Minnesota Fish Species

Walleye

Sander vitreus

Walleye prefer clean, cool lakes with gravel or sand bottoms. They relate to structure like points, reefs, and drop-offs during the day, moving shallow to feed at night. Wind-blown shorelines and current areas concentrate feeding fish.

Northern Pike

Esox lucius

Pike favor shallow, weedy bays and shoreline areas with abundant vegetation. Cabbage weeds, lily pads, and reed beds are prime pike habitat. Larger fish often patrol deeper weed edges and points.

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

Largemouth bass prefer warm, shallow lakes with heavy vegetation, fallen timber, and docks. They relate closely to cover — lily pads, submerged wood, and weed beds are key areas. They're less common in deep, cold lakes.

Smallmouth Bass

Micropterus dolomieu

Smallmouth thrive in clear, cool lakes with rocky shorelines and gravel bottoms. They prefer rock piles, boulders, points, and crayfish-rich areas. Unlike largemouth, they avoid heavy vegetation and prefer harder substrates.

Muskellunge

Esox masquinongy

Muskies inhabit large, clear lakes with abundant forage and structure. They patrol weed edges, rock bars, points, and open water. They need large home ranges and are typically found in lakes over 500 acres with diverse habitat.

Lake Trout

Salvelinus namaycush

Lake trout need deep, cold lakes with water temperatures below 50°F. They're found in the deep basins of northeastern Minnesota lakes, often at depths of 40–100+ feet during summer. They move shallow briefly during fall spawning.

Channel Catfish

Ictalurus punctatus

Channel catfish inhabit rivers, reservoirs, and larger lakes with moderate current or wave action. They prefer sand and gravel bottoms near deeper holes, channel edges, and riprap. They're most active at night and in turbid water.

White Bass

Morone chrysops

White bass prefer large lakes and rivers with open water. They school heavily and follow baitfish through open basins. In spring, they make spawning runs up tributaries where anglers can target them in concentrated numbers.

Sauger

Sander canadensis

Sauger prefer turbid, flowing water — they're primarily a river species in Minnesota. They favor deep pools, wing dams, and tailwater areas below dams. They tolerate murkier water than walleye and are more current-oriented.

Burbot

Lota lota

Burbot inhabit deep, cold lakes and rivers in northern Minnesota. They're strictly bottom-dwellers, preferring rocky and rubble substrates in deep water. They move shallow during their unusual midwinter spawning period.

Black Crappie

Pomoxis nigromaculatus

Crappie favor clear to moderately stained lakes with abundant submerged vegetation and woody cover. They suspend over deep basins in summer and move to brush piles, fallen trees, and weed edges to feed. They spawn in shallow, sandy bays.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

Bluegill thrive in warm, shallow lakes with weeds, docks, and woody cover. They spawn on sandy flats in colonies visible from shore. In summer, larger bluegills move to deeper weed edges while small ones stay shallow.

Pumpkinseed

Lepomis gibbosus

Pumpkinseeds prefer clear, weedy lakes with soft bottoms. They stay closer to dense vegetation than bluegill and are often found in lily pad fields and shallow weed beds. They favor slightly cooler water than bluegill.

Yellow Perch

Perca flavescens

Perch inhabit a wide range of lake types, from small ponds to large wind-swept lakes. They prefer moderate vegetation and relate to sand-gravel transitions, weed edges, and mud flats where they forage for invertebrates.

Rock Bass

Ambloplites rupestris

As their name suggests, rock bass favor rocky shorelines, boulder fields, and gravel substrates. They're common in the same clear, cool lakes that hold smallmouth bass. They relate to rock piles and submerged timber.

Green Sunfish

Lepomis cyanellus

Green sunfish tolerate poor water conditions better than most panfish. They thrive in farm ponds, ditches, creek pools, and weedy lake margins. They're often the dominant sunfish in disturbed or degraded habitats.

