Freshwater fish

• Largemouth bass

  Micropterus salmoides

  Also written: Labrus salmoides · Micropterus nigricans

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “central, southern and northwestern Ontario; distribution expanded due to stocking in non-native waters” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: underside runs from yellowish to white; a stripe along the side that breaks into patches; a deep gap between the two dorsal fins; upper jaw runs past the back of the eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Smallmouth bass

  Micropterus dolomieu

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout except far north and northcentral Ontario; distribution expanded due to stocking in non-native waters” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: back and sides in green to olive tones; dark, interrupted upright bars on the body are common; only a slight dip between the dorsal fins; upper jaw ends before the back of the eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• No illustration yet

  Spotted bass

  Micropterus punctulatus

  Also written: Calliurus punctulatus

  Not on Ontario’s fish list

  Ontario Fish Database

• Walleye

  Sander vitreus

  Also written: Stizostedion vitreum

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: olive-green to brown back, lighter flanks dotted with yellowish flecks; lower lobe of the tail ends in white; the spiny and soft parts of the dorsal fin are split apart; big mouth reaching past the rear edge of the eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Sauger

  Sander canadensis

  Also written: Stizostedion canadense

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “northwestern Ontario, northeastern Ontario, Great Lakes and tributaries, and a few lakes in central Ontario; may be extirpated from Lakes Erie and Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: grey-brown back crossed by three or four darker saddle marks; no white tip on the lower tail lobe, which walleye have; dorsal fin is spotted, which walleye's is not. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Yellow perch

  Perca flavescens

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: pale yellow body; six to eight dark upright bars down the flanks; two dorsal fins that are clearly separate. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Northern pike

  Esox lucius

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province; except Kawartha Lakes and Algonquin Park” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: dark green to brown body speckled with pale, yellowish or white spots; scales cover the whole cheek but only part of the gill cover; ten sensory pores along the underside of the lower jaw; tail tips are blunter than a muskellunge's. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Muskellunge

  Esox masquinongy

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southern, central and northwestern Ontario; Pic River” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: dark upright bands on a pale body; sometimes spotted, sometimes plain; cheek and gill cover are only partly scaled; twelve to eighteen sensory pores along the underside of the lower jaw; tail tips are sharper than a northern pike's. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Chain pickerel

  Esox niger

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario (Bay of Quinte, Newcastle Harbour); first reported from Ontario waters of the upper St. Lawrence River in April 2008” Ontario Fish Database

• Lake trout

  Salvelinus namaycush

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province, except southwest” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: pale wavy worm-like lines and spots over a dark body, with no red among them; lower fins edged white at the front, with no black line beside it; tail with a deep fork. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Brook trout

  Salvelinus fontinalis

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province; introduced in northwestern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: pale wavy worm-like lines and spots over a dark body, some red or blue; lower fins edged white at the front, with a black line next to it; squared-off tail. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Rainbow trout

  Oncorhynchus mykiss

  Also written: Salmo mykiss · Onchorynchus mykiss

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries, widespread stocking in southern and central Ontario (intentionally introduced)” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: silvery body peppered with small dark spots; spots fan out in rows across the tail; mouth lining and gums are usually white; a pinkish stripe along the side is often there. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Brown trout

  Salmo trutta

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries, widespread stocking in southern Ontario; intentionally introduced to Ontario waters in 1913” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: silvery to light-brown flanks with dark spots, often each ringed in a paler halo; white mouth lining and gums; the one salmon or trout with orange on its adipose fin (the small fin between the dorsal fin and the tail). Adapted from ontario.ca

• No illustration yet

  Chinook salmon

  Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries (intentionally introduced), St. Lawrence River” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: spots on the tail; mouth lining and gums are black; first anal-fin ray is about a third as long as the fin. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Coho salmon

  Oncorhynchus kisutch

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries (intentionally introduced)” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: spots only on the upper lobe of the tail; dark mouth with pale grey gums; first anal-fin ray is half to two-thirds as long as the fin. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Atlantic salmon

  Salmo salar

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, St. Marys River, Trout Lake (near North Bay); stocked in Lake Ontario tributaries including Credit River, Duffins Creek, and Cobourg Brook; indigenous to Lake Ontario, extirpated in 1898, re-introduction ongoing” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: white mouth lining and gums; a handful of big black spots on the gill cover; tail is unspotted. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Pink salmon

  Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries (introduced); originate from an unintentional release of hatchery stock into a Lake Superior tributary in 1956” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: big black spots on the back and tail, none on the dorsal fin; tail is forked; first anal-fin ray is a third to a half as long as the fin. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Arctic grayling

  Thymallus arcticus

  Not on Ontario’s fish list

  Ontario Fish Database

• White bass

  Morone chrysops

  Also written: Perca chrysops

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “St. Marys River, Lake Nipissing, Lake Huron and tributaries, Lake St. Clair and tributaries, Lake Erie and tributaries, Lake Ontario and tributaries, St. Lawrence River and tributaries” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: dark spots lined up lengthwise, often faint and uneven; the second anal spine is clearly shorter than the third. Adapted from ontario.ca

• White perch

  Morone americana

  Also written: Roccus americanus · Perca americana

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes (except Superior) and tributaries including Thames River, St. Clair River, Detroit River; gained access to Lakes Ontario and Erie through the Erie Barge Canal” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: colour varies and there are no clear spots or stripes; the second and third anal spines are about the same length. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Striped bass

