Different types of bass, salmon, trout, perch, sunfish, and paddle fish

1. Sport Fish Of
Oklahoma

2. Sunfish Family (Centrarchidae)
 Contains Three Black Bass Species
 Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted
 Three Sunfish
 Bluegill, Redear, and Green Sunfish
 Two Crappie Species
 Black and White Crappie

3.  Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmonoides)
 Most sought after game fish in N.A.
 Description
 Mouth Hinges Behind the Eye
 State Record 14 lbs. 12.3 ozs.
 Habitat
 Found near cover at different depths dependent on time of year
 Food Source
 Crustaceans, insects, crayfish, frogs and fish
 Spawning
 Start when water temp. is about 65oF
 Male builds nest
 Female deposits eggs between 2,000 and 7,000 per pound
 the male drives the female and any other intruders from the nest until the eggs
hatch and the fry leave. Fry swim in schools until reaching a length of
approximately 1 inch.

4.  Small Mouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
 Description
 Mouth hinges in front of eye
 State record 8 lbs. 7 ozs.
 Habitat
 Clean clear water with rocky substrate, weedy areas along shoreline, etc.
 Food Source
 Crayfish, aquatic and terrestrial insects, worms, small fish, etc.
 Spawning
 Water temp between 60 to 75O F
 Males build nests along gravel bars
 Males drive multiple females onto nests
 Females lay between 2,000 to 7,000 per pound
 Little to no parental care after hatching

5.  Spotted Bass (Micropterus punctulatus)
 Description
 Mouth hinges with back edge of eye
 Rough tongue patch
 State record 8 lbs. 3 ozs.
 Habitat
 Flowing streams,
 Deep water in lakes with rock substrate and along bluffs
 Food Source
 Crayfish and immature insects, some small fish
 Spawning
 Water temp from 63 to 68oF
 Males build nest on gravel or rock bottom
 Same as Largemouth

6.  Bluegill (Lepomis machrochirus)
 Important forage species
 Description
 small mouth, black opercular (ear) flap, and a black spot at the rear base of the dorsal
fin
 State record 2 lbs. 6 ozs.
 Habitat
 Shallow weedy areas morning and evening: deeper during day
 Food Source
 Insects, crustaceans, snails, sometimes aquatic plants
 Spawning
 Very prolific
 After water temp. 75oF
 Colony nesters
 Males excavate nest in sand or gravel 1 to 3 feet deep
 Females lay eggs (average 40,000 per season)
 Males drive away females and guard nest until a few days after hatch

7.  Redear Sunfish (Lepomis michrolophis)
 Description
 Bright red spot on opercula flap
 State record 2 lbs. 1 oz.
 Habitat
 Usually clear vegetated water
 Food Source
 Insects, crustaceans, snails
 Spawning
 Similar to bluegill
 Water temp around 66 to 70oF
 Not as prolific

8.  Green sunfish (Lepomis Cyanellus)
 Description
 Elongated body Large mouth
 State record 2 lbs. 7 ozs.
 Habitat
 Rocky areas with lots of cover
 Well adapted to fluctuating conditions
 Food Source
 Insects, crustaceans, snails
 Spawning
 Same as other sunfish

9.  White Crappie (Poxomis annularis)
 Description
 Distinct vertical bands 5 to 6 bony spines along dorsal fin
 State record 4 lbs. 15 ozs.
 Habitat
 Standing timber and brush
 Shallow in spring deep in winter
 Food Source
 Minnows, shad, crayfish, mollusks, and insects
 Spawning
 Very prolific
 Similar to other sunfish (deeper water)
 Water temp around 65o
 Females lay 3,000 to 15,000 eggs

10.  Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
 Description
 No vertical bars 7 to 8 bony spines on dorsal fin
 State record 4 lbs. 10 ozs.
 Habitat food source and spawning same as white

11. Catfish Family (Ictaluridae)
 Blue, Channel, and Flathead Catfish
 Spawning
 Cavity nesters (under rocks logs holes in bank etc.
 Water temp. around 75o
 Males fan out nest
 Females lay about 10,000 eggs
 Males guard nest and fry
 Food Source
 Blues and channels are omnivorous ( feed on anything
 Flatheads primarily on live fish and crayfish

12.  Blue Catfish (Ictalus furcatus)
 Description
 Straight anal fin and forked Tail
 State record 118 lbs 8oz
 Habitat
 Found in large rivers and major reservoirs, blue catfish generally
prefer areas with sand, gravel or rock bottoms
 Found state wide

13.  Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctuatus)
 Description
 Rounded anal fin forked tail
 State record 35 lbs 15 ozs
 Habitat
 Found in deep holes and all depths
 Found state wide

14.  Flathead catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)
 Description
 Obvious flat head and an unforked tail
 State Record 106 lbs
 Habitat
 Flatheads are found near cover in deep holes

15. Temperate Bass
Family
Percichthyidae

16.  White Bass (Morone chrysops)
 State fish
 Description
 Arched back and unbroken vertical lines
 State record 5 lbs 4 ozs.
 Habitat
 Adults prefer open water over sandy shoals during the day and shallows at
night.
 Food Source
 Shad, minnows crustaceans, and insects
 Spawning
 Prefer upstream migration (release eggs into current)
 Water temp 50 to 55oF
 At random over weeds and rocks so eggs don’t settle in mud
 No Parental Care

