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 158 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

158 of the 186 Indiana lakes on this site with fish records list bullheads, across 41 counties. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Wawasee, Kosciusko CountyLake Maxinkuckee, Marshall CountyLake Freeman, Carroll CountyBass Lake, Starke CountyJ C Murphey Lake, Newton CountyTippecanoe Lake, Kosciusko CountyHamilton Lake, Steuben CountyLake Manitou, Fulton CountyCrooked Lake, Steuben CountyCedar Lake, Lake CountyHardy Lake, Scott CountySylvan Lake, Noble CountyWinona Lake, Kosciusko CountyDewart Lake, Kosciusko CountyBig Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKokomo Reservoir, Howard CountyLake of the Woods, Marshall CountyOliver Lake, LaGrange CountyGlenn Flint Lake, Putnam CountyWorster Lake, St. Joseph CountyKoontz Lake, Starke CountyLake Gage, Steuben CountyCedarville Reservoir, Allen CountyAdams Lake, LaGrange CountyJAMES LAKE, Kosciusko CountyHurshtown Reservoir, Allen CountyKickapoo Lake, Sullivan CountyPike Lake, Kosciusko CountyBlue Lake, Whitley CountyWitmer Lake, LaGrange CountyBig Lake, Noble CountyShipshewana Lake, LaGrange CountySilver Lake, Steuben CountyStone Lake, LaPorte CountyWabee Lake, Kosciusko CountyBischoff Reservoir, Ripley CountyDeam Lake, Clark CountyPretty Lake, LaGrange CountyIrish Lake, Kosciusko CountyHoffman Lake, Kosciusko CountyWestwood Run Lake, Henry CountyAtwood Lake, LaGrange CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Dubois CountyHuntingburg Lake, Dubois CountyLake Celina, Perry CountyBeaver Dam Lake, Kosciusko CountyBrush Creek Reservoir, Jennings CountyFox Lake, Steuben CountyWall Lake, LaGrange CountyLittle Chapman Lake, Kosciusko CountyKuhn Lake, Kosciusko CountyRound Lake, Whitley CountyLittle Turkey Lake, LaGrange CountyBear Lake, Noble CountyIndian Lake, Perry CountySkinner Lake, Noble CountyBixler Lake, Noble CountyCedar Lake, LaGrange CountyStarve Hallow Lake, Jackson CountyYellowwood Lake, Brown CountyIndiana Lake, Elkhart CountyCenter Lake, Kosciusko CountyGriffy Lake, Monroe CountyStone Lake, LaGrange CountyNyona Lake, Fulton CountyDiamond Lake, Noble CountyBarton Lake, Steuben CountyCass Lake, LaGrange CountyFlint Lake, Porter CountySechrist Lake, Kosciusko CountyOlin Lake, LaGrange CountySouth Mud Lake, Fulton CountyFish Lake, LaGrange CountyRound Lake, Noble CountyHunter Lake, Elkhart CountyTROY-CEDAR LAKE, Whitley CountyPretty Lake, Marshall CountyMyers Lake, Marshall CountyWestler Lake, LaGrange CountyPrides Creek Lake, Pike CountyBall Lake, Steuben CountyUpper Long Lake, Noble CountyAppleman Lake, LaGrange CountyLawrence Lake, Marshall CountyRockville Lake, Parke CountyDiamond Lake, Kosciusko CountyCree Lake, Noble CountyRiddles Lake, St. Joseph CountyEagle Lake, Noble CountySaugany Lake, LaPorte CountyLittle Long Lake, Noble CountyRoyer Lake, LaGrange CountyStory Lake, DeKalb CountyBig Otter Lake, Steuben CountyHill Lake, Kosciusko CountyMessick Lake, LaGrange CountyLower Long Lake, Noble CountyScales Lake, Warrick CountyIndian Lake, DeKalb CountySand Lake, Noble CountyShakamak Lake, Sullivan CountyHackleburg Lake, LaGrange CountyLincoln Lake, Spencer CountyPisgah Lake, Johnson CountyGreen Valley Lake, Vigo CountyWilliams Lake, Noble CountyLoomis Lake, Porter CountyBell Lake, Steuben CountyLittle Cedar Lake, Whitley CountyLukens Lake, Wabash CountyElk Creek Lake, Washington CountyLake Everett, Allen CountyShock Lake, Kosciusko CountyEmma Lake, LaGrange CountyEngle Lake, Noble CountySaddle Lake, Perry CountySpear Lake, Kosciusko CountyFerdinand State Forest Lake, Dubois CountyCypress Lake, Jackson CountyHog Lake, LaPorte CountyFish Lake, Elkhart CountyMollenkramer, Ripley CountyGilbert Lake, Marshall CountyMcClish Lake, Steuben CountyRosser Park Pond, Lake CountyRound Lake, Steuben CountyOld Lake, Whitley CountySacarider Lake, Noble CountyMcClures Lake, Kosciusko CountyPinhook Lake, St. Joseph CountyCedar Lake, DeKalb CountyEve Lake, LaGrange CountyBrokesha Lake, LaGrange CountyRivir Lake, Noble CountyBaugher Lake, Noble CountyGordy Lake, Noble CountyDixon Lake, Marshall CountySellers Lake, Kosciusko CountyCrane Lake, Noble CountySpurgeon Hollow Lake, Washington CountyW Keith Ruble Lake, Vigo CountyMartin Lake, LaGrange CountyGreen Lake, Steuben CountyClear Lake, Porter CountyRupel Lake, St. Joseph CountyHenry Lake, Steuben CountyWahkShinGah Lake, Huntington CountyStone Arch Lake, Johnson CountyPleasant Lake, Noble CountyLake Arrowhead, Steuben CountyMartindale, Wayne CountyLindsey Lake, Noble CountyFunk Lake, Vigo CountyCrooked Creek Lake, Brown CountySmalley's Pond, Fayette CountyMoss Lake, Noble CountyThomas Lake, Marshall CountySummit Lake, Noble County

