MN Fish

1. MN Fish

2. Brook Trout

3. Brook Trout • Long Body • Mouth that extends past the eyes • Color variations: olive, blue-gray, or black above with silvery white belly • They have red spots with bluish halo’s on their sides • During breeding time in the fall the male will become very bright orange along the sides • Require cool, clear, spring fed streams and pools

4. Lake Trout

5. Lake Trout • 2 dorsal fins with one adipose fin • Light spots on darker grey background, lower fins edge with white • Tail forked • 11 Rays in anal fin • Also called the “Salmon Trout” • Prefers water at 45-55 degrees, usually found in shallow water

6. Lake Sturgeon

7. Lake Sturgeon • Once nearly extinct in MN • Has 5 rows of large, prominent body plates on its body • Flattened snout with large, fleshy barbels and a protactile mouth uder the head • Minnesota’s largest fish – can reach a total length of 2 meters • Can weight up to 99 pounds • Prefer moderately clear, large rivers and lakes

8. Walleye

9. Walleye • Most sought after fish in MN • Each year nearly 3.5 million Walleye are caught in MN • Named for its pearlescent eye, which helps it see and feed at night or in murky water

10. Northern Pike

11. Northern Pike • On of the easiest fish to catch • Lives in nearly all MN Lakes and Streams • Light markings on a dark body

12. Bluegill

13. Bluegill • Small mouth with long pointed pectoral fin. • 5-9 dark bars on their side with an overall green body • The ear flap (opercle) is always black without a red tip • Often have a block blotch near the back of the soft doral and anal fins • White belly in young, yellow in females, orange to rusty red in males

14. Pumpkin Seed

15. Pumpkin Seed • Very colorful, deep-bodied, slab-sided fish with small mouth • Orange to yello belly and many small brown to orange spots on their sides • Many spots on their dorsal fin • Prefer clear, non-flowing water

16. Rock Bass

17. Rock Bass • Red eyes with brassy flanks and black spots • Prefers boulder and sand bottom lakes

18. Largemouth bass

19. Largemouth bass • Mouth extends back behind the eye

20. Smallmouth Bass

21. Smallmouth Bass • Sometimes called the “bronzeback” for its brassy brown hue • Strongest fish for its weight • Abundant in warm southeast Minnesota Rivers, central Minnesota lakes and northern waters • Mouth only extends to the middle of the eye

22. Muskie

23. Muskie • One of the largest and most elusive fish in MN waters • Also called the muskellunge • Will eat fish, duscklings and sometimes muskrats. • Light colored with dark bars running up and down its long body • Silver, light green or light brown • To tell the difference between a musckie and northern: • Count the pores on the underside of the jaw. A muskie has six or more, a northern has five or fewer.

24. Flathead Catfish

25. Flathead Catfish • Also known as the mudcat • Large fish with a scaleless body and barbels that look like a cat’s whiskers • Most commonly found in big rivers away from the main current • Flat, broad head, no scales, four pairs of barbels. • Lower jaw sticks out farther than its top jaw, distingishing it from other catfish. • Fins have sharp spines • Largest in MN was 70 pounds, caught in the St. Croix River • Blotchy yellow and brown, turn grey as they get older