17.  Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis)  Stripers were originally a marine
 Description or estuarine species. An
 Back not arched strong unbroken anadromous spawner (ascends
lines
 State Record 47 lbs 8 ozs. freshwater streams to spawn),
 Habitat striped bass became landlocked
 Cruise in large schools in open in an artificial impoundment near
water the Atlantic coast. They adapted
 Food Source so well to that environment that
 Insects, shad and minnows many states, including
 Spawning Oklahoma, began transplanting
 Water temp ranges from 55 to 70oF
 Females may have up to 5 million
stripers. Striped bass can reach
eggs weights of 40 pounds or more.
 Eggs are semi-bouyant
 Require moving unobstructed river
for eggs remain viable
 Males and females release eggs at
same time in current

18.  Striped Bass Hybrid(Morone
 The first Oklahoma stocking
chryops x Morone Saxatilis) of striped bass hybrids was in
 Description Sooner Lake in 1977.
 Back slightly arched and has broken Subsequent stockings have
lines also shape of tongue patch been made in lakes
 23 lbs 4 ozs. statewide including Konawa,
 Habitat Optima, Ft. Supply, Tom
 Prefer similar areas as Striped and Steed, Altus-Lugert,
White Bass
Overholser, Grand, Heyburn,
 Spawning
 Cross between male white bass and
Atoka, Ft. Cobb, Salt Plains,
female Striped bass Waurika and Ellsworth.
 Striped bass female because of egg
capacity

19. Perch Family
(Percidae)

20.  Walleye (Stizostedion vitreum)  Distribution originated from
 Description introductions made during the
No scales on cheek patch no spots on
early 1950s in Canton and

dorsa
 State Record 12 lbs. 13 oz. Tenkiller lakes. Since that time,
 Habitat adult walleye have been
 near the bottom on sand bars or near
ledges and drop-offs
trapped (primarily from Canton
 Food Source
Lake), their eggs taken by
 Insects, larvae, nightcrawlers, crayfish, hand stripping, fertilized and
snails and small fish. hatched in state fish
 Spawning hatcheries. Most major lakes in
 Water temps 45 to 50oF Oklahoma have been
 25,000 to 50,000 eggs per pound of body
weight stocked. Best populations are
 Males and females spawn simultaneously in the western half of the state.
 Eggs fall between rip rap and crevices to
hatch

21.  Sauger(Sander canadensis)
 Description
 Dark spots on dorsal fin, cheek covered in scales, dark blotches on body
 State Record 5 lbs. 5 oz.
 Habitat
 river and stream fish preferring the clear eastern river.
 Food Source
 Adults feed largely on fish, the young mainly taking invertebrates and
small fish.
 Spawning
 Similar to Walleye (done only at night)
 Found in the Poteau, Illinois, Red and Neosho rivers in Oklahoma
and in several lakes and reservoirs around the state.

22.  Saugeye (male sauger x female walleye)
 Description
 State record 10 lbs. 10 oz.
 Habitat
 congregate near the bottom on sand bars or near ledges and drop-offs.
 Food Source
 eat fish, almost exclusively, from the time they are stocked.
 The first saugeye stocking in Oklahoma was in Lake Thunderbird during
May 1985. Since this initial stocking many other state lakes have been
stocked with saugeye, including Burtschi, Carl Blackwell, Ellsworth, Fort
Cobb, Foss, Great Salt Plains, Hall, Holdenville, Lawtonka, Pine Creek,
Shawnee Lakes, Sooner, Tom Steed, Vanderwork, and Waurika.

23. Salmon Family
(Salmonidae)

24.  Rainbow Trout(Oncorhynchus myKiss)
 State Record 10 lbs. 4 oz.
 Habitat
 In streams around riffles eddies, exposed obsructions
 Food Source
 Aquatic insects
 Spawning
 Water temp 40 to 45oF on gravel bottoms
 Swim up stream to traditional spawning grounds
 Incubation takes 50 days at 50oF
 Has been some recent documentation of Natural Reproduction
 Although originally a cold-water fish from the pacific drainage of
the Rocky Mountains, rainbow trout do well in Oklahoma where
water temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen are within their
tolerance levels.

25.  Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)
 State Record 17 lbs. 4.6 ozs.
 Habitat
 In shade of bank or overhanging vegetation during day
 Food Source
 Aquatic insects, mollusks, and small fish
 Spawning
 Water temp. 44 to 48oF in the fall
 Run up tributaries to spawn
 Incubation takes 48 to 52 days at 51oF
 Originally from Europe in the Danube River. Introduced in the US
in 1865

26.  Paddle fish (Polyodon spathula)
 State record 125 lbs. 7 ozs.
 They can live up to 30-35 years ranging throughout the U.S. In
Oklahoma, they are found mainly in the Grand, Neosho and Arkansas
River systems
 Food Source
 One of Oklahoma’s largest fish, the paddlefish feeds on tiny zooplankton
(microscopic insects) and, like a shark, it has a completely cartilaginous
skeletal system.
 The rostrum is used as a electro sensory organ to detect zooplankton
 Spawning
 Male paddlefish are old enough to spawn when they are four to nine
years. Females spawn when they are 6-12 years old. Spawning season is
from March through June, when spring rains raise the water levels of rivers
and water temperatures reach 50-60 degrees. Males and females gather
in schools and release their eggs over gravel or sandbars. This is called
"broadcast spawning."

27.  Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula)
 Description –
 A potentially very large gar (world record over 300 pounds, not from Oklahoma)
but has short, broad snout with two rows of teeth on the upper jaw. Small
alligator gar may be distinguished from other gar by the blackish band along
the midside and a narrow, white stripe along midline of back.
 State record 192 lbs. 1oz
 Habitat
 warm water and large sluggish rivers such as the Red River that flows into Lake
Texoma.
 Food Sources
 primarily on fish but is known to eat ducks and other water birds
 Spawning
 Although complete life history information is lacking, it is believed that alligator
gar spawn in early May in Oklahoma, probably in a manner similar to other gar.