Recorded here Other lakes with fish records

How we know

  • 158lakes 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 6 to 3,508 acres (median 91) and from 6 to 125 ft deep (median 34 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
147 of 170 lakes surveyed this way
Typical rate
1.2 per net lift where found
Highest
53.2 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 129 lakes at a typical 6.0 per hour of electrofishing. A single survey is a snapshot of one season.

Highest survey rates on this site

  1. Glenn Flint Lake, Putnam 2018 53.2
  2. Atwood Lake, LaGrange 2017–2021 15.0
  3. Hamilton Lake, Steuben 2022 9.6
  4. Clear Lake, Porter 2022 7.2
  5. Silver Lake, Steuben 2014 6.5
  6. Indiana Lake, Elkhart 2014 6.0
  7. Eagle Lake, Noble 2015 5.8
  8. Sellers Lake, Kosciusko 2015 5.0
  9. Lake Arrowhead, Steuben 2014 4.8
  10. Worster Lake, St. Joseph 2016–2024 4.8

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 158 lakes with bullheads

Show every lake, by county

Allen County 3

Cedarville Reservoir, Hurshtown Reservoir, Lake Everett

Brown County 2

Crooked Creek Lake, Yellowwood Lake

Carroll County 1

Lake Freeman

Clark County 1

Deam Lake

DeKalb County 3

Cedar Lake, Indian Lake, Story Lake

Dubois County 3

Beaver Dam Lake, Ferdinand State Forest Lake, Huntingburg Lake

Elkhart County 3

Fish Lake, Hunter Lake, Indiana Lake

Fayette County 1

Smalley's Pond

Fulton County 3

Lake Manitou, Nyona Lake, South Mud Lake

Henry County 1

Westwood Run Lake

Howard County 1

Kokomo Reservoir

Huntington County 1

WahkShinGah Lake

Jackson County 2

Cypress Lake, Starve Hallow Lake

Jennings County 1

Brush Creek Reservoir

Johnson County 2

Pisgah Lake, Stone Arch Lake

Kosciusko County 21

Beaver Dam Lake, Big Chapman Lake, Center Lake, Dewart Lake, Diamond Lake, Hill Lake, Hoffman Lake, Irish Lake, JAMES LAKE, Kuhn Lake, Lake Wawasee, Little Chapman Lake, McClures Lake, Pike Lake, Sechrist Lake, Sellers Lake, Shock Lake, Spear Lake, Tippecanoe Lake, Wabee Lake, Winona Lake

LaGrange County 22

Adams Lake, Appleman Lake, Atwood Lake, Brokesha Lake, Cass Lake, Cedar Lake, Emma Lake, Eve Lake, Fish Lake, Hackleburg Lake, Little Turkey Lake, Martin Lake, Messick Lake, Olin Lake, Oliver Lake, Pretty Lake, Royer Lake, Shipshewana Lake, Stone 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 8

Dixon Lake, Gilbert Lake, Lake Maxinkuckee, Lake of the Woods, Lawrence Lake, Myers Lake, Pretty Lake, Thomas Lake

Monroe County 1

Griffy Lake

Newton County 1

J C Murphey Lake

Noble County 24

Baugher Lake, Bear Lake, Big Lake, Bixler Lake, Crane Lake, Cree Lake, Diamond Lake, Eagle Lake, Engle Lake, Gordy Lake, Lindsey Lake, Little Long Lake, Lower Long Lake, Moss Lake, Pleasant Lake, Rivir Lake, Round Lake, Sacarider Lake, Sand Lake, Skinner Lake, Summit Lake, Sylvan Lake, Upper Long 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 3

Clear Lake, Flint Lake, Loomis Lake

Putnam County 1

Glenn Flint Lake

Ripley County 2

Bischoff Reservoir, Mollenkramer

Scott County 1

Hardy Lake

Spencer County 1

Lincoln Lake

St. Joseph County 4

Pinhook Lake, Riddles Lake, Rupel Lake, Worster Lake

Starke County 2

Bass Lake, Koontz Lake

Steuben County 14

Ball Lake, Barton Lake, Bell Lake, Big Otter Lake, Crooked Lake, Fox Lake, Green Lake, Hamilton Lake, Henry Lake, Lake Arrowhead, Lake Gage, McClish Lake, Round Lake, Silver 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 5

Blue Lake, Little Cedar Lake, Old Lake, Round Lake, TROY-CEDAR LAKE

Sources

← All fish of Indiana