs and is managed separately from sea-run Atlantic salmon under its own daily limit.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec · Average size: 18 inches
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
The smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon, the pink salmon — nicknamed the 'humpy' for the pronounced hump spawning males develop — runs Alaska's coastal streams in enormous numbers on a strict two-year life cycle. Silvery at sea, pink salmon have large oval spots on the back and tail. Occurrence and run timing do not establish an open fishery. Check current species-specific seasons and emergency closures for the exact water.
Water types: river, ocean · Found in: Alaska, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin · Average size: 20 inches
Lepomis gibbosus
One of Ontario's most colourful and accessible panfish, the pumpkinseed is a small round sunfish with an orange belly, iridescent blue-green cheek lines, and a red-tipped ear flap. It is often a young angler's first catch around docks and weedy shallows.
Water types: lake, pond, river · Found in: Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Wisconsin · Average size: 6 inches
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Rainbow trout typically have a pink band along the sides and small dark spots on a lighter body. Unlike cutthroat trout, they generally lack the orange-red slash beneath the jaw. Native to western North America and widely introduced, they occur in rivers and lakes. Ocean-migrating rainbow trout are called steelhead; freshwater residents and steelhead are the same species, not interchangeable descriptions of every population.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon · Average size: 12 inches
Lepomis auritus
A colorful stream sunfish with an olive back, a bright orange-red breast and belly, and a long, narrow black gill flap, the redbreast sunfish (often called 'redbreast' or 'river bream') is one of Florida's most popular panfish. It is most abundant in flowing rivers and spring runs, where it holds near undercut banks, logs and current seams.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia · Average size: 7 inches
Lepomis microlophus
Known locally as the 'shellcracker' for its habit of crushing snails and small clams, the redear sunfish is a large, deep-bodied panfish distinguished by the bright red-orange margin on its ear flap. It is a springtime favorite in Alabama, bedding in colonies over sandy or gravelly bottoms.
Water types: lake, pond, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia · Average size: 9 inches
Micropterus coosae
A small, brilliantly marked native black bass of Georgia's rocky mountain and Piedmont streams, the redeye bass (also called Coosa bass) is prized by fly and light-tackle anglers. It has an olive-bronze body with dark blotches along the side, rows of small brick-red spots on the lower flanks, striking red eyes, and distinctive white-edged margins on the upper and lower lobes of the tail. It rarely grows large but fights hard in the swift, clear water it favors.
Water types: river · Found in: Georgia · Average size: 9 inches
Ambloplites rupestris
A stocky, bronze-olive panfish with a bright red eye, the rock bass is an aggressive, structure-loving fish common across Ontario's rocky lakes and rivers. It strikes readily and is a reliable mixed-bag catch alongside smallmouth bass and perch.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 8 inches
Sander canadensis
A close cousin of the walleye, the sauger is slimmer and brassy with distinct dark saddle blotches and a spotted dorsal fin. It thrives in larger, more turbid rivers and connected lakes and shares a combined catch limit with walleye everywhere the two overlap.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alabama, Alberta, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Manitoba, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 13 inches
Micropterus cataractae
A river-specialist black bass of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin, the shoal bass is a bronze-olive fish with dark tiger-like blotches along its side and a dark spot at the base of the tail. It lives in fast, rocky shoals and is a prized but sensitive sportfish; on Florida's Chipola River and its tributaries all shoal bass must be released.
Water types: river · Found in: Florida, Georgia · Average size: 12 inches
Scaphirhynchus platorynchus
The smallest and most common of North America's sturgeons, the shovelnose sturgeon is a bottom-dwelling native of Indiana's big rivers, especially the Wabash and the Ohio. It has the classic sturgeon shape — a flattened, shovel-like snout, four fringed barbels ahead of a toothless sucker mouth, a long armored body ridged with bony plates (scutes) and a shark-like upturned tail with a threadlike filament trailing off the upper lobe. Rarely more than two or three feet long, it feeds on aquatic insects and other small invertebrates rooted from sand and gravel bars in strong current. In Indiana it carries a 25-inch minimum fork length and no daily bag limit, while the larger paddlefish that shares its rivers must be released.
Water types: river · Found in: Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin · Average size: 24 inches
Micropterus dolomieu
Pound for pound, the smallmouth bass is considered one of the hardest-fighting freshwater fish, known for spectacular jumps when hooked. It favors clearer, cooler water than its largemouth cousin and is commonly found around rocky points, gravel bars, and current seams.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 14 inches
Oncorhynchus nerka
Famous for the scarlet bodies and olive-green heads it develops at spawning, the sockeye salmon returns to B.C. rivers such as the Fraser and Skeena in vast, cyclic runs. In-river sockeye retention is tightly controlled by DFO and opens only in years and windows when returns allow.
Water types: river · Found in: Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon · Average size: 24 inches
Salvelinus fontinalis × namaycush
A hatchery-bred hybrid of brook trout and lake trout, the splake grows faster than either parent and is widely stocked in Ontario lakes to provide a cold-water fishery. It shows the worm-like back markings of a brook trout with the deeper body of a lake trout.