Hybrid Sunfish

Lepomis spp. (hybrid)

Hybrid sunfish occupy the same habitats as their parent species: warm, weedy lakes and ponds with ample cover. They're found in both natural lakes where parent species overlap and in managed waters where they've been stocked.

Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Carp thrive in warm, shallow lakes and slow-moving rivers with soft, silty bottoms. They root through bottom sediments to feed, which stirs up mud and can reduce water clarity. They tolerate low oxygen and warm temperatures.

White Sucker

Catostomus commersonii

White suckers are highly adaptable, living in lakes, rivers, and streams of all sizes. They feed on the bottom, using their downward-facing mouth to vacuum up invertebrates, algae, and organic matter from substrate.

Freshwater Drum

Aplodinotus grunniens

Drum prefer large, warm lakes and rivers with sand or gravel bottoms. They're bottom feeders that cruise flats and channels, using their specialized pharyngeal teeth to crush mussels, crayfish, and snails.

Tullibee (Cisco)

Coregonus artedi

Tullibee require deep, cold, well-oxygenated lakes. They're pelagic fish that suspend in open water, following zooplankton clouds through the water column. They move deep in summer and spawn on shallow gravel in late fall.

Brown Bullhead

Ameiurus nebulosus

Brown bullheads prefer warm, slow-moving water with soft, muddy bottoms and dense vegetation. They tolerate low oxygen levels and turbid conditions that would stress most other species.

Yellow Bullhead

Ameiurus natalis

Yellow bullheads prefer cleaner water than brown bullheads, often found in lakes and streams with moderate vegetation and sand-to-gravel bottoms. They're still bottom feeders but are less tolerant of heavily degraded conditions.

Black Bullhead

Ameiurus melas

Black bullheads are the most tolerant of poor conditions among the bullheads. They thrive in shallow, warm, turbid lakes and ponds, including those prone to winterkill. They can survive extremely low oxygen levels.

Shorthead Redhorse

Moxostoma macrolepidotum

Shorthead redhorse prefer clean, flowing water with gravel and cobble substrates. They're found in rivers, streams, and the inlet/outlet areas of lakes. They require good water quality and are indicators of healthy stream systems.

Silver Redhorse

Moxostoma anisurum

Silver redhorse prefer clean, moderate-to-large rivers with gravel and rocky substrates. They're bottom feeders that require good water quality and are less common than shorthead redhorse.

Greater Redhorse

Moxostoma valenciennesi

Greater redhorse require clean, large rivers with sand and gravel bottoms. They're bottom feeders that are sensitive to siltation and pollution, making them one of the first species to disappear from degraded rivers.

Golden Shiner

Notemigonus crysoleucas

Golden shiners inhabit warm, weedy lakes and sluggish streams. They school near the surface in vegetated areas and are an important forage species for gamefish in many Minnesota waters.

Emerald Shiner

Notropis atherinoides

Emerald shiners school in open water of large lakes and rivers. They're pelagic, swimming in the upper water column where they feed on zooplankton. Large schools are often visible from the surface.

Spottail Shiner

Notropis hudsonius

Spottail shiners prefer clear lakes and rivers with sandy substrates. They're often found along sandy beaches and shorelines, making them one of the more visible minnow species from shore.

Orangespotted Sunfish

Lepomis humilis

Orangespotted sunfish tolerate turbid, low-gradient waters that are too warm or silty for most other sunfish. They're found in prairie streams, backwater sloughs, and shallow lakes in the western part of the state.

Bluntnose Minnow

Pimephales notatus

Bluntnose minnows inhabit slow-moving streams, lake margins, and backwater areas. They prefer sandy or silty substrates and are found in a wide variety of water conditions.

Spotfin Shiner

Cyprinella spiloptera

Spotfin shiners prefer flowing water in rivers and larger streams. They school in pools and runs with moderate current, often near bridge pilings, fallen logs, and other current breaks.