  Morone saxatilis

  Also written: Roccus saxatilis · Perca saxatilis

  Not on Ontario’s fish list

  Ontario Fish Database

• Bluegill

  Lepomis macrochirus

  Also written: Eupomotis macrochirus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “central, southern and northwestern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: solid black gill-cover flap without a light rim; dark blotch at the back end of the dorsal fin; dorsal fin with ten or eleven spines and no deep dip; smaller mouth that stops short of mid-eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Pumpkinseed

  Lepomis gibbosus

  Also written: Perca gibbosa · Pomotis gibbosus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread southern, central and northwestern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: squiggly blue-green stripes on the sides of the head; gill-cover flap carrying an orange or red patch; dorsal fin with ten or eleven spines and no deep dip. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Green sunfish

  Lepomis cyanellus

  Also written: Apomotis cyanellus · Chaenobryttus cyanellus · Icthelus cyanella

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southwestern, eastern and northwestern Ontario; introduced to eastern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

• Redear sunfish

  Lepomis microlophus

  Also written: Pomotis microlophus

  Not on Ontario’s fish list

  Ontario Fish Database

• Rock bass

  Ambloplites rupestris

  Also written: Bodianus rupestris

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout except far north and northcentral Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: adults show neat lines of spots along the sides; big red eye; large mouth that runs back to roughly mid-eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Black crappie

  Pomoxis nigromaculatus

  Also written: Cantharus nigromaculatus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “St. Lawrence River and tributaries, Ottawa River and tributaries, Great Lakes and tributaries, Lake-of-the-Woods and tributaries, Kawartha Lakes (introduced)” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: silver with a blue or green sheen and a patchwork of crisp black blotches; seven or eight spines in the front dorsal fin; wide mouth reaching back beneath the middle of the eye. Adapted from ontario.ca

• White crappie

  Pomoxis annularis

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River, Detroit River, Niagara River, western Lake Ontario and tributaries, Lake Erie and tributaries, Lake St. Clair and tributaries, Lake Huron and tributaries” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: six dorsal-fin spines; faint bars on the sides. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Warmouth

  Lepomis gulosus

  Also written: Chaenobryttus gulosus · Pomotis gulosus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Lake Erie (Rondeau Bay, Point Pelee, Long Point Bay, Big Creek); first reported from Ontario waters in 1966” Ontario Fish Database

• Channel catfish

  Ictalurus punctatus

  Also written: Silurus punctatus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southern and northwestern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: long, heavy body without scales; four pairs of dark barbels ringing the mouth; paler flanks that often carry black spots; tail is forked more deeply than a bullhead's. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Blue catfish

  Ictalurus furcatus

  Also written: Pimelodus furcatus

  Not on Ontario’s fish list

  Ontario Fish Database

• Flathead catfish

  Pylodictis olivaris

  Also written: Silurus olivaris

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “western Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, lower Thames River; first reported from Ontario waters of Lake Erie in 1978” Ontario Fish Database

• Black bullhead

  Ameiurus melas

  Also written: Ictalurus melas · Silurus melas

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southwestern Ontario; introduced to eastern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

• Brown bullhead

  Ameiurus nebulosus

  Also written: Ictalurus nebulosus · Pimelodus nebulosus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southern, central and northwestern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

• Yellow bullhead

  Ameiurus natalis

  Also written: Ictalurus natalis · Pimelodus natalis

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “southern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

• Common carp

  Cyprinus carpio

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread in southern Ontario, including Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River and their tributaries; introduced to Great Lakes in 1879” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: barbels (feelers) at the corners of the mouth; lower fins in orange-red; a single spine in the dorsal fin. Adapted from ontario.ca

• White sucker

  Catostomus commersonii

  Also written: Cyprinus commersonnii

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: torpedo-shaped body; rounded when seen end-on. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Lake whitefish

  Coregonus clupeaformis

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province including the Great Lakes and coastal waters of Hudson Bay” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: snout sticks out past the mouth; a pair of small skin flaps between the nostrils; tail with a deep fork. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Cisco (lake herring)

  Coregonus artedi

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes (extirpated from Lake Erie), central and northern Ontario” Ontario Fish Database

• Longnose gar

  Lepisosteus osseus

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes and tributaries, St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River and tributaries” Ontario Fish Database

• Bowfin

  Amia ocellicauda

  Also written: Amia calva

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Great Lakes (except Superior) and tributaries, St. Lawrence River, Lake Nipissing, Lake Simcoe, Lake-of-the-Woods” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: no barbels; anal fin is short and tall. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Freshwater drum

  Aplodinotus grunniens

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “Upper St. Lawrence River, Ottawa River, Lake Abitibi, Lake Nipissing, Lakes Ontario, Erie, St. Clair, Huron and tributaries, Thames River, Sydenham River, eastern Lake Superior, St. Marys River, Lake-of-the-Woods, Rainy River” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: no barbels; eight or nine spines in the front dorsal fin. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Burbot

  Lota lota

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province, except southwest” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: one barbel at the tip of the chin; anal fin is long and narrow. Adapted from ontario.ca

• Lake sturgeon

  Acipenser fulvescens

  In Ontario

  Ontario range: “widespread throughout the province” Ontario Fish Database

  How to tell: mouth sits low on the head; barbels; armour-like bony plates along the flanks. Adapted from ontario.ca

Check the official regulations before you fish. This page is for recognising fish, not for deciding what you may keep.