Field guide
Fish of Indiana lakes
The 18 fish recorded in the most Indiana lakes on this site. Each page maps every lake where the fish is recorded, shows DNR survey catch rates, how to tell it from its look-alikes, and how it lives. Lake counts come from the same records as the lake pages.
Largemouth bassMicropterus nigricans180 lakes
BluegillLepomis macrochirus176 lakes
BullheadsAmeiurus natalis (yellow) · A. nebulosus (brown) · A. melas (black)158 lakes
WarmouthLepomis gulosus149 lakes
CrappiePomoxis nigromaculatus (black) · Pomoxis annularis (white)149 lakes
Redear sunfishLepomis microlophus136 lakes
Yellow perchPerca flavescens106 lakes
GarsLepisosteus oculatus (spotted) · L. osseus (longnose) · L. platostomus (shortnose)96 lakes
Channel catfishIctalurus punctatus77 lakes
BowfinAmia ocellicauda69 lakes
PumpkinseedLepomis gibbosus76 lakes
Green sunfishLepomis cyanellus45 lakes
Redfin (grass) pickerelEsox americanus52 lakes
Northern pikeEsox lucius43 lakes
Longear sunfishLepomis megalotis33 lakes
Rock bassAmbloplites rupestris34 lakes
WalleyeSander vitreus35 lakes
Smallmouth bassMicropterus dolomieu22 lakesAbout this guide
Illustrations are AI-generated, not photographs, and not to scale. A lake that isn’t listed for a fish may still have it: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked it. 186 lakes on this site have at least one fish record. Survey catch rates come from Indiana DNR community surveys (night electrofishing and nets) and measure how many fish a lake holds, not how many an angler will catch. Looking for invasive species? See the invasive species guide.