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CONNECTING MORE THAN FISHING

Channel Catfish

Body color varies from silvery-gray on the top to light on the underside, depending mostly on the clarity of the water. The body is marked with dark pigmented spots, which are usually unclear in large adults. Young catfish, under 2- or 3-inches long, often lack these spots. There are 24 to 29 soft rays in the anal fin, and this fin is about two-sevenths the standard length. The posterior margin of the adipose fin is free. The tail is deeply forked, which is unlike all the other catfishes except the Blue Catfish. The eyes are large, but the head is small, slender and sub-conic. The air bladder has two lobes which are laterally paired to look as one at first glance. The upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers & lakes

Length

Most common between 25 and 60 cm

Weight

Most common between 1 – 40 kg

Walleye

Large, whitish glossy eyes and strong canine teeth. A brassy olive-buff color, sometimes shadowing to yellowish sides and white beneath. The caudal fin has a silver or milk-white tip on the lower lobe. There are no distinct dark bars or mottlings on the sides of the body, but instead an overall mottling of brown or black. Spots on the anterior dorsal fin are lacking, but there is one large dark spot or blotch near the base on the last 2 to 3 spines of the posterior dorsal fin. There are 19 to 22 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 12 to 14 in the anal fin. The lateral line has 80 to 89 scales. The cheeks are sparsely scaled.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers & lakes

Length

Most common between 25 and 50 cm

Weight

Most common is between 0.5 – 5 kg

Rainbow Trout

Olive to greenish-blue over most of the upper body, fading to a silvery-white along the belly. They are most easily separated from the other trout species by the strikingly prominent pink-red horizontal stripe that extends down each side of the fish. The sides, back, dorsal and caudal fins have small black spots continuing to the distal end of the caudal fin. Like most trout, there are sharp teeth on the vomer in the roof of the mouth. Scale counts along the lateral line range from 135 to 155.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers, lakes, streams and ponds.

Length

Most common between 55 and 110 cm

Weight

Most common between 0.5 – 9 kg

Common Carp

Elongate, chubby body that is torpedo-shaped. The body is dark olive, shading to brownish-yellow on the sides with a white belly and large, slightly outlined scales. The terminal mouth is slightly oblique with non-fleshy, firm lips, and no barbels. The complete lateral line has 40 to 42 scales. The dorsal fin has 8 to 10 soft rays, and the anal fin is set closer to the tail than most cyprinids. Broad, ridged pharyngeal teeth are arranged in a 2, 4-4, 2 formula.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers & lakes

Length

Most common between 10 and 60 cm

Weight

Most common between 3 – 30 kg

Small Mouth Bass

A slender, streamlined-shaped fish with a moderately large mouth, where the upper jaw reaches about to the rear margin of the eye in adults. Spiny and soft parts of the dorsal fin are broadly connected with only a shallow notch between the lobes. The body is golden green on the sides and back with faint wavy olive blotches evenly spaced along the sides. Five olive-green bars radiate backward from the eye, and one forward to the end of the snout. The tail fin in young smallmouth is tri-colored with a black vertical bar separating the yellowish fin base. Pyloric caeca are not forked in contrast to forked pyloric caeca in the closely related Largemouth Bass.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers & lakes

Length

Most common between 25 and 40 cm

Weight

Most common between 0.5 – 2 kg

Sunfish

A thick-bodied sunfish with a large mouth for sunfishes; the upper jaw extends to about the middle of the eye when the mouth is closed. The spiny dorsal fin has 10 spines and is broadly connected to the soft dorsal fin. The pectoral fins are short and rounded, and the ear flap is never elongated. The back and sides are bluish-green with emerald and yellow reflections, while the belly is white or light yellow. Sometimes there are several black vertical bars on the sides. The sides of the head are mottled with emerald and yellow streaks, and the black ear flap has a whitish or yellowish margin. Green Sunfish usually have whitish or yellow-orange leading edges on their dorsal, anal and caudal fins.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers, lakes, streams and ponds.

Length

Most common between 10 and 30 cm

Weight

Most common between 0.25 – 1 kg

Large Mouth Bass

A slender, streamlined sunfish, with a very large mouth, with the upper jaw extending far past the rear margin of the eye when the mouth is closed (except in small young). The spiny and soft portions of the dorsal fin are almost completely separated by a deep notch. The middle of the green-shaded body has a broad continuous dark stripe, but this sometimes becomes unclear in large adults and fish taken from turbid water. The belly is greenish-white or yellowish, and the eye is usually gold. The pyloric caeca, finger-like extensions at the junction of the stomach and intestine, are forked, and the tail fin in young Largemouth Bass is clearly bicolored — not tricolored as in Spotted Bass and Smallmouth Bass. The rear part at the fin is much darker than the basal part.

Freshwater

Often found in rivers & lakes

Length

Most common between 20 and 45 cm

Weight

Most common between 0.5 – 3 kg