Indiana Lake Depths

Catfish family

Bullheads (yellow, brown and black)

Ameiurus natalis (yellow) · A. nebulosus (brown) · A. melas (black) · also called mudcat

Native to IndianaRecorded in 94 Indiana lakes
Illustration of a bullheads in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical size
Yellow bullhead 6–15 in, about 0.5–1.5 lb
Nests
In cavities or saucer-shaped hollows near cover; parents guard
Eats
Fish, crayfish, insects; they also scavenge
Handle with care
A sharp spine at the front of the dorsal and pectoral fins
Indiana record
4 lb 14.4 oz — Potato Creek State Park, St. Joseph County, 1994

Where bullheads have been recorded

94 of the 111 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list bullheads, across 34 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyCedar Lake, Lake CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKokomo Reservoir, Howard CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedarville Reservoir, Allen CountyJames Lake, Kosciusko CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyPike Lake, Kosciusko CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyPretty Lake, LaGrange CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko CountyWestwood Run Lake, Henry CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Dubois CountyHuntingburg Lake, Dubois CountyLake Celina, Perry CountyBrush Creek Reservoir, Jennings CountyWall Lake, LaGrange CountyLittle Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyRound Lake, Whitley CountyBear Lake, Noble CountyIndian Lake, Perry CountyBixler Lake, Noble CountyCedar Lake, LaGrange CountyStarve Hallow Lake, Jackson CountyYellowwood Lake, Brown CountyGriffy Lake, Monroe CountyNyona Lake, Fulton CountyDiamond Lake, Noble CountyBarton Lake, Steuben CountyCass Lake, LaGrange CountyOlin Lake, LaGrange CountyFish Lake, LaGrange CountyHunter Lake, Elkhart CountyTroy-Cedar Lake, Whitley CountyPretty Lake, Marshall CountyMyers Lake, Marshall CountyWestler Lake, LaGrange CountyPrides Creek Lake, Pike CountyAppleman Lake, LaGrange CountyLawrence Lake, Marshall CountyRockville Lake, Parke CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyRoyer Lake, LaGrange CountyStory Lake, DeKalb CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountySand Lake, Noble CountyShakamak Lake, Sullivan CountyHackleburg Lake, LaGrange CountyLincoln Lake, Spencer CountyGreen Valley Lake, Vigo CountyWilliams Lake, Noble CountyLoomis Lake, Porter CountyBell Lake, Steuben CountyLukens Lake, Wabash CountyElk Creek Lake, Washington CountyShock Lake, Kosciusko CountyEmma Lake, LaGrange CountySaddle Lake, Perry CountySpear Lake, Kosciusko CountyFerdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois CountyCypress Lake, Jackson CountyHog Lake, LaPorte CountyMollenkramer, Ripley CountyMcClish Lake, Steuben CountyRosser Park Pond, Lake CountySacarider Lake, Noble CountyPinhook Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedar Lake, DeKalb CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble CountyBaugher Lake, Noble CountyGordy Lake, Noble CountyDixon Lake, Marshall CountySpurgeon Hollow Lake, Washington CountyW Keith Ruble Lake, Vigo CountyMartin Lake, LaGrange CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyMartindale, Wayne CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 94lakes where a DNR fisheries survey caught them

A lake can appear in more than one line. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: records exist only where someone caught, netted or stocked them.

Inland lakes on this list run from 12 to 3,508 acres (median 91) and from 6 to 90 ft deep (median 33.5 ft).

How many turn up in DNR surveys

Indiana DNR crews survey lakes the same way everywhere: timed night electrofishing along the shore, plus gill and trap nets set overnight. The standard method makes lakes comparable. These are the DNR’s own sampling rates from its community surveys, 2008–2025 — a measure of how many fish a lake holds, not how many an angler will catch.

Found in
87 of 100 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
1.1 per net lift where found
Highest
4.8 per net lift
Method
fish per net lift (gill and trap nets)

“Typical” is the median across the lakes where the survey caught at least one. Nets and electrofishing catch different fish: by the other method it turned up in 79 lakes at a typical 4.0 per hour of electrofishing. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Worster Lake, St. Joseph 2016–2024 4.8
  2. Spear Lake, Kosciusko 2018 4.0
  3. Pretty Lake, LaGrange 2018 3.8
  4. Story Lake, DeKalb 2019 3.8
  5. Little Chapman Lake, Kosciusko 2018 3.5
  6. Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko 2008–2022 3.4
  7. Eve Lake, LaGrange 2016 3.2
  8. Little Long Lake, Noble 2017 3.2
  9. Barton Lake, Steuben 2018 3.0
  10. Blue Lake, Whitley 2013 3.0

Fish per net lift (gill and trap nets), with survey years. Survey effort and season differ between lakes.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

No scales, whiskers (barbels) around the mouth, an adipose fin, and a square or rounded tail. The chin barbels tell them apart: white or yellow on the yellow bullhead, dark on the brown and black. Many survey records say just “bullhead”, so this page covers all three.

