By Daryl Bauer
Nebraska is home to about 100 species of fish. It is a place of variety. Somewhere in the state you can find everything from coldwater species like trout to warmwater species like catfish and black bass. Also included are a lot in between.
Anglers may encounter around 4o of those species. Some fish identification skills are required as harvest limits vary between species.
Like most things, nothing beats time on the water. The more fish an angler handles and more experience they have on different waters, the more species they will be familiar with. Be that as it may, there are some on-line resources that can aid in fish identification.
This Fish ID Key covers many of the fish commonly caught by Nebraska anglers:
To take a deeper dive into the identification of even more Nebraska fish, spend some time looking around, family by family, here:
If you are a real fish head, this would be the ultimate guide to Nebraska fish:
Dig into some fish identification! What you learn will give you a greater appreciation for the fish and our aquatic resources. It will make you a better angler too!