Fish Species Guides: where they live and how to catch them

Pick a species

• Largemouth Bass — Ambush predator of weed edges, wood, and docks; the species most anglers learn on and never outgrow.
• Smallmouth Bass — Rock, current, and clear water; a river fish that jumps like a trout and pulls like a saltwater fish.
• Walleye — Low-light feeder of wind-blown structure and river current; the north's favorite fish to catch and to eat.
• Northern Pike — Toothy, aggressive, and shallow — the most willing large predator in northern water.
• Muskellunge — Apex freshwater predator; low numbers, enormous size, and a following unlike any other species.
• Rainbow Trout — Cold, oxygenated water from tailwaters to alpine lakes; the trout most anglers meet first.
• Brown Trout — Wary, nocturnal, and predatory; browns grow largest and are caught least often by accident.
• Brook Trout — Native to eastern headwaters; a fish of small cold water, tight casts, and short hikes.
• Lake Trout — Big, slow-growing char of deep cold lakes; accessible shallow at ice-out and on the ice.
• Channel Catfish — River and reservoir bottom feeder; strong, plentiful, and the best bank-fishing target there is.
• Crappie — Schooling panfish of brush and standing timber; spring shallows, summer depth, superb on the table.
• Bluegill — Everywhere, willing, and delicious; the best first fish and a legitimate light-tackle target.
• Yellow Perch — Tight-schooling perch of sand and weed edges; a mainstay of Great Lakes and hardwater fishing.
• Blue Catfish — Big-river bruiser that eats fresh cut bait on current seams; the realistic path to a 50 lb freshwater fish.
• Flathead Catfish — Logjam ambush predator that eats live bluegill after dark; heavy tackle, short casts, and total patience.
• White Bass — Spring river run and summer surface boils; nonstop action on light tackle and genuinely good fried.
• Cutthroat Trout — Native western trout of high creeks and cold lakes; the most dry-fly-willing trout in North America.
• Chain Pickerel — Toothy weed-edge ambusher of eastern ponds; the most reliable winter bite on the East Coast.
• Common Carp — Wary flats feeder that pulls like a bonefish; the best big-fish practice water in every American city.
• Striped Bass — Migratory predator of surf, rips, and rivers; the most followed fish on the East Coast.
• Pacific Salmon — Chinook, coho, sockeye, pink, and chum — ocean-run fish that return to the river they were born in.
• Red Drum — Copper-backed marsh and flats fish with a black tail spot; sight-fishable in inches of water.
• Spotted Seatrout — Speckled predator of seagrass and sand potholes; the Gulf Coast's most-fished inshore species.
• Flounder — Bottom-dwelling ambush flatfish of inlets and channel edges; the best inshore fish on a plate.
• Bluefish — Toothy, ravenous schooling fish of the Atlantic coast; the definition of a blitz.
• Tarpon — The silver king; migrating giants in Gulf passes and Keys channels, all catch-and-release.
• Common Snook — Mangrove and dock-light ambusher; a slot-managed fish and one of the best eating in the Gulf.
• Mahi-mahi — Weed-line and debris fish of blue water; brilliant color, aerial fight, and unbeatable on the table.
• Pacific Halibut — Deep-water flatfish of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest; heavy tackle, big bait, and an enormous meat return.
• King Mackerel — Fast pelagic of nearshore wrecks and reefs; slow-trolled live bait on wire, and a first run like nothing else inshore.
• Sheepshead — Barnacle-eating piling fish with human teeth; a winter specialty and a superb white fillet.