Telling the three apart

Yellow bullhead — White or yellow chin barbels, a rounded tail and a long anal fin.
Brown bullhead — Dark chin barbels, mottled sides, and deeply toothed rear edges on the pectoral spines.
Black bullhead — Dark chin barbels, a pale bar where the tail joins the body, and smooth rear edges on the pectoral spines.

Don’t confuse it with

Channel catfish — A deeply forked tail.

Up close

Illustration of a black bullhead's head from below, showing dark chin barbels and pectoral spines without large teeth on their back edge.
Black bullhead: dark chin barbels; the back edge of each pectoral spine has no large teeth.
Illustration of a brown bullhead's head from below, showing dark chin barbels, mottled brown edges and strong saw-like teeth on the back edge of each pectoral spine.
Brown bullhead: dark chin barbels; strong saw-like teeth on the back edge of each pectoral spine.
Illustration of a yellow bullhead's head from below, showing pale yellowish-white chin barbels and moderate teeth on the back edge of each pectoral spine.
Yellow bullhead: pale yellowish-white chin barbels; moderate teeth on the back edge of each pectoral spine.

AI-generated close-ups, not photographs, drawn from the cited descriptions. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification (provenance).

Life in an Indiana lake

Yellow bullhead favor small streams and shallow ponds and lakes with clear water and thick plants; brown bullhead prefer deeper, clear water with some vegetation.

Bullheads nest in natural hollows or in shallow depressions beside roots or sunken logs, and at least one parent stays to fan and guard the eggs. After hatching, the young swim in a tight ball, guarded by the male for several weeks.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Check the rules before you keep fish. Each lake page shows the regulations that apply there, and the Indiana Fishing Guide is the official source. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Indiana Fish Consumption Advisory.

All 94 lakes with bullheads

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 1

Cedarville Reservoir

Brown County 2

Crooked Creek Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Clark County 1

Deam Lake

DeKalb County 2

Cedar Lake, Story Lake

Dubois County 3

Beaver Dam Lake, Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Huntingburg Lake

Elkhart County 1

Hunter Lake

Fulton County 2

Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake

Henry County 1

Westwood Run Lake

Howard County 1

Kokomo Reservoir

Jackson County 2

Cypress Lake, Starve Hallow Lake

Jennings County 1

Brush Creek Reservoir

Kosciusko County 9

Big Chapman Lake, Dewart Lake, Hoffman Lake, James Lake, Lake Wawasee, Little Chapman Lake, Pike Lake, Shock Lake, Spear Lake

LaGrange County 16

Appleman Lake, Cass Lake, Cedar Lake, Emma Lake, Eve Lake, Fish Lake, Hackleburg Lake, Martin Lake, Messick Lake, Olin Lake, Oliver Lake, Pretty Lake, Royer Lake, Wall Lake, Westler Lake, Witmer Lake

LaPorte County 3

Hog Lake, Saugany Lake, Stone Lake

Lake County 2

Cedar Lake, Rosser Park Pond

Marshall County 5

Dixon Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, Lawrence Lake, Myers Lake, Pretty Lake

Monroe County 1

Griffy Lake

Newton County 1

J C Murphey Lake

Noble County 11

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Bixler Lake, Diamond Lake, Gordy Lake, Little Long Lake, Lower Long Lake, Rivir Lake, Sacarider Lake, Sand Lake, Williams Lake

Parke County 1

Rockville Lake

Perry County 3

Indian Lake, Lake Celina, Saddle Lake

Pike County 1

Prides Creek Lake

Porter County 1

Loomis Lake

Ripley County 1

Mollenkramer

Spencer County 1

Lincoln Lake

St. Joseph County 4

Pinhook Lake, Riddles Lake, Rupel Lake, Worster Lake

Steuben County 4

Barton Lake, Bell Lake, Crooked Lake, McClish Lake

Sullivan County 2

Kickapoo Lake, Shakamak Lake

Vigo County 3

Funk Lake, Green Valley Lake, W Keith Ruble Lake

Wabash County 1

Lukens Lake

Warrick County 1

Scales Lake

Washington County 2

Elk Creek Lake, Spurgeon Hollow Lake

Wayne County 1

Martindale

Whitley County 3

Blue Lake, Round Lake, Troy-Cedar Lake

Sources

← All fish of Indiana