Water types: lake · Found in: Minnesota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 16 inches
Micropterus punctulatus
A member of the black bass family that resembles a small largemouth but with a smaller mouth and rows of dark spots forming stripes below the lateral line, the spotted bass is a hard-fighting fish of Alabama's rivers and clear reservoirs. It favors current and rocky structure and is often caught alongside largemouth and Alabama bass.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia · Average size: 12 inches
Morone saxatilis
A powerful, hard-fighting fish found along the Atlantic coast and in landlocked reservoirs, the striped bass is easily identified by the bold dark stripes running along its silver body. It migrates seasonally along the coast and is a favorite target of surf casters and boat anglers alike.
Water types: coastal, reservoir, river · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia · Average size: 28 inches
Micropterus notius
A small, stocky black bass endemic to a handful of north Florida and south Georgia rivers, the Suwannee bass is easily recognized by the turquoise-blue wash on its cheeks, breast and belly on breeding males. It favors flowing water with limestone and rocky structure and is a signature catch of the Suwannee and Santa Fe river systems.
Water types: river · Found in: Florida · Average size: 10 inches
Esox masquinongy × Esox lucius
A sterile hybrid of muskellunge and northern pike, the tiger muskie is a long, torpedo-shaped apex predator marked with dramatic dark vertical bars over a pale green-silver body. Utah grows some of the biggest tiger muskies in America at Pineview Reservoir, where the fishery is strictly catch-and-release, and stocks them in waters like Newton and Joes Valley reservoirs to control rough fish.
Water types: lake, reservoir · Found in: Utah, Washington · Average size: 38 inches
Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis
A striking sterile hybrid of a brown trout and a brook trout, the tiger trout is covered in bold, maze-like vermiculated markings over a brassy-gold body. Aggressive and fast-growing, it is stocked into select Alberta lakes and ponds where it controls small fish and delights anglers as part of the trout limit.
Water types: lake · Found in: Alberta, Idaho, Manitoba, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Utah · Average size: 13 inches
Sander vitreus
Named for its large, glassy, light-reflecting eyes that give it excellent low-light vision, the walleye is a highly prized table fish across the northern United States and Canada. It feeds most actively at dawn, dusk, and at night, often suspending over deep structure during the day.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 18 inches
Lepomis gulosus
Warmouth are large-mouthed sunfish with mottled brown bodies and several reddish-brown streaks radiating from the eyes. They hide around stumps, rocks and vegetation and feed on insects, mollusks and small fish. They can be confused with rock bass: warmouth have three anal-fin spines, while rock bass have six. Warmouth can also hybridize with other sunfish. A species profile does not establish local fishing permission; check current rules and access restrictions.
Water types: lake, pond, stream · Found in: Illinois
Morone chrysops
A silvery, deep-bodied true bass marked with faint dark horizontal stripes, the white bass travels in fast-moving schools and provides fast action in Manitoba's Red River and Lake Winnipeg system. Aggressive and abundant, it strikes small jigs and spinners and is prized for its light-tackle sport and table quality.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 12 inches
Pomoxis annularis
A silvery, deep-bodied panfish marked with faint vertical bars, the white crappie tolerates the murkier, more turbid water of Alabama's rivers and flood-control reservoirs better than its black crappie cousin. Schooling around brush and standing timber, it is a mainstay of the state's popular crappie fisheries.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin · Average size: 10 inches
Morone americana
The white perch is a deep-bodied, silvery relative of the striped bass, abundant in the tidal reaches and lakes of the Saint John River and New Brunswick's coastal drainages. Schooling and scrappy, it is a popular panfish taken in large numbers under a generous daily limit.
Water types: lake, river · Found in: Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Virginia · Average size: 9 inches
Acipenser transmontanus
North America's largest freshwater fish, the white sturgeon is an ancient, armoured giant of the Fraser and Columbia systems that can exceed six metres and live over a century. Populations are of serious conservation concern, so retention is prohibited everywhere in B.C. — catch-and-release fishing is permitted only where explicitly open, and many waters are fully closed to targeting.
Water types: river, lake · Found in: British Columbia, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington · Average size: 72 inches
Morone mississippiensis
A small temperate bass with a bright silvery-yellow body and dark horizontal stripes that are broken and offset toward the belly, the yellow bass travels in fast-moving schools. It is a scrappy, good-eating fish found in several Alabama rivers and reservoirs, often caught in numbers once a school is located.
Water types: lake, river, reservoir · Found in: Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin · Average size: 9 inches
Perca flavescens
A schooling panfish with distinctive golden flanks and dark vertical bands, the yellow perch is a staple of ice fishing and open-water fishing alike, popular for its sweet, flaky fillets. Perch travel in large schools near weed lines and drop-offs, making for fast, family-friendly action.
Water types: lake, reservoir · Found in: Alberta, British Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Rhode Island, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming · Average size: